Reuters - TIRANA (Reuters) - Tens of thousands of Albanian opposition Socialist Party supporters launched their latest protest Friday to demand the government either recount the vote in a controversial June 28 election or hold another.

The Canadian Press - The Pacific resort island of Saipan was reeling Saturday from one of the most violent attacks in its history, when a gunman killed five people, including two small children and himself, in a rampage that ended at a World War II historical site.

Reuters - LONDON (Reuters) - The Afghan government would quickly be overthrown if NATO troops pulled out of the country now, British Foreign Secretary David Miliband said Friday.

The Canadian Press - ROME - Two fingers and a tooth removed from Galileo Galilei's corpse in a Florentine basilica in the 18th century and given up for lost have been found again and will soon be put on display, an Italian museum director said Friday.

The Canadian Press - ROME - A Vatican researcher has rekindled the age-old debate over the Shroud of Turin, saying that faint writing on the linen proves it was the burial cloth of Jesus.

The Canadian Press - LONDON - A retired British couple snatched from their yacht by Somali pirates said in an interview broadcast Friday they fear they could be killed within a week or handed to a terrorist group if a ransom demand is not paid.

AFP - LONDON (AFP) - A British couple held hostage by Somali pirates said in a video broadcast Friday their captors were "losing patience" and could kill them within a week if no ransom was paid.

The Canadian Press - Raging floods engulfed northern England's picturesque Lake District on Friday following the heaviest rainfall ever recorded in Britain, killing a police officer and trapping dozens in their swamped homes.

AFP - MIAMI (AFP) - A US federal judge sentenced the leader of a plot to blow up the Sears Tower in Chicago to 13 years in prison Friday, far less than the 70 years sought by prosecutors.

AFP - LONDON (AFP) - Health authorities said Friday they are investigating what could be the world's first cases of person-to-person transmission of a strain of drug-resistant swine flu.

AFP - PERUGIA, Italy (AFP) - American exchange student Amanda Knox wept Friday at the trial in which she is accused of murdering her British housemate in the Italian university town of Perugia two years ago.

Reuters - BOGOTA (Reuters) - Colombia will not be provoked into armed conflict with Venezuela despite its neighbor's aggressive rhetoric and dynamiting of two border bridges, Colombia's defense minister said on Friday.

The Canadian Press - JELAWAR, Afghanistan - There's a breed of Canadian troops who are in a league of their own - adrenaline junkies who feed off the energy they get from embracing the world's most perilous jobs.

AFP - TIRANA (AFP) - Thousands of opposition supporters on Friday began a weekend of protests accusing Prime Minister Sali Berisha's government of electoral fraud and demanding a recount of ballots cast in June polls.

AFP - BRUSSELS (AFP) - Incoming EU president Herman Van Rompuy kept a low profile Friday as the 27-nation bloc's leaders faced flak for picking him and a little-known British peer to lead a revamped Europe on the world stage.

AFP - MANILA (AFP) - A bruised but smiling Manny Pacquiao enjoyed a hero's welcome as he returned home to the Philippines on Friday, with masses of people taking to the streets and hailing him as the best boxer of all time.

AFP - OUAGADOUGOU (AFP) - Efforts to end Guinea's political deadlock following a massacre at a political rally stalled on Friday with the opposition's rejection of an international mediator's proposals.

The Canadian Press - WASHINGTON - With no margin for rebellion, Senate Democrats pushed toward a crucial weekend test vote on their sweeping health care bill Friday, and wavering moderates appeared to be falling in line on President Barack Obama's signature issue.

The Canadian Press - ISLAMABAD, Pakistan - Pakistan expressed fear Friday that a large increase in foreign troops in Afghanistan could push militants across the border into its territory and called on the U.S. to factor in that concern as part of its new war strategy.

AFP - SALVADOR, Brazil (AFP) - Israeli settlement expansion on Palestinian territory must stop immediately, President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva said Friday as he seeks to position Brazil as a player in the Middle East.

AFP - CAIRO (AFP) - Protesters injured dozens of police near the Algerian embassy in Egypt's capital on Friday, fanning the flames of a diplomatic spat that erupted after Algeria won a football World Cup qualifier.

AFP - WASHINGTON (AFP) - President Barack Obama's Democratic allies in the Senate strove Friday to lock down the support to prevail in a landmark first test vote on his top domestic priority, remaking US health care.

AFP - PARIS (AFP) - Buyers from Asia purchased all but one of the top 10 priciest items at the sale of the last belongings of late couturier Yves Saint Laurent and his partner Pierre Berge, Christie's said Friday.

Reuters - UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - The U.N. General Assembly's human rights committee condemned Iran on Friday for a violent crackdown on protesters after presidential elections this year that the Iranian opposition says were rigged.

The Canadian Press - LONDON - Catherine Ashton: International woman of mystery.

The Canadian Press - PERUGIA, Italy - An American student accused of fatally stabbing her British roommate in Italy had a growing hatred for the victim and killed her in retaliation during a drug-fueled sex game, a prosecutor contended Friday in closing arguments at her murder trial.

The Canadian Press - BRUSSELS, Belgium - Representatives of six world powers urged Iran on Friday to accept a U.N. plan aimed at delaying its ability to build a nuclear weapon, as the head of the U.N. nuclear watchdog agency warned Tehran not to miss the opportunity to resolve the dispute.

AFP - STOCKHOLM (AFP) - Former South African president Nelson Mandela and his wife Graca Machel have been voted Decade Child Rights Heroes by 7.1 million children, the World's Children's Prize foundation said Friday.

AFP - UNITED NATIONS (AFP) - A UN panel on Friday blasted Iran for "serious, ongoing and recurring" human rights violations, including violence against protesters after the disputed June presidential elections.

AFP - MOSCOW (AFP) - Germany's new Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle emphasised strong relations with Russia during his first visit to Moscow Friday, but remained discreet on human rights issues.

CBC - Raging floods engulfed northern England's picturesque Lake District on Friday following the heaviest rainfall ever recorded in Britain. A police officer died and hundreds of people were forced to evacuate.

AFP - ABUJA (AFP) - The European Commission has signed a 677 million euro (one billion dollar) deal to help Nigeria tackle challenges in its restive oil-producing region, promoting peace, good governance and trade, the EU said Friday.

AFP - ABIDJAN (AFP) - President Laurent Gbagbo, ex-president Henri Konan Bedie, ex-premier Alassane Ouattara and 11 others, including comic Adama Dahico, will contest Ivory Coast's long-awaited presidential election, officials said Friday.

AFP - ABUJA (AFP) - West African regional bloc ECOWAS Friday banned the transfer of arms by the 15 member states except for legitimate defence, security and peacekeeping operations, a senior official said.