AP - A House investigative panel has decided to charge Democratic Rep. Maxine Waters of California with ethics violations, raising the possibility of a second high-profile trial with political implications for Democrats this fall.

Reuters - A U.S. court denied a request for an expedited hearing on Friday and instead set a November date for Arizona's appeal to a federal court ruling that blocked key parts of a state law cracking down on illegal immigration.

AP - "Jersey Shore" cast member Nicole "Snooki" Polizzi has been arrested in the New Jersey beach town where the MTV show is based.

AP - Former Vice President Al Gore was cleared Friday of allegations he groped and assaulted a masseuse in a luxury Portland hotel room in 2006, closing a case that could have tarnished the Nobel prize winner's reputation.

AP - Bill Clinton made a long-anticipated appearance in the upstate New York village where his daughter is getting married, drawing crowds of onlookers Friday afternoon as preparations continued largely out of sight for the grand and secretive occasion.

AP - A huge wildfire in the high desert wilderness north of Los Angeles jumped an aqueduct on Friday, rushing toward hundreds of houses as firefighters also tried to keep flames from damaging power lines that bring electricity to Southern California.

AP - BP's new boss says it's time for a "scaleback" in cleaning up the Gulf of Mexico oil spill. Federal officials say there is no way the crude could reach the East Coast. And fishing areas are starting to reopen.

AP - President Barack Obama on Friday called ethics charges against Democratic Rep. Charlie Rangel "very troubling" and said he hopes the longtime lawmaker can end his career with dignity. Several House Democrats went further, flat-out urging the New York congressman to resign.

AP - In a summer of suffering, America's military death toll in Afghanistan is rising, with back-to-back record months for U.S. losses in the grinding conflict. All signs point to more bloodshed in the months ahead, straining the already shaky international support for the war.

AP - The fight over Arizona's immigration law showed no signs of letting up Friday as the federal judge who blunted its force faced threats and the Republican governor who signed it considered changes to address any faults.

AP - No. 1 overall draft pick Sam Bradford agreed to a six-year, $78 million contract with the St. Louis Rams on Friday night, with $50 million in guaranteed money.

AFP - President Hugo Chavez said Friday that Venezuela has deployed military units and troops to the Colombian border, because outgoing President Alvaro Uribe is "capable of anything," as a row escalates between the two.

Reuters - BP Plc said on Friday it could seal its ruptured Gulf of Mexico oil well by next week as the House of Representatives voted to toughen regulation of offshore energy drilling.

Reuters - The House of Representatives on Friday approved the toughest reforms ever to offshore energy drilling practices, as Democrats narrowly pushed through an election-year response to BP's massive oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.

Reuters - President Barack Obama on Friday called on Iran to immediately release three Americans who were detained a year ago after straying across the border while hiking in the mountains of northern Iraq.

AFP - Italy's Silvio Berlusconi saw the erosion of his once comfortable majority in parliament Friday as 33 lawmakers defected in support of the prime minister's estranged longtime ally.