Politrol

A flurry of statistics due for release, including consumer confidence and retail sales, may show the degree to which the economy has been hurt by market turmoil. S&P 500 futures slipped 5.9 points at 1,492.10 and Nasdaq 100 futures fell 9.75 points at 2,014.75. Dow industrial futures eased 42 points. Markets were coming off a strong Thursday, in which news on McDonald’s and General Motors led to gains for U.S. stocks, notably the Dow Jones Industrial Average, which rose 133 points. The S&P 500 added 12 points and the Nasdaq Composite added 8.9 points. Heading into the U.S.

Sterling fell to 1.4531 euros from as high as 1.4636 euros on Thursday, and to .0165 from .0345 on Thursday. Northern Rock on Friday said it would need to get emergency funding from the Bank of England, as its wholesale funding model broke down with global credit markets in turmoil. See story. The pound had started to drop when news reports from the BBC and the Financial Times indicated that the lender needed central bank help. Though the U.K. lender has limited direct exposure to U.S. subprime mortgages, investor appetite for bonds backed by mortgage loans, regardless of origin, has vanished worldwide.

An independent commission that studied the readiness of the Iraqi security forces called today for a "strategic shift" in Iraq, with U.S. forces reducing their massive "footprint" in the country and moving to what it called an "overwatch" posture focused on the borders with Iran and Syria.

Search and rescue operations for American adventurer Steve Fossett entered a fourth day Thursday in the western U.S. state of Nevada.

British prog-rockers kick off a tour here that aims to show a progression from 1967 to the present

President Bush made a surprise detour on his way to Australia to visit Iraq's Anbar province in what he hopes will be a potent symbol to US Congress and the world that the surge is working - at least in this part of Iraq.

Sen. John Warner, R-Virginia, said Friday he won't run for re-election.

Last of Bush's Texas transplants leaves office shrouded by questions about his truthfulness

The controversial US attorney general Alberto Gonzales has resigned. The close ally of President Bush was caught up in a recent political storm. His sacking of federal prosecutors last year was slammed by the opposition Democrats as politically motivated.

The pilot of a hot-air balloon that crashed in a fiery ball into a South Surrey trailer park -- killing two women -- was trapped in a "ball of fire" and couldn't help others on board, a crew member said.

Nicole Richie surrendered to authorities on Thursday to begin serving a four-day sentence for driving under the influence of drugs, but spent a little more than one hour in jail, an official said.