AP - Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr ordered most of his militiamen to disarm but said Friday he will maintain elite fighting units to resist the Americans if a timetable for the withdrawal of U.S. troops is not established.

AFP - The Royal Bank of Scotland revealed an 11.4-billion-dollar hit from the US subprime crisis on Friday, and a resulting half-year loss among the biggest in British banking history.

AFP - As the young rugby players sing the national anthem, the scene provides a small glimpse into the racial divisions still linked to the game in South Africa years after apartheid ended.

AP - For over a year, Zhao Gang and Liu Rui had hoped to get married at 8:08 a.m. on China's auspicious triple-eight date Friday. Problem was, so did more than 16,000 other Beijing couples.

AP - Security forces squeezed their grip on China a notch tighter Friday for the start of the Olympics, edging up restrictions in the capital and imposing much tougher ones in a restive Muslim area in the country's far west.

AP - Russia sent columns of tanks and reportedly bombed Georgian air bases Friday after Georgia launched a major military offensive Friday to retake the breakaway province of South Ossetia, threatening to ignite a broader conflict.

AP - Defense Secretary Robert Gates has endorsed a new five-year, $17 billion plan to increase the size of the Afghan army by about 50,000 troops.

AP - Once-reclusive China commandeered the world stage Friday, celebrating its first-time role as Olympic host with a stunning display of pyrotechnics and pageantry — topped by the unworldly sight of a flying gymnast, traversing the heights of the stadium to light the flame and begin the Summer Games.

AP - President Bush, the first U.S. president to attend an Olympics abroad, blended political messages for China and Russia with high fives and hugs for American athletes Friday.