Sexism award goes to 'ugly ducklings' mayor
An Australian outback mayor's plea for lovelorn female "ugly ducklings" to move to a remote mining town to reverse a shortage of eligible women has won him the country's yearly award for outrageous sexism.

GM plans more cuts, eyes up to 10 factories
General Motors Corp. will extend its holiday shutdown or make other production cuts at up to 10 factories as it deals with a continued U.S. auto sales slump and fights to stay solvent.

Shipper: Militaries must confront pirates
The world's militaries must work together to battle pirates off the Somali coast or ships will have to be diverted, one of the world's largest oil tanker companies said Friday.

Madonna, Ritchie granted divorce

The show-business marriage that began in a Scottish castle came to an end in a drab London courtroom Friday as Madonna and Guy Ritchie were granted a preliminary decree of divorce.

Obama team springs leaks

Barack Obama was famously able to impose discipline and control over his presidential campaign, but it didn't take long for him to discover that running a transition is something quite different.

Bush signs bill providing extra jobless benefits
President George W. Bush on Friday ensured that millions of laid-off workers will keep getting their unemployment checks as the year-end holidays approach.

Mexico: Ex-drug czar took cartel money
Mexico's former drug czar took $450,000 to leak information to a powerful cartel, officials said Friday.

Bush to promote action plan to deal with crisis

Struggling to get ahead of a global financial crisis, the president hopes to win more converts at a summit in Peru for a plan aimed at showing governments have the will and means to halt the turmoil.

WaMu, BNY Mellon latest banks to shed jobs
The Bank of New York Mellon Corp. and Washington Mutual on Friday became the latest in a string of banks to announce layoffs.