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AP - Hurricane Earl has weakened to a Category 1 storm as it heads for the Northeast and some watches and warnings have been reduced or dropped from Long Island to Maine.

AP - Private employers hired more workers over the past three months than first thought, a glimmer of hope for the weak economy ahead of the Labor Day weekend. But the unemployment rate rose because not enough jobs were created to absorb the growing number of people looking for work.

AP - Pakistani officials say suspected U.S. missiles have killed five people in a tribal region near the Afghan border.

AP - A scientist has been detained at the Miami International Airport after screeners spotted a metal canister in his luggage that looked like a pipe bomb, prompting an evacuation, a government official said.

AP - U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates said Friday he saw and heard evidence that the U.S. counterinsurgency strategy is taking hold in critical Kandahar province.

AP - Fidel Castro dusted off his full military uniform for the first time since stepping down as president four years ago, a symbolic act in a communist country where little signals often carry enormous significance.

AP - An Indonesian volcano that was quiet for four centuries shot a new, powerful burst of hot ash more than 10,000 feet (three kilometers) in the air Friday, sending frightened residents fleeing to safety for the second time this week.

AP - Unlike the blast that led to the massive BP spill, the latest oil platform fire in the Gulf of Mexico killed no one and sent no crude gushing into the water.

AP - The first song Brooks & Dunn ever sang together has become their last.

AP - Ben Roethlisberger's suspension has been reduced from six games to four by NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell. The Pittsburgh Steelers' star quarterback met with Goodell early Friday and was told he could return on Oct. 17 against Cleveland.