AP - President Bush failed to win the help he sought from Saudi Arabia to relieve skyrocketing American gas prices Friday, a setback for the former Texas oilman who took office predicting he would jawbone oil-producing nations to help the U.S.

Reuters - Astronomers are baffled after finding an exotic type of star called a pulsar apparently locked in an elongated orbit around a star much like the sun — an arrangement defying what had been known about such objects.

AP - Back in the day of chain gangs, Alabama passed a law that gave sheriffs $1.75 a day to feed each prisoner in their jails, and the sheriffs got to pocket anything that was left over. More than 80 years later, most Alabama counties still operate under this system, with the same $1.75-a-day allowance, and some sheriffs are actually making money on top of their salaries.

AP - Barack Obama laid into John McCain on Friday for advancing a tough-guy foreign policy that he called “naive and irresponsible,” serving notice that he’s ready to launch a full-throttle challenge to the Republican presidential contender on international relations in the general election campaign.

AP - A powerful aftershock knocked out roads and communications in some of the most quake-ravaged parts of central China on Friday, as emergency crews rescued 163 people who had survived up to 100 improbable hours trapped in the ruins.

AP - In just five years, the West Texas polygamist sect transformed 1,700 acres of scrubland purchased for $700,000 into a bustling ranch with a blazing-white limestone temple, sprawling three-story log cabins, woodworking shops and a dairy.

AP - Michigan and Florida alone can’t save Hillary Rodham Clinton’s campaign.

AP - Though Ashlee Simpson and Pete Wentz are keeping a tight lid on their nuptuals, it’s looking like a wedding is imminent. Aerial photos posted Friday at several celebrity Web sites, credited to the Insight News & Features paparazzi photo agency, purport to show the Simpson family home near Los Angeles dotted with large white party tents.

Reuters - Chinese President Hu Jintao urged rescuers in the southwestern province of Sichuan to race to save lives, days after the most destructive earthquake to hit modern China, state media said on Saturday.

AP - After their daughter was born, Bi Kaiwei and his wife, Meilin, decided to adhere to China’s one-child policy and its slogan, “Have fewer kids, live better lives.”

AP - Construction of new homes increased by the biggest percentage in more than two years in April, a rare spot of good news amid the worst downturn in housing in more than two decades.

AP - Republican Mike Huckabee responded to an offstage noise during his speech to the National Rifle Association by suggesting it was Barack Obama diving to the floor because someone had aimed a gun at him.

AP - The U.S. is its own worst enemy when it comes to the desperately important task of recruiting immigrants as spies, analysts and translators in the war on terror, new Americans are telling intelligence officials. The government’s policies raise suspicions and fear in the immigrants’ home countries and disturb potential recruits here who might otherwise want to help.

AP - Ellen DeGeneres and longtime girlfriend Portia de Rossi are jumping at the chance to get married.

AP - It’s true: “Desperate Housewives” will flash-forward five years.

Reuters - Comedian and talk show host Ellen DeGeneres plans to marry her long-time partner, actress Portia de Rossi, after a California court ruling allowing gay marriage.