AFP - US authorities said they had charged six Asian men with conspiracy to ship arms, including submachine guns and sniper rifles, to Sri Lanka's Tamil Tigers and unnamed customers in Indonesia.

AP - A strong earthquake and an aftershock rattled Trinidad and parts of Venezuela on Friday, killing one man, delaying flights and prompting the evacuation of some buildings.

AP - The future of the world chess championship was in question Friday when a player did not show up for the fifth game and threatened to withdraw from the match after he was accused of cheating and locked out of his private bathroom.

AFP - US Ambassador John Bolton took UN deputy secretary general Mark Malloch Brown to task after the latter criticized Washington and London for their "megaphone diplomacy" in trying to persuade Sudan to accept a UN force in Darfur.

AP - Tens of thousands of Hamas supporters marched in the Gaza Strip on Friday to show their backing for the militant group, even as its efforts to form a national unity government appeared stalled.