Reuters - U.S. crude approached a three-week high near $76 on Friday, after record U.S. inventories were offset by the shutdown of a major pipeline, but a leading forecaster said oil demand would remain tepid.

Reuters - Nokia (NOK1V.HE), the world's top cellphone maker, brought in Microsoft's Stephen Elop to replace its embattled chief executive and lead a renewed effort to compete in the smartphone market.

Reuters - Stock index futures pointed to a slightly higher open on Wall Street on Friday, with futures for the S&P 500 up 0.3 percent, Dow Jones futures up 0.1 percent and Nasdaq 100 futures up 0.4 percent at 0850 GMT.

AFP - French carmakers Renault and PSA Peugeot Citroen said Friday they each plan to pay back a third of their three-billion-euro (3.8-billion-dollar) state loans ahead of time.

AP - Religious and political leaders across the Muslim world welcomed a decision by a small American church to suspend its plans to torch copies of their holy book — but some said Friday the damage has already been done.

AFP - Deutsche Bank is set to raise up to nine billion euros through a rights issue to bolster its capital as global banking regulators finalise tough new rules for the industry, a report said Friday.

AP - The European Central Bank's president says it may take a while yet to phase out special efforts to keep banks supplied with credit in the wake of the financial crisis.

Reuters - BP Plc said it would delay the release of its third quarter results by a week because of added complexities in its accounts due to costs associated with the Gulf of Mexico oil spill.

AP - China summoned Japan's ambassador for a third time Friday to protest the detention of the captain of a Chinese fishing boat that collided with Japanese patrol vessels near disputed islands, demanding he and his ship be released unconditionally.

AP - Flags are at half-staff in the Russian Caucasus city of Vladikavkaz and stunned residents are laying flowers in a rubble-strewn square where a suicide car bombing killed 17 people and wounded more than 140.

AP - The Mexican police officers who arrested infamous drug suspect Edgar Valdez Villarreal, alias "La Barbie," did not initially know who they had caught, according to a booking report obtained Thursday.

AFP - Australia's corporate watchdog Friday said it would likely reject a proposed alliance between Air New Zealand and Virgin Blue because it could disadvantage more than a million passengers a year.

AP - Iran said Thursday it will free Sarah Shourd, one of three Americans jailed for more than 13 months, as an act of clemency to mark the end of the Islamic holy month of Ramadan.

Reuters - Democrats in Congress are distancing themselves from President Barack Obama's push to let taxes rise for the wealthiest Americans, fearing it will further harm them in November's mid-term elections.