A powerful earthquake that struck New Zealand on Saturday caused "a lot of damage," though there are no reports of serious injuries or major damage, an emergency official said.

Hugh Pickens writes "The NY Times reports that Consumer Watchdog is running a 540-square-foot video billboard advertisement in Times Square, New York that shows Google CEO Eric Schmidt as an ingratiating ice cream truck driver who knows everything about everyone and happily offers free ice cream in exchange for full body scans. The group says its goal is to push Congress and the Federal Trade Commission to create a Do Not Track Me list, similar to the Do Not Call list developed to prevent telemarketers from aggressively calling consumers. 'Do you want Google or any other online company looking over your shoulder and tracking your every move online just so it can increase its profits?' writes the group's president, Jamie Curtis, at the group's web site. 'Consumers have a right to privacy. They should control how their information is gathered and what it is used for.' The FTC's consumer affairs group had no comment on whether the agency is considering creating a Do Not Track Me list."

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Bethany Storro doesn't usually wear sunglasses, but she got a surprise paycheck and bought a pair earlier this week. Those sunglasses, she is convinced, saved her eyesight when a woman threw a cup of acid in her face 20 minutes later.

Ryder Cup star Miguel Angel Jimenez carded a stunning 10-under-par round of 61, the lowest of his 27-year European Tour career, to lead the European Masters at Crans-sur-Sierre, Switzerland, by three strokes after 36 holes.

A cargo plane has crashed in an uninhabited area near the Dubai airport, according to the official WAM news agency in the United Arab Emirates.

Judges issued guilty verdicts Friday in Lisbon against six defendants, including a well-known Portuguese television star and a former diplomat, in a long-running child sexual abuse case that has riveted national attention, according to CNN affiliate TVI.

A mob ransacked the entrance to the Tehran apartment complex of Iranian opposition leader Mehdi Karrubi late Thursday, an assault that resulted in an attack on the head of his security detail, his son said.

The State Department learned Friday that the imam behind the controversial Park51 Islamic community center project has not returned home after a State Department-sponsored tour in the Middle East.

South Korea and the United States will conduct a joint anti-submarine warfare exercise starting Sunday, the U.S. military announced Friday.

After two days of meetings and talks led by President Barack Obama and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, Israeli and Palestinian leaders leave Washington deadlocked over the contentious issue of Israeli settlements.

Six job recruiters have been indicted in federal court in what the FBI has called the largest human-trafficking operation ever to result in charges in the United States.

The National Football League has reduced the suspension of Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger from six games to four, the league said.

Miami International Airport was shut down for several hours Friday after screeners spotted a canister inside the luggage of a scientist that eventually turned out to be "a legitimate experiment."

jamie writes "A grassroots campaign has begun to get Stephen Colbert to hold a rally on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial to counter Glenn Beck's recent 'Restoring Honor' event. The would-be rally has been dubbed 'Restoring Truthiness' and was inspired by a recent post on Reddit, where a young woman wondered if the only way to point out the absurdity of the Tea Party's rally would be if Colbert mirrored it with his own Colbert Nation.'"

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BP began operations to remove its failed blowout preventer from atop its well deep below the Gulf of Mexico, the company said Friday.

An anonymous reader writes "'Always bet on Duke.' It seems he was right about himself, at least. The longest, most storied in-development game in history seems like it's finally going to be released by Gearbox Software sometime within the next year. 'According to Pitchford, Gearbox began finishing Duke Nukem Forever in late 2009. "Clearly the game hadn't been finished at 3D Realms but a lot of content had been created," he says. "The approach and investment and process at 3D Realms didn't quite make it, and it cracked at the end. With Gearbox Software we brought all those pieces together. It's the game it was meant to be." The game is currently expected to ship in 2010 although given its history Pitchford is understandably reluctant to be more specific.'"

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President Barack Obama will award the Medal of Honor, the military's highest award for bravery, to Air Force Chief Master Sgt. Richard Etchberger for his valor in saving the lives of three wounded comrades in Laos in 1968, the White House announced Friday.

The new Apple TV doesn't support video content with 1080p resolution, but it shouldn't have a major impact on its image quality.

Hurricane Earl dropped to a Category 1 storm Friday morning with maximum sustained winds of 85 mph, the National Hurricane Center said.