AP - One of the top three leaders of Mexico's most powerful drug cartel died in a gunfight with soldiers Thursday, ending the long run of a mysterious capo considered a founder of the country's massive methamphetamine trade.

AP - A grenade exploded near a Bangkok shopping mall early Friday, injuring one person and rattling the Thai capital less than a week after a similar blast left a bystander dead and several more hospitalized.

AP - A French woman who admitted suffocating eight of her newborns and concealing their corpses in the garden and garage of her home has been charged with manslaughter.

AP - Militants flew an al-Qaida flag over a Baghdad neighborhood Thursday after killing 16 security officials and burning some of their bodies in a brazen afternoon attack that served as a grim reminder of continued insurgent strength in Iraq's capital.

AFP - A US senator said investigators could be sent to Britain to quiz witnesses who refused to travel to Washington to testify at a Senate probe into the release of the Lockerbie bomber.

AP - Syria on Thursday warned the United States to stop trying to interfere as Arab leaders try to defuse heightened tensions in the Middle East.

AFP - King Mohammed VI of Morocco on Thursday granted pardons or reduced sentences to nearly 1,000 people to mark his 11 years on the throne, the justice ministry said.

The Atlantic Wire - The most controversial elements of Arizona's immigration law have been blocked by a federal judge. Major provisions, such as one requiring authorities to check the immigration status of individuals while enforcing other laws, will not go into effect. U.S. District Court Judge Susan Bolton also barred the state from requiring immigrants to carry their papers at all times. While this isn't the last say on the Arizona law, it's a major victory for the bill's opponents. Here's what observers are looking at now and anticipating for the future:

AP - House investigators accused veteran New York Rep. Charles Rangel of 13 violations of congressional ethics standards on Thursday, throwing a cloud over his four-decade political career and raising worries for fellow Democrats about the fall elections.

The Newsroom - In the three months since oil first spewed into the Gulf of Mexico, thousands of people throughout the coastal region have lost jobs or seen their incomes slashed. Many businesses are reeling too. BP has pledged to make good on all legitimate claims for damages. But how well is the process going?

AP - On the surface, a judge's decision to block tough provisions of Arizona's immigration law was a defeat for the state's Republican governor and a win for the Democratic Obama administration. But neither party is sure it will play out that way politically, either this fall or beyond.