Yahoo! News: World News

German shares weighed down by bank refunding talk (AP)
AP - German stocks underperformed their European and U.S. counterparts Friday following reports that Deutsche Bank AG is planning to raise as much as euro9 billion ($11.4 billion) to lift its stake in Deutsche Postbank AG and shore up its capital base.

---

Japan missing more than 230K listed centenarians (AP)
AP - More than 230,000 Japanese citizens listed in government records as at least 100 years old can't be found and may have died long ago, according to a government survey released Friday.

---

Russians mourn bombing victims; 6 others killed (AP)
AP - Clashes between police and alleged militants left six more people dead Friday in Russia's volatile North Caucasus, even as stunned residents laid flowers in a square where a suicide car bombing killed 17 people and wounded more than 140 only a day ago.

---

Yahoo! Sports

Saints beat Vikes to open title defense (AP)
The New Orleans Saints -- the top offense in the league last year -- had just enough in Thursday's opener against the Minnesota Vikings to take a 14-9 lead after three quarters. Drew Brees, who drove the Saints 77 yards to open the game, started the third quarter with a 74-yard scoring drive to regain the lead.

---

Pats make Brady NFL's top earner at $18M (AP)
A day that started badly for Tom Brady turned out to be a pretty good one after all. After a morning crash left Brady's car damaged but the New England Patriots quarterback unhurt, he came to terms on a contract that will make him the highest paid player in the NFL. Two people with knowledge of the contract said Thursday night that Brady has agreed to a four-year extension beginning in 2011.

---

Top seed Nadal advances to Open semis (AP)
Most signs point toward Rafa vs. Roger in the U.S. Open final. If that does come to pass, Fernando Verdasco knows who he'd pick. After losing in straight sets to No. 1 Rafael Nadal on yet another semi-miserable, windblown night in Arthur Ashe Stadium on Thursday, Verdasco walked away more impressed by the conditions -- and by Roger Federer -- than anything Nadal did.

---

Yahoo! News: Business News

Wall Street little changed, energy shares up (Reuters)
Reuters - Stocks opened little changed on Friday in what was expected to be another low volume session, with the energy sector leading the way up as crude oil prices jumped.

---

Nokia brings in Microsoft exec to replace CEO (Reuters)
Reuters - Nokia has hired Stephen Elop, a Canadian Microsoft executive of Silicon Valley pedigree, to replace its embattled chief executive and renew its drive to compete with Apple.

---

July wholesale inventories jump 1.3 percent (Reuters)
Reuters - Wholesale inventories surged by the largest amount in two years in July, a government report said on Friday, in a sign firms were anticipating enough demand to boost stock this summer.

---

Yahoo! News: Most Viewed

Afghans protest, Fla. pastor plans to meet NY imam (AP)
AP - As thousands of Afghans protested a tiny Florida church's plan to burn the Muslim holy book, the church's pastor said he won't follow through with the burning if he's able to meet Saturday with the organizers behind a mosque planned near ground zero in New York.

---

US court lifts ban on state-funded stem cell studies (AFP)
AFP - A US appeals court suspended Thursday a ban on state-funding for embryonic stem cell research pending a full appeal of the case, in a major boost to President Barack Obama's administration.

---

Farmer's 24 hour milk filling station a hit (Reuters)
Reuters - A German dairy farmer has come up with a novel way to drum up new business -- he opened a "milk filling station."

---