WASHINGTON (AP) — President Barack Obama will speak to reporters Friday after the Labor Department releases its monthly jobless report.

BEIJING (AP) — China has ordered local leaders to cool a surge in politically sensitive food prices by raising vegetable production amid rising tensions in poor countries over surging food costs.

CHICAGO (AP) — With less than two weeks before Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn awards a lucrative, first-of-its-kind contract for the private management of the state's $2 billion-a-year lottery, some are criticizing the selection process as too secretive and questioning whether it favors one powerful bidder.

Dairy farmer Anthony Marco was compressing a long row of chopped hay beneath his tractor two weeks ago, preparing it as winter feed for his cows, when the 4-ton machine suddenly toppled over as he drove it along the pile's steep sides.

WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) — The reclusive New Zealand billionaire buying the U.S. maker of Hefty brand trash bags to create the world's second-biggest packaging business started out as a tow truck driver and bounced back from the brink of bankruptcy more than a decade ago to become his country's richest person.

BUXTON, N.C. (AP) — A two-story Comfort Inn has become a makeshift hurricane hostel on North Carolina's Outer Banks for those who want to stay close to their homes but know they need better shelter from the onslaught of Earl.

NEW YORK (AP) — Shares Esterline Technologies Corp. rose Friday after the defense contractor reported fiscal third-quarter earnings that beat analysts expectations and raised its annual outlook.

BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) — A ruptured oil well in western North Dakota was temporarily plugged on Friday after leaking more than 2,400 barrels of crude and water, company officials said.

ATLANTA (AP) — The federal case against a Kuwait-based food supplier accused of defrauding the U.S. government of $68 million was dealt a stinging setback after a judge moved to block the charges.

Markets closed for Labor Day.

A look at economic developments and activity in major stock markets around the world Friday:

SEATTLE (AP) — Seattle's teachers have approved a new three-year contract, which means classes will begin as scheduled Sept. 8.

OLYMPIA, Wash. (AP) — All bets are off at Betcha.com, a Seattle-based online bookmaker that couldn't skirt the state's gambling laws by making it optional for losing bettors to pay off wagers.

BOSTON (AP) — A fatal explosion at a Massachusetts condominium project has led the state attorney general to investigate the delivery of faulty propane to locations across New England and New York.

Here are some differences between the Deepwater Horizon rig disaster April 20 and the oil production platform explosion Thursday in the Gulf of Mexico:

REDWOOD SHORES, Calif. (AP) — A small plane that crashed into a shallow lagoon off San Francisco Bay on Thursday, killing three people, belonged to the founder of a local steel company who was believed to be among the dead.

ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — A judge sentenced the woman who blew the whistle on Tom Petters' $3.7 billion Ponzi scheme to one year in prison Thursday, even as he praised her cooperation with federal prosecutors.

DETROIT (AP) — General Motors plans to start trading shares again on Nov. 18, timing that allows the company one more quarter of earnings to build its case to investors, a firm that researches initial public offerings said Thursday.

TORONTO (AP) — The head of a major Canadian pension fund said Thursday a Chinese sovereign wealth fund is interested in making a joint bid with a Canadian pension fund for fertilizer-maker Potash Corp. of Saskatchewan Inc.

FRESNO, Calif. (AP) — Federal authorities say a national janitorial services company will pay 21 female workers $5.8 million to settle a sexual assault and harassment lawsuit.