AP - The show-business marriage that began in a Scottish castle came to an end in a drab London courtroom Friday as Madonna and Guy Ritchie were granted a preliminary decree of divorce.

AP - Wall Street found some relief Friday from a report that a pounded-down Citigroup Inc. might put itself up for sale. That prospect, along with the possibility that low prices will draw in bargain-hunters after two days of steep selling, sent stock futures sharply higher.

Reuters - Lingerie model Karolina Kurkova has been voted the world's sexiest woman by E! entertainment television, beating sultry actresses Angelina Jolie and Scarlett Johansson for the honor.

AP - Followers of a Shiite cleric on Friday stomped on and burned an effigy of President George W. Bush in the same central Baghdad square where Iraqis beat a toppled statue of Saddam Hussein with their sandals five years earlier.