The U.S. says it is considering whether it should be spying on leaders of American allies after reports of surveillance that government officials say President Barack Obama was not aware of until a few months ago, even though it dates to 2002.
An active manhunt is underway as Oklahoma authorities look for four inmates that escaped from an escape-proof Anadarko, Oklahoma jail on Monday.
Influential American rock musician Lou Reed, the widely acknowledged poet laureate of the dark, hard-edged genre known as punk rock, has died in New York.
A strong earthquake hit Japan early Saturday off of the coast of that country at 3:10 am(Friday 9:10 am-Alaska time) measuring a magnitude of 7.1. The quake was generated at a depth of six miles beneath the ocean floor.