A landmark agreement aimed at getting the global airline sector to cut carbon emissions by 2020 was approved by the general assembly of the United Nations group that oversees civil aviation.

Delegates from 184 member countries of the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) ratified the agreement on Friday.

Apple is fighting a legal order requiring the company to modify its digital book contracts and submit to oversight by a court-appointed antitrust monitor.

The Cupertino, California, company filed its notice of appeal Thursday in New York, following through on a pledge to fight the verdict. A federal court had concluded that Apple Inc. had illegally colluded with five major publishers to fix the prices of electronic books at the expense of consumers. The challenge comes a month after U.S. District Judge Denise Cote finalized her order based on a verdict that she reached in July.

The personal fortune of Twitter co-founder Evan Williams probably will take up 10 characters once the online communications company goes public.

Williams, who was Twitter's CEO for two years until Dick Costolo took over in 2010, owns a 12 percent stake that makes him the company's largest shareholder. If Twitter turns out to be worth at least $17.60 per share, the initial public offering will make Williams a billionaire at 41 years old.

A woman shot to death by police outside the Capitol building after she tried to drive through barricades outside the White House held the delusional belief that the president was communicating with her, a federal law enforcement official said Friday.

The official had been briefed on the investigation but spoke on condition of anonymity because the person was not authorized to speak publicly about the ongoing investigation.

Ryan Giggs said there is no excuse for Manchester United's poor start to the season and insists the players, not manager David Moyes, are to blame.

United has won only two of its opening six matches in the English Premier League - its worst start to a season in 24 years - and is 12th in the standings.

The man whose research team discovered the Titanic shipwreck is now leading a mission to investigate major faults and underwater volcanoes in the northern and eastern Caribbean to collect information that could help manage natural disasters.

Robert Ballard is overseeing 31 scientists who will set out Friday using remotely operated vehicles to explore the Septentrional and other faults and underwater formations around Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands and the eastern Caribbean islands of Dominica and Montserrat.

Braving perilous river rapids in Suriname's rainforest, international scientists found six frogs and 11 fish that are among 60 creatures that may be new species, a tropical ecologist with a U.S.-based conservation group said Thursday.

Trond Larsen, with the nonprofit research and advocacy organization Conservation International, said in a phone interview that the team catalogued creatures and studied freshwater resources during a three-week expedition in pristine forest of southeast Suriname near the border with Brazil.

Kobe Bryant is heading to Germany to have a medical procedure unrelated to the torn Achilles tendon he sustained in April.

The Los Angeles Lakers said on Thursday that Bryant is expected to return early next week.

Tottenham overcame cold conditions to maintain its billing as the Europa League's top contender thanks to a confident victory on Thursday, when a goalkeeping gaffe sparked Valencia to its first win.

Tottenham, the English Premier League club which has spent heavily this offseason and sold Gareth Bale, wasn't the only team to make it two-for-two in wins: Genk, Fiorentina, Eintracht Frankfurt, Rubin Kazan, Sevilla, Swansea, Salzburg, and Ludogorets Razgrad are also perfect.

Formula One teams say next year's weight rules for cars could push taller and heavier drivers out of the sport, but the chances of it being revised are unlikely because that would require consensus within the notoriously divided group.

The combined weight limit for car and driver will be raised from 642 kilograms to 690 next year, but the 2014 cars — which require radical changes to accommodate V6 turbo engines — are likely to be more than 50 kilograms heavier than existing models so, in effect, the allowance for drivers will fall.