From CNN's Kathleen Koch

WASHINGTON (CNN) - A senior White House official, Tim Goeglein, has resigned after he admitted copying large sections of an essay he wrote for a newspaper in Fort Wayne, Ind., the White House confirmed Friday.

In an e-mail to The News-Sentinel, Goeglein, special assistant to the
president and deputy director of public liaison, apologizes, saying, "It is
true. I am entirely at fault. It was wrong of me. There are no excuses."

Goeglein said he has reached out to the author, Jeffery Hart,
whose 1998 writings in the Dartmouth Review he copied nearly verbatim.  "I have written to Jeff to apologize, and do so categorically and without exception,"
he says.

WASHINGTON (CNN) - U.S. Attorney General Michael Mukasey on Friday said he will not ask a federal grand jury to investigate whether two top Bush administration officials should be prosecuted for contempt of Congress.

A letter from Attorney General Michael Mukasey was issued one day after House Speaker Nancy Pelosi asked  Mukasey to look into whether White House chief of staff Josh Bolten and former White House counsel Harriet Miers committed contempt of Congress in its investigation of the 2006 firings of several U.S. attorneys.

Pelosi said the two were unresponsive to Congress's probe, while the White House argues that contempt laws don't apply to the president or any of his staffers who invoke executive privilege.

WASHINGTON (CNN) - The U.S. government Friday announced that it will not try to block a lawsuit filed by the family of an American terror victim against the Palestinian Authority. The authority wanted the United States to intervene, saying it could be driven into bankruptcy.

The lawsuit was filed by the family of Aharon Ellis, killed in a shooting in Israel in 2002. Palestinian militants claimed responsibility for the attack. His wife, Leslye Knox, an American citizen, filed the suit on her behalf and her six children as well as other relatives.

The U.S. court awarded them almost $200 million.

–From CNN's Charley Keyes

GAZA CITY (CNN) - An Israeli air strike early Saturday in northern Gaza killed Hamas commander Iyyad al-Ashram, Hamas security and medical sources told CNN.

The Israel Defense Forces had no immediate comment on the strike, which took place about midnight.

ATLANTA (CNN) - A man who was arrested in suburban Atlanta after a months-long, three-nation manhunt will be deported from the United States and returned to New Zealand to face murder charges in the death of his wife, authorities told CNN Friday.

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement took custody of Nai Yin Xue on Friday from DeKalb County, Ga., police, said spokesman Pat Reilly. ICE agents will escort him back to New Zealand, Reilly said.

Xue, believed to be in his early 50s, was arrested in Chamblee, Ga., on Thursday after residents of an apartment complex recognized him from a Chinese-language newspaper, called police and detained him until officers arrived, police said. He is accused of killing his wife, Anan Liu, 27, and stuffing her body in the trunk of a car outside the couple's Auckland, New Zealand, home last September.

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) - Senate Republicans this week thwarted efforts by their Democratic counterparts to vote on a housing stimulus bill that President Bush said would "bail out lenders and speculators."

But that doesn't mean Congress is done trying.

Democrats are likely to push ahead on legislation they argue would soften the problems caused by the growing number of foreclosures. The most controversial part of the bill would let bankruptcy judges reduce the amount of principal and interest due on some residential mortgages. Under current law, only mortgages for investment properties, vacation homes and farms may be written down for those in bankruptcy.

–By CNNMoney.com's Jeanne Sahadi

WASHINGTON (CNN) One of the most outspoken congressional critics of the administration Friday demanded answers about problems with the biggest, most expensive U.S. Embassy in the world - still under construction in Baghdad, with no moving-in date on the calendar. It is months behind schedule and poses a big problem between the State Department and Congress.

Rep. Henry Waxman, D-Calif., fired off a new letter to Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice threatening to force Rice's second in command, Deputy Secretary John Negroponte, to appear before his House Oversight and Government Reform Committee with explanations and documents to explain why the project isn't finished.

State Department spokesman Tom Casey told reporters at his midday briefing that he hadn't seen the congressman's letter but that his requests will be considered.

–From CNN Producer Charley Keyes

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) - Stocks tumbled Friday, resulting in the second worst day of 2008, after AIG's record loss added to worries about the financial sector and more weak economic news intensified fears about a recession.

According to early tallies, the Dow Jones industrial average lost about 315 points, or 2.5 percent. The broader Standard & Poor's 500 index lost 2.7 percent and the Nasdaq composite fell 2.6 percent.

Treasury prices rallied, sending yields higher, as investors sought safety in the comparatively safer haven of government debt, while the dollar held near a record low versus the euro. Oil prices dipped after topping all-time highs over $103 a barrel during the session. Gold prices jumped, too.

"It's a debacle today," said Dave Rovelli, managing director of U.S. equity trading at Canaccord Adams. "There's just no good news out there."

–By CNNMoney.com's Alexandra Twin

(CNN) - Preliminary results of an investigation show that Tuesday's massive power outage in Florida was caused by human error, Florida Power and Light President Armando Olivera said Friday.

A field engineer was diagnosing a switch that had malfunctioned at FPL's Flagami substation in west Miami. Without authorization, the engineer disabled two levels of relay protection, Olivera said.

"This was done contrary to FPL's standard procedures and established practices," he said. Standard procedures do not allow the simultaneous removal of both levels of protection.

"We don't know why the employee took it upon himself to disable both sets of relays," he added.

WASHINGTON (CNN) - A senior White House official has admitted copying large sections of an essay he wrote for a newspaper in Fort Wayne, Indiana.

In an e-mail to The News-Sentinel, Tim Goeglein, special assistant to the president and deputy director of public liaison, apologizes, saying, "It is true. I am entirely at fault. It was wrong of me. There are no excuses."

The White House press office provided the e-mail to CNN. Spokeswoman Emily Lawrimore said the White House was made aware of Goeglein's column and actions Friday morning. She would not speculate on what steps might be taken.