Here's what's happening across the United States and around the world today.
Voters in Scotland reject independence in historic vote with unprecedented turnout
Scottish voters have resoundingly rejected independence, deciding to remain part of the United Kingdom after a historic referendum that shook the country to its core.
The decision prevented a rupture of a 307-year union with England, bringing a huge sigh of relief to Britain's economic and political establishment, including Prime Minister David Cameron, who faced calls for his resignation if Scotland had broken away.
The vote on Thursday — 55 percent against independence to 45 percent in favor — saw an unprecedented turnout of just under 85 percent.
"We have chosen unity over division," Alistair Darling, head of the No campaign, said early Friday in Glasgow. "Today is a momentous day for Scotland and the United Kingdom as a whole."
Independence leader Alex Salmond's impassioned plea to launch a new nation fell short, with Scots choosing instead the security of remaining in union with England, Wales and Northern Ireland. Still, the result establishes a whole new political dynamic in the United Kingdom, with Cameron appearing outside No. 10 Downing Street to pledge more powers for regional governments.
U.S. & World
Stories that affect your life across the U.S. and around the world.
Alibaba poised for stock market stardom as it begins trading on the NYSE, could raise $25B
Chinese e-commerce powerhouse Alibaba will say "open sesame" to the New York Stock Exchange on Friday, as its shares begin trading in a highly anticipated debut that could raise up to $25 billion.
The company priced its initial public offering of stock Thursday evening at $68 per share, the top end of the expected price range, according to Alibaba. The shares will trade under the ticker "BABA" on the NYSE. The IPO values Alibaba at $167.62 billion. That's bigger than the current market value of companies such as Amazon, Cisco, and eBay.
The company has enjoyed a surge in U.S. popularity over the past two weeks as investors met with executives, including its colorful founder Jack Ma. As part of the so-called roadshow, would-be investors heard a sales pitch that centered on Alibaba's strong revenue growth and seemingly endless possibilities for expansion. Demand has been so high that the company raised its expected offering price to $66 to $68 per share from $60 to $66 per share on Monday, setting the stage for what could be the biggest ever IPO.
Alibaba said it is offering 320.1 million shares for a total offering size of $21.77 billion. Underwriters have a 30-day option to buy up to about 48 million more shares. That means the offering size could be as much as $25 billion.
The main reason investors appear breathless about the 15-year old Alibaba: It offers an investment vehicle that taps into China's burgeoning middle-class.
Islamic State plot to conduct beheadings in Australia raises questions about group's reach
The Islamic State plot to carry out random beheadings in Sydney alleged by police is a simple and barbaric scheme that has shaken Australians. But terrorism experts on Friday questioned whether the ruthless movement had the capacity or inclination to sustain a terror campaign so far from the Middle East.
Police said they thwarted such a plot by detaining suspects and raiding more than a dozen properties across Sydney on Thursday.
The Islamic State militant group has beheaded three Westerners in the Middle East in recent weeks and recorded the brutal slayings to make propaganda videos widely condemned.
Two of the 15 people whom police had detained Thursday have been charged. Nine were freed before the day was over, and the rest released on Friday.
Prime Minister Tony Abbott conceded it was difficult to safeguard the Australian population against such attacks.
Millennia-old archaeological sites in Iraq and Syria face looting, destruction under militants
For more than 5,000 years, numerous civilizations have left their mark on upper Mesopotamia — from Assyrians and Akkadians to Babylonians and Romans. Their ancient, buried cities, palaces and temples packed with monumental art are scattered across what is now northern Iraq and eastern Syria.
Now much of that archaeological wealth is under the control of extremists from the Islamic State group. The militants have demolished some artifacts in their zealotry to uproot what they see as heresy, but they are also profiting from it, hacking relics off palace walls or digging them out to sell on the international black market.
Antiquities officials in Iraq and Syria warn of a disaster as the region's history is erased.
In Iraq, black market dealers are coming into areas controlled by the Islamic State group or in safe regions nearby to snap up items, said Qais Hussein Rashid, head of the state-run Museums Department, citing reports from local antiquities officials still in the area.
When the militants overran the northern city of Mosul and surrounding Ninevah province in June, they captured a region were nearly 1,800 of Iraq's 12,000 registered archaeological sites are located. They snapped up even more as they pushed south toward Baghdad.
Convicted felon shoots, kills his 6 grandchildren, daughter, himself in small Florida town
A man who spent time in prison a decade ago for the shooting death of his young son killed six of his grandchildren, including an infant, his adult daughter and himself in a rampage at a home where authorities in the small Florida town say they had been called to in the past.
The shooter, 51-year-old Don Spirit, called 911 Thursday afternoon to say he might harm himself or others, Gilchrist County Sheriff Robert Schultz said at a news conference. When a deputy arrived, Spirit committed suicide and authorities then found the seven gunshot victims "all over on the property," Schultz said.
Schultz wouldn't say if a weapon was recovered or what sort was used. He didn't have a motive for the massacre but said deputies had been to the home in the past for various reasons.
"There's still a lot of unanswered questions. There's going to be questions that we're never going to get answered," he said.
Schultz also did not say if slain 28-year-old Sarah Lorraine Spirit was the mother of any of the two boys and four girls, some of whom spent a lot of time at the rural home.
Congress OKs aid to Syrian rebels fighting Islamic State militants, sends measure to Obama
Legislation requested by President Barack Obama authorizing the military to arm and train moderate Syrian rebels fighting Islamic State militants in the Middle East is headed for his signature after a sweeping Senate vote.
The bipartisan 78-22 tally Thursday blended support from Obama's close Democratic allies and some of his fiercest GOP critics, including top Senate Republican Mitch McConnell of Kentucky. It put leading contenders for the 2016 GOP presidential nomination on opposite sides. Some of Obama's liberal allies defected.
The legislation also provides funding for the government after the end of the budget year on Sept. 30, eliminating any threat of a shutdown in the run-up to November elections that will seat a new House and decide control of the Senate. The House approved the bill on Wednesday.
Obama said the support from both Republicans and Democrats "shows the world that Americans are united" in combating the Islamic State group. He said the militants thought they could frighten or intimidate Americans, but the Senate vote had showed them they were wrong.
"As Americans, we do not give in to fear," Obama said. "We pull together. We stand together."
Home Depot says data breach affected 56 million debit and credit cards, malware eliminated
Home Depot said Thursday that a data breach that lasted for months at its stores in the U.S. and Canada affected 56 million debit and credit cards, far more than a pre-Christmas 2013 attack on Target customers.
The size of the theft at Home Depot trails only that of TJX Companies' heist of 90 million records disclosed in 2007. Target's breach compromised 40 million credit and debit cards.
Home Depot, the nation's largest home improvement retailer, said that the malware used in the data breach that took place between April and September has been eliminated.
It said there was no evidence that debit PIN numbers were compromised or that the breach affected stores in Mexico or customers who shopped online at Homedepot.com. It said it has also completed a "major" payment security project that provides enhanced encryption of customers' payment data in the company's U.S. stores.
But unlike Target's breach, which sent the retailer's sales and profits falling as wary shoppers went elsewhere, customers seem to have stuck with Atlanta-based Home Depot. Still, the breach's ultimate cost to the company remains unknown. Greg Melich, an analyst at International Strategy & Investment Group LLC, estimates the costs will run in the several hundred million dollars, similar to Target's breach.
Chinese dissident artist Ai Weiwei blasts government but is hopeful about youth
BEIJING (AP) — China's best-known artist dissident Ai Weiwei blasted his country's Communist government for losing its principles and using underhanded ploys to try to silence critics.
The bearded artist, whose supporters say he was hit with a $2.4 million tax bill in retribution for his outspokenness and activism, also criticized fellow Chinese artists for failing to speak up while he was singled out.
Yet Ai said he was optimistic about the country's younger generation in an exclusive interview with The Associated Press this week at his Beijing studio, where he talked about the English-language version of a Danish documentary released this week about his tax case.
"Before, I was naive enough to think that a political regime, a strong society, would never use unsavory means in legal cases. If you bring a charge against someone, you do it in the normal way. You should not defame and frame someone and silence their voice," Ai said.
The outspoken artist has been virtually silenced in China over the past couple of years, though he occasionally speaks to foreign journalists, and Ai said he was warned by police not to conduct this week's interview or face unspecified consequences.
French president: First French airstrike destroys depot of Islamic State group in Iraq
France announced Friday it had conducted its first airstrike in Iraq and had destroyed a logistics depot held by the Islamic State group.
The office of President Francois Hollande said Rafale fighter jets struck the depot in northeastern Iraq on Friday morning and the target was "entirely destroyed."
"Other operations will follow in the coming days," said Hollande's office in a statement. It did not elaborate on the type of material at the depot or its exact location.
At a news conference a day earlier, Hollande said France had agreed to "soon" conduct airstrikes requested by Iraq to bolster its fight against IS fighters who have captured swaths of the country.
He stressed that France wouldn't go beyond airstrikes in support of the Iraqi military or Kurdish Peshmerga forces, and wouldn't attack targets in Syria, where IS has also captured territory.
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