AFP - US President George W. Bush praised Italy Thursday for moving to take a broader security role in Afghanistan and said he was open to a wider diplomatic role for Rome in the Iran nuclear standoff.

The Christian Science Monitor - Imprisoned terror suspects at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, won a major legal victory on Thursday when the US Supreme Court ruled that they have the right to petition US courts challenging the legality of their open-ended detention.

AP - The toll from salmonella-tainted tomatoes jumped to 228 illnesses Thursday as the government learned of five dozen previously unknown cases and said it is possible the food poisoning contributed to a cancer patient's death.

AP - John McCain is bullish on free trade. The country isn't. Yet McCain doesn't miss many opportunities to reproach Democratic presidential rival Barack Obama's emerging opposition to international trade deals.

AP - For all the older supporters of Hillary Rodham Clinton who may have been depressed, deflated, wistful or angry about her exit from the presidential race, there's an upbeat 17-year-old who doesn't feel the dream of a woman in the Oval Office has slipped away.

AP - In a campaign dominated by the economy and the Iraq War, the Supreme Court's 5-4 ruling Thursday on detainees at Guantanamo marks a forceful reminder that John McCain promises one course and Barack Obama pledges another in picking future justices.

AP - Having worn down Barack Obama in one dispute this week, Republican operatives are helping John McCain hit other targets, sometimes without waiting for his cue.

AP - People around the globe widely expect the next American president to improve the country's policies toward the rest of the world, especially if Barack Obama is elected, yet they retain a persistently poor image of the U.S., according to a poll released Thursday.

AP - Democrat Barack Obama's campaign said Thursday that Michelle Obama never used the word "whitey" in a speech from the church pulpit as it launched a Web site to debunk rumors about him and his wife.

AP - New York Gov. David Paterson says the redevelopment of the World Trade Center site is over budget and behind schedule.