AFP - Oil prices jumped back above 122 dollars on Thursday as traders tracked geopolitical tensions between the United States and Russia, a weak dollar and a large drop in US motor fuel reserves.

Reuters - Tropical Storm Fay came ashore on the Florida coast for the third time in less than a week on Thursday, bringing more of the torrential rain that has flooded hundreds of homes.

AP - State TV says Iran's space agency aims to send an astronaut to space within 10 years.

AP - Officials who had planned to euthanize an injured and abandoned baby whale postponed the operation Thursday night after being unable to find the animal in the dark waters off north Sydney.

AP - Democrat Barack Obama pledged Wednesday to create millions of union jobs in alternative energy and end tax breaks for companies that move jobs overseas, using tough new populist language to convince voters that he, not rival John McCain, is best positioned to lift the limping U.S. economy.

AFP - New Zealand's mysterious colossal squid, the largest of the feared and legendary species ever caught, was not the T-Rex of the oceans but a lethargic blob, new research suggests.

AP - Monsoon rains pummeled northern India, bringing dozens of buildings crashing down and killing 74 people, police said Thursday.

LiveScience.com - Before his body froze and mummified, a now-famous Neolithic guy dubbed the Iceman took his last steps while donned in a coat and leggings made of sheep's fur and moccasins made of cattle leather. That was more than 5,000 years ago.

AP - Negotiators meet in Ghana this week to resume work on a new climate change treaty and discuss ways to prod developing countries to join the fight against global warming.

AP - An Australian environmental official says an abandoned baby whale that has been attempting to suckle boats in the waters off north Sydney will be euthanized.

AP - A fast-growing vine that's left parts of Indiana beneath tangles of greenery is coming under assault as the state ramps up its efforts to kill the leafy invader.