Reuters - The pace of global warming continues unabated, scientists said on Thursday, despite images of Europe crippled by a deep freeze and parts of the United States blasted by blizzards.

Reuters - Mounting diplomatic fury over the killing of a top Hamas commander in a Dubai hotel reached Australia on Thursday, with Israel's ambassador summoned over the use of Australian passports by a suspected assassination squad.

Reuters - North Korea threatened to attack South Korean and U.S. forces for scheduled joint military drills in March even as nuclear envoys picked up the pace of work to get stalled disarmament talks back on track.

Reuters - China's military warned the United States on Thursday to "speak and act cautiously" to avoid reigniting tensions between the two powers, denying the People's Liberation Army played a part in Internet hacking.

Reuters - The Senate passed a modest jobs-creation bill on Wednesday and laid the groundwork for a larger package that would advance Democrats' goal of bringing down the stubbornly high unemployment rate.

Reuters - President Barack Obama launches a last-ditch bid to salvage his stalled healthcare overhaul on Thursday at a televised summit that could offer more potential for political theater than problem solving.

Reuters - Toyota Motor Corp's president apologized to U.S. lawmakers and ended the day in tears, marking a potential climax to his company's safety crisis but leaving it with a long road to rebuild its reputation.

AP - A powerful winter storm dumped a foot or more of snow in the Northeast on Wednesday, knocking out power to thousands and stalling air traffic from Boston to Philadelphia, all ahead of a second system packing strong winds that could blanket the area with another foot of snow.

AP - Canada didn't need a complex game plan to wear down its biggest nemesis or punish Alex Ovechkin. Canada simply needed to be Canada.

AP - Tim Urban tripped up his second shot at "American Idol" fame.

AP - A man accused of wounding two middle school students in a community still haunted by the Columbine massacre often talked to himself and imaginary friends — and that talk recently turned to yelling, his father said.

AP - India and Pakistan held high-level peace talks Thursday for the first time since the 2008 Mumbai attacks in an effort to rebuild confidence and reduce tensions between the nuclear-armed rivals.

AP - Fidel Castro is "exceptionally well" and appears recovered from a health crisis that has kept him out of the public eye for more than 3 1/2 years, Brazil's president said Wednesday, according to reports by his country's news media.