AP - A private business group says its index of leading economic indicators inched higher for the second month in another sign that higher fuel and food prices, tighter credit and a depressed housing market are stifling the economy.
AP - The Democratic-led Congress finally appears ready to give President Bush his request for $162 billion in long-overdue funds for military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan.
AP - Two former Bear Stearns managers were arrested Thursday on securities fraud and other charges linked to the collapse of a hedge fund that bet heavily on subprime mortgages before the market collapsed, federal authorities said.
AP - Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama said Thursday he'll bypass the federal public financing system in the general election, abandoning an earlier commitment to take the money if his Republican rival did as well.
AFP - Afghan and NATO forces cleared Taliban militants from villages near Kandahar on Thursday, killing or wounding hundreds of rebels in a major operation, a provincial governor said.
AFP - A fragile truce between Israel and the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas came into force in the Gaza Strip on Thursday amid scepticism over how long the Egyptian-brokered deal would hold.
Reuters - Four U.S. helicopter engines worth more
than $13 million have been stolen while they were being trucked
from Afghanistan to a port in Pakistan to be shipped home, the
U.S. military said.
Reuters - Iraqi security forces launched a
crackdown on Shi'ite militias in the southern city of Amara on
Thursday, the latest drive in Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki's
campaign to restore order to Iraq.
Reuters - China has evacuated more than
70,000 people near the epicenter of last month's devastating
earthquake to avoid further casualties from landslides and
other disasters during the annual flood season.
Reuters - Iran said on Thursday it was ready to
negotiate over a new package of economic incentives put forward
by major powers seeking to persuade Tehran to curb its nuclear
work.
Reuters - Zimbabwe's opposition MDC has launched
an urgent court action to appeal a state-media ban on its
advertisements and cover of the party ahead of next week's
presidential run-off election, a spokesman said on Thursday.
Reuters - Afghan and NATO-led
forces cleared out Taliban militants from the outskirts of
Kandahar city on Thursday, killing or wounding hundreds of the
insurgents, the provincial governor said.
Reuters - Israel and Hamas halted fighting in the
Gaza Strip on Thursday but, with peace prospects dim, both
sides voiced doubt over how long the Egyptian-brokered
cease-fire might hold.
Reuters - Volunteers and relief workers
fortified levees on the rising Mississippi River on Thursday to
prevent more flooding that has caused billion-dollar losses and
ignited global food inflation fears.
