Reuters - Nearly 300 people have been arrested in a 3-1/2 month national coordinated mortgage-fraud probe to be disclosed on Thursday, a U.S. Justice Department official said.

Reuters - U.S. telephone companies that cooperated with President George W. Bush's warrantless domestic spying program could be shielded from lawsuits under a electronic spy bill finalized on Thursday by congressional and White House negotiators.

Reuters - Two former Bear Stearns hedge fund managers were arrested and indicted on securities fraud charges on Thursday following a federal criminal probe into the collapse of two funds they oversaw.

Reuters - Democrat Barack Obama said on Thursday he would forego public financing of his general election campaign against Republican John McCain, reversing an earlier stance and positioning himself to outspend McCain in the White House race.

Reuters - As President George W. Bush prepared to tour flood-ravaged Iowa on Thursday, Midwesterners awaited promised federal aid to help recover from an economic body blow to the nation's midsection from the worst flooding in 15 years.

AP - The NHL is threatening to kick the owners of the New York Rangers out of the league or force them to sell the team as punishment for accusing league officials of violating antitrust laws.

AP - Jamie Lynn Spears gave birth to a baby girl Thursday morning at a south Mississippi hospital.

AP - Yahoo Inc. is offering free e-mail accounts under two new designations in an effort to attract Web surfers unhappy with their current addresses.

AP - In a cramped, humid laboratory in London, mosquitoes swarming in stacked, net-covered cages are being scrutinized for keys to controlling malaria.

AP - Guns went quiet as a six-month truce between Israel and Gaza Strip militants took effect early Thursday, but there was widespread skepticism about its ability to hold.

AP - Iraqi troops on Thursday arrested the top official in Amarah, a Muqtada al-Sadr loyalist, officials said, drawing swift condemnations from followers of the anti-U.S. cleric and raising tensions as a military operation against Shiite militias got under way.

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.