AFP - A fragile truce came into force in the Gaza Strip on Thursday amid scepticism over how long the Egyptian-brokered deal between Israel and the Islamist Hamas movement would hold.
Reuters - Americans cut down on the number of
miles they drove for the sixth straight month in April,
resulting in the biggest six-month decline since the oil shock
of the 1979-80 Iranian revolution, new government data shows.
Reuters - The world has recognized that
violence against women during conflicts affects nations'
security and stability, U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza
Rice told the U.N. Security Council on Thursday.
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 - 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 - 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.
