AP - Basic cable TV looked more like a pop-culture bargain Thursday as AMC's "Mad Men" and FX's "Damages" snared historic best-series Emmy nominations, while stars from cable's less glamorous channels also made a splash in major acting categories.

AP - President Bush fondly remembered Tony Snow Thursday, telling mourners at Snow's funeral that the conservative commentator-turned-White House press secretary "amassed a rare record of accomplishment."

AP - Mississippi, Alabama and Tennessee lead the nation when it comes to obesity, a new government survey reported Thursday.

AP - Democrat Barack Obama raised $52 million last month for his presidential campaign, more than twice as much as Republican rival John McCain in a significant boost to his financial cache for the fall contest.

AP - Wall Street is surging for the second straight day as tumbling energy prices bolster an already upbeat mood in the market. The Dow Jones industrial average is up 170 points at the 11,409 level, and has been up more than 200 in afternoon trading.

AP - The first war crimes trial at Guantanamo Bay can begin Monday, a federal judge ruled, saying civilian courts should let the military process play out as Congress intended.

AFP - Two Israeli soldiers whose bodies were returned home two years after being captured by Hezbollah were to be buried on Thursday, as it emerged that they probably died when they were ambushed.

AFP - Pope Benedict XVI on Thursday delivered a stinging attack on pop culture, consumerism and "false idols" to 150,000 mainly teenaged Catholic pilgrims gathered in Australia for World Youth Day.

Reuters - Pakistani security forces backed by gunship helicopters cleared two northwestern towns of Taliban militants after 15 soldiers were killed in an ambush last weekend, the military said on Thursday.

Reuters - Colombia misused the symbol of the Red Cross in this month's military rescue of politician Ingrid Betancourt and 14 other rebel-held hostages, it said on Wednesday, admitting a possible violation of the rules of war.

Reuters - Sudan's president, accused of masterminding genocide in Darfur, might escape war crimes charges if he brings to justice two men suspected of mass killings, Western envoys said on Wednesday.

Reuters - The United States fails on most measures of health care quality, with Americans waiting longer to see doctors and more likely to die of preventable or treatable illnesses than people in other industrialized countries, a report released on Thursday said.

Reuters - U.S.-led coalition troops have killed eight Afghan civilians in an air strike in the western province of Farah during a raid against suspected militants, the U.S. military said.

Reuters - The United States said on Wednesday it was sending an envoy to join nuclear talks with Iran to signal to Tehran and others that Washington wanted a diplomatic solution to the impasse.