AP - President Bush hailed a new "degree of durability" in security gains in Iraq Thursday, saying it should permit him to announce further U.S. troop reductions later this year.

AP - Exxon Mobil Corp. reported second-quarter earnings of $11.68 billion Thursday, the biggest profit from operations ever by any U.S. corporation, but the results were well short of Wall Street expectations and its shares slumped 3 percent.

AP - The country didn't get the energetic rebound in economic growth hoped for from the government's tax rebates in the second quarter, and the economy jolted into reverse at the end of 2007, raising new recession fears.

AFP - Israel on Thursday faced weeks of political turmoil after Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said he would step down in September, in a surprise move that casts a shadow over Middle East peacemaking efforts.

AFP - Radovan Karadzic, the former Bosnian Serb leader indicted for genocide and war crimes, appears Thursday for the first time before a UN tribunal since his decade-long flight from justice ended.

Reuters - Starbucks Corp posted its first quarterly loss as a public company on Wednesday and said its U.S. coffee chain would shrink in the year ahead, but investors stunned by months of uncertainty sent shares up 4 percent as it stuck by its profit target for 2009.

Reuters - The U.S. Navy said it had replaced the captain of a nuclear-powered aircraft carrier scheduled for a controversial berth in Japan after blaming him for a fire on board on the warship.

Reuters - U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates last month approved a new National Defense Strategy that recommends making fighting al Qaeda and other militant groups the top military priority in coming decades, the Washington Post reported in Thursday editions.

Reuters - California will sue the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency for "wantonly" ignoring its duty to regulate greenhouse gas emissions from ships, aircraft, and construction and agricultural equipment, state Attorney General Jerry Brown said on Wednesday.

Reuters - Al Gore, long mocked as an exaggerating bore, seems certain to land a lead role at the Democratic National Convention as an internationally recognized defender of the Earth.

Reuters - Democrat Barack Obama accused White House rival John McCain of trying on Wednesday to scare voters with attacks on his character, as McCain launched a new ad labeling Obama more of a celebrity than a leader.

Reuters - Israel's right-wing Likud leader Benjamin Netanyahu called on Thursday for a new parliamentary election after Ehud Olmert pledged to resign following his party's leadership contest in September.

AP - The Detroit Tigers sent veteran catcher Ivan Rodriguez to the New York Yankees for hard-throwing reliever Kyle Farnsworth on Wednesday, a trade that filled glaring holes for both contenders.

AP - An attorney for Britney Spears said Wednesday that he will not seek an extension for a restraining order against Osama "Sam" Lutfi, but that doesn't mean the pop star wants her former sidekick back in her life.