AP - Barack Obama turned to a team of advisers that shaped America's economy in happier days to fashion fresh ideas for calming the stomach-churning financial crisis that has thundered from Wall Street to Main Street.

AP - Congress promised quick action on a plan to buy up toxic assets, such as bad mortgages, held by troubled banks and other institutions, hoping to lift the nation out of its worst financial crisis in decades.

AFP - Zimbabwe's leaders failed Thursday to agree on who will get which key ministries in a new unity government and have referred the matter to negotiators, days after signing a historic power-sharing deal.

AFP - World central banks took unprecedented action Thursday to flood desperately tight money markets with dollars as investors worried who the next victim of the global financial turmoil could be.

Reuters - The Pentagon is taking a close look at its war strategy in Afghanistan in the face of rising violence from an increasingly complex insurgency, Defense Secretary Robert Gates said on Thursday.

Reuters - Neither Barack Obama nor John McCain is known for economic expertise but it's a safe bet that managing the fallout from the financial industry's meltdown will be a top priority for the next U.S. president.

Reuters - Yemeni authorities have arrested 30 people suspected of belonging to al Qaeda following an attack on the heavily fortified U.S. embassy in Sanaa, a security source said on Thursday.

Reuters - The world's top central banks joined forces on Thursday to throw a multi-billion dollar lifeline to global markets in a dramatic effort to free up bank-to-bank lending frozen by upheavals on Wall Street.

Reuters - Morgan Stanley topped the list of major financial companies scrambling to find a buyer as its shares tumbled another 35 percent, while central banks rushed in $180 billion in extra liquidity to calm panicked stock and money markets.

Reuters - Republican presidential nominee John McCain said on Thursday a top Bush administration official should be fired for failing to regulate Wall Street and allowing markets to be used as a casino.

AP - Scientists plan to use satellite photos to count Giant Kangaroo Rats, the first-ever monitoring of an endangered species from outer space.

AP - Brad Pitt has donated $100,000 to fight California's November ballot initiative that would overturn the state Supreme Court decision legalizing same-sex marriage.