AP - The nation's top economic officials urged Congress on Thursday to give them new regulatory tools to better protect the country from economic and financial havoc if a major Wall Street firm were to fail.

AP - Forecasters say Hurricane Bertha has weakened to a Category 1 storm as it heads toward Bermuda, but could restrengthen in the next 24 hours.

AP - Firefighters worked overnight to keep flames from reaching more homes after a lightning-sparked wildfire advanced early Thursday in California's Sierra Nevada foothills.

AP - The family of Jon Benet Ramsey still holds out hope the 6-year-old beauty queen's killer will be found, her aunt said Thursday, a day after prosecutors cleared the girl's father, brother, and deceased mother in her slaying.

AP - Going after the women's vote, Democrat Barack Obama chastised Republican John McCain on Thursday over his opposition to an equal-pay Senate bill, his support for conservative-leaning Supreme Court justices and his abortion-rights objections.

AP - President Bush signed a bill Thursday that overhauls rules about government eavesdropping and grants immunity to telecommunications companies that helped the U.S. spy on Americans in suspected terrorism cases.

AP - The man accused of a courthouse shooting rampage that left four people dead pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity Thursday as his trial began amid high security, more than three years after prosecutors say he confessed in the killings.

AP - The buzz of an outboard motor sends pelicans skyward as Charlie Hopkins' skiff glides along the Ohio River to paddlefish nets placed beneath the murky surface.

AP - Laurel Ranticelli considered driving 40 miles round-trip to take education classes at the University of Massachusetts campus in Amherst. Then she realized she could take the same courses from her computer at home and save on fuel costs.

AP - Massachusetts Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, battling a brain tumor, walked through a wall of applause and into the Senate on Wednesday and cast a dramatic, decisive vote on long-stalled Medicare legislation.

AP - Barack Obama stoked vice presidential speculation Wednesday with an unannounced stop at the Washington law firm of a search team member and then flying on his campaign jet to New York fundraisers with potential pick Hillary Rodham Clinton and a second vetter.