AP - The last ferry left for the mainland and coastal residents hunkered down at home as Hurricane Earl closed in with 115 mph winds Thursday on North Carolina's dangerously exposed Outer Banks, the first and potentially most destructive stop on the storm's projected journey up the Eastern Seaboard.

AP - Congress seems increasingly reluctant to let taxes go up, even on wealthier Americans.

AP - Congress seems increasingly reluctant to let taxes go up, even on wealthier Americans.

AP - The Coast Guard is backing off its earlier report that an oil sheen about a mile long was spreading following a platform explosion in the Gulf of Mexico.

AP - The Coast Guard is backing off its earlier report that an oil sheen about a mile long was spreading following a platform explosion in the Gulf of Mexico.

Reuters - Stocks rose on low volume on Thursday as data showed improvement in housing and the job market a day ahead of the critical monthly payrolls figures.

AP - Suriname's new president, former dictator Desi Bouterse, reassumed power Thursday after being sidelined for a week by an illness that he now confirms was a bout of dengue fever.

Reuters - Burger King Holdings Inc agreed to sell itself to investment firm 3G Capital for $3.26 billion, giving the No. 2 U.S. fast-food chain breathing room to fix its business and close the gap with leader McDonald's Corp.

AFP - The International Cricket Council said Thursday it has charged Pakistan's Salman Butt, Mohammad Aamer and Mohammad Asif with various offences under its anti-corruption code.

Reuters - Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc , the bankrupt U.S. investment bank, needs at least $550 million to keep its two bank units going as it prepares to sell them or shut them down in 18 months, court documents show.

AFP - The United States has apologised to Pakistan over "mistreatment" of a Pakistani military delegation at a US airport this week, the Pakistani defence ministry said Friday.

Reuters - Pending sales of previously owned U.S. homes rebounded unexpectedly in July and new claims for jobless benefits fell last week, helping quell fears the economy could face a double-dip recession.

AP - The former television producer who tried to blackmail David Letterman was freed Thursday after four months in jail for a plot that put a spotlight on the comic icon's office affairs, city Correction Department records show.

AP - Former Dodger CEO Jamie McCourt didn't want to take the risk associated with buying the Los Angeles Dodgers six years ago and if she had, it would have adversely affected the team, her estranged husband testified Thursday at their divorce trial.

AP - To relaunch Middle East peace talks on Thursday, the Israeli and Palestinian leaders and their American mediators quietly agreed to push aside the question of Hamas — the Islamic militant group that controls one of the two Palestinian territories and rejects negotiations.

AP - To relaunch Middle East peace talks on Thursday, the Israeli and Palestinian leaders and their American mediators quietly agreed to push aside the question of Hamas — the Islamic militant group that controls one of the two Palestinian territories and rejects negotiations.

AP - The co-worker of a woman found dead in her boyfriend's car after a fatal California police chase said Thursday that she spoke with the victim during the pursuit.

Time.com - Nine weeks before the midterm elections, Barack Obama finds himself on the wrong side of the polls. Where did all that adoration go -- and is a Republican sweep next?

Reuters - Israeli and Palestinian leaders opened direct peace talks under U.S. auspices on Thursday and agreed to meet every two weeks to try to forge a deal within a year to end a conflict that has boiled for six decades.

AP - Several current and ex-gang members lashed out at Chicago's police chief on Thursday, calling his so-called "gang summit" initiative to crack down on crime a wasted effort that will have little effect on the streets of the county's third largest city.

AFP - Europe took a big step closer on Thursday to its goal of creating cross-border financial supervisors, reaching a "crucial milestone" in efforts to reform a sector blamed for the global recession.

AP - Afghan President Hamid Karzai reassured nervous customers at the troubled Kabul Bank on Thursday, saying every penny of their deposits would be guaranteed by the government.

AP - The U.S. Justice Department sued Sheriff Joe Arpaio on Thursday, saying the Arizona lawman refused for more than a year to turn over records in an investigation into allegations his department discriminates against Hispanics.

AP - NATO said an airstrike in northern Afghanistan on Thursday killed about a dozen insurgents, but President Hamid Karzai said the victims were campaign workers seeking votes in this month's parliamentary elections.

Reuters - U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke said he was partly to blame for leaving the wrong impression that the central bank could have saved Lehman Brothers from failure in 2008.

AP - A new book claims renowned Nazi hunter Simon Wiesenthal worked for Israel's Mossad spy agency, providing information on war criminals and Germans working in Arab countries.

AP - Activists on Thursday hung posters across Cairo supporting Egypt's intelligence chief as a candidate in next year's presidential elections, the latest campaign to try to undermine a possible father-son succession in the Arab world's most populous nation.