 AP - The number of people signing up for unemployment benefits dropped to the lowest level in two months, an encouraging sign that companies aren't resorting to deeper layoffs even as the economy has lost momentum.
 AP - FBI agents visited Thursday with a minister of a small Florida church that plans to burn the Quran on Sept. 11, as public safety became a paramount concern and President Barack Obama added his voice to the chorus of opposition.
 AP - Iran said Thursday it will free one of three Americans jailed for more than 13 months in an act of clemency to mark the end of the Islamic holy month of Ramadan.
AP - A federal appeals court on Thursday permitted federal funding of stem cell research to proceed for now, while it considers a judge's ruling that had temporarily shut off the funds.
 AP - Hundreds of residents evacuated by a wildfire that has destroyed at least 169 houses in the Colorado foothills were being temporarily allowed back to their homes Thursday.
AP - The U.S. military is revealing it was close to launching fighter jets - and briefly discussed a possible shoot-down - after an errant Navy drone wandered into restricted air space near the nation's capital last month.
 AP - Apple Inc. on Thursday gave software developers the guidelines it uses to determine which programs can be sold in its App Store, yet it reserved for itself broad leeway in deciding what makes the cut.
 AP - John Travolta was onto something. Women are most attracted to male dancers who have big, flamboyant moves similar to the actor's trademark style, British scientists say in a new study.
 AP - Britney Spears denied a bodyguard's accusations that she sexually harassed him and abused her children, saying Thursday in a statement on her website that authorities looked into his claims but found no reason to act.
 AP - New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady is practicing with the team after being involved in a two-car accident near his home.
 Reuters - New U.S. claims for unemployment benefits fell more than expected last week to a two-month low, while the trade deficit narrowed sharply in July, hopeful signs for the stuttering economic recovery.
 Reuters - President Barack Obama warned on Thursday that an obscure U.S. Christian pastor's plan to burn the Koran could provoke al Qaeda suicide bombings, as international pressure mounted on Washington to step in.
 Reuters - U.S. Marines boarded and seized a commercial German vessel in the Gulf of Aden that had been attacked and boarded by pirates a day earlier, the U.S. Fifth Fleet said in a statement on Thursday.
Reuters - New U.S. reforms are poised to dramatically shift the nation's healthcare spending, not only curbing Medicare costs but also pumping more money toward the private sector as roughly 32 million people gain coverage.
Reuters - Nine years after the September 11 attacks, visible progress is finally being made toward rebuilding the World Trade Center site known as Ground Zero.
Reuters - A U.S. appeals court granted on Thursday an Obama administration request for a temporary stay that lifts a judge's ban on federal funding of research involving human embryonic stem cells.
 Reuters - Iran will release on Saturday one of three detained American citizens accused of espionage, an official told Reuters on Thursday.
Reuters - British Members of Parliament (MPs) will next week grill outgoing BP Plc Chief Executive Tony Hayward, as part of an investigation into risks around deepwater drilling in the North Sea.
 AFP - The US administration is weighing a possible direct appeal to a Florida pastor to ask him to call off plans to burn hundreds of Korans, the Pentagon said Thursday.
 AFP - Iran said it will free a detained American on Saturday, raising hopes that the Islamic republic will soon release all three US hikers it has held for more than a year.
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