AP - Iraqi and American negotiators have completed a draft agreement that extends the legal basis for U.S. troops to remain in Iraq beyond the end of this year, while calling for them to move out of Iraqi cities as soon as June 30, Iraqi and American officials told The Associated Press.
AP - A jetliner heading to the popular Canary Islands vacation resort crashed during takeoff Wednesday, turning a wooded area off the end of a runway into a hellish scene of charred bodies and smoldering wreckage. Some 153 were believed dead — Spain's worst air disaster in nearly 25 years.
AP - Sen. Joe Biden's emergence at the center of speculation about who will be Barack Obama's running mate may say more about Obama's challenges in the presidential race than it does about the final selection.
AP - Tropical Storm Fay lumbered offshore for what was likely to be a brief stay over the Atlantic Ocean's energizing waters after flooding hundreds of homes, trapping residents and leaving much of Florida a soggy mess.
AP - Democratic U.S. Rep. Stephanie Tubbs Jones, the first black woman to represent Ohio in Congress and a strong critic of the Iraq war, died Wednesday after a brain hemorrhage, a hospital spokeswoman said.
AP - U.S.-led coalition troops battled a group of militants in eastern Afghanistan, killing over 30 insurgents, while three NATO soldiers were killed in a roadside blast elsewhere, officials said Thursday.
AP - The U.S. cruise missile strike on an al-Qaida training camp in Afghanistan in 1998 was meant to kill Osama bin Laden. But he apparently left shortly before the missiles struck, and newly declassified U.S. documents suggest the attack cemented an alliance with his Taliban protectors.
AP - The Chinese and the wretched Beijing weather were no match for Misty May-Treanor and "Six Feet of Sunshine." May-Treanor and Kerri Walsh won their second consecutive gold medal in beach volleyball Thursday, playing through a steady and sometimes driving rain to beat China in straight sets and extend their winning streak to 108 matches in a row.
AP - Baseball umpires and management signed an agreement Wednesday that will allow the sport to start using instant replay to help determine calls on the field. Major League Baseball still hasn't determined when the use of replays will start.
Reuters - Democrat Barack Obamaand Republican John McCain dodged questions about their loomingvice presidential picks on Wednesday as they renewed theirbattle over who has the best judgment on national security andthe economy.
Reuters - A Spanish jet heading for the CanaryIslands crashed on takeoff and burst into flames at Madridairport on Wednesday, killing 153 of the people on board, thegovernment said.
Reuters - Three soldiers from the NATO-led forcewere killed in a roadside bomb blast in eastern Afghanistan,the alliance said on Thursday, the latest foreign casualties ina week of rising violence.
Reuters - Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac shares plunged to their lowest levels in almost 20years on Wednesday, while the mortgage companies' bonds ralliedon the belief that an increasingly likely government bailoutwould wipe out shareholders but secure their massive debt.
Reuters - California's attorney general isreviewing a request by former employees of IndyMac Bancorp Inc to investigate whether a New York senator triggeredthe bank's collapse by releasing confidential information.
Reuters - A Dutchman who had been given only aslim chance of survival after being diagnosed with leukemia wonone of the Olympics most grueling events on Thursday, themarathon open-water swim.
Reuters - U.S. Rep. Stephanie Tubbs Jones, anOhio Democrat who was one of the few dissenting voices inCongress during the 2003 invasion of Iraq, died on Wednesdayafter a brain aneurysm, a hospital spokeswoman said.
Reuters - Russia came under mounting Westernpressure to meet its own self-imposed Friday deadline forpulling its forces out of Georgia but there was little sign ofany large-scale withdrawal of troops.
AFP - Investigators Thursday sought to determine what caused a Spanish tourist jet to break up in flames as it took off from Madrid's airport, killing 153 people in the country's worst air disaster in decades.
AFP - Moscow moved closer Wednesday to recognising the independence of two Georgian separatist regions at the centre of Caucasus conflict -- as a diplomatic onslaught with its former Cold War rivals gathered pace.
