WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The decisions to fire eight U.S. prosecutors 'were properly made, but poorly explained,' said a former top Justice Department official set to testify before Congress on Thursday.

AP - Six decades after completing their World War II mission and coming home to a country that discriminated against them because they were black, the Tuskegee Airmen are getting high honors from Congress.

AP - More than two months after first disclosing that hackers accessed customers' financial data from its computers, discount retailer TJX Cos. has revealed that information from at least 45.7 million credit and debit cards was stolen over an 18-month period.

Reuters - The decisions to fire eight U.S. prosecutors "were properly made, but poorly explained," said a former top Justice Department official set to testify before Congress on Thursday.

CANBERRA (Reuters) - Australia will have no power to shorten any prison sentence for Guantanamo Bay detainee David Hicks under a new prisoner-exchange deal with the United States, the country's top lawmaker said on Thursday.

HAVANA (Reuters) - Cuba's convalescing leader Fidel Castro wrote a scathing article on U.S. biofuel plans published in Thursday's edition of state newspaper Granma, the 80-year-old revolutionary's first editorial since his July surgery.

TOKYO (Reuters) - Japanese scientists have developed an oral vaccine for Alzheimer's disease that has proven effective and safe in mice, the director of a research institute behind the project said on Thursday.

AP - Democrats are moving unflinchingly toward a high-stakes veto fight with President Bush over the Iraq war as the Senate wraps up work on legislation ordering combat troops home from Iraq.

AP - Flames consumed an upper floor of a high-rise residence late Wednesday, and one person jumped from the 20-story building, authorities said.

Reuters - Australia will have no power to shorten any prison sentence for Guantanamo Bay detainee David Hicks under a new prisoner-exchange deal with the United States, the country's top lawmaker said on Thursday.

Reuters - Cuba's convalescing leader Fidel Castro wrote a scathing article on U.S. use of biofuels published in Thursday's edition of state newspaper Granma, the 80-year-old revolutionary's first editorial since his July surgery.

AFP - Iran aired the first pictures of British sailors and marines captured in the Gulf last week as London pressed for access to the 15 personnel whose detention has set off a major diplomatic crisis.

AFP - Israeli Deputy Prime Minister Shimon Peres said on Thursday that Israel refused to accept the revived Arab peace initiative as it currently stands and said negotiations were needed.

LONDON (Reuters) - Britain kept up pressure on Iran on Thursday to release 15 military personnel seized last week in the northern Gulf, a standoff that has stoked Middle East tensions and sent shockwaves through the oil market.

MANAMA (Reuters) - The U.S. navy ends its largest exercise in Gulf waters since 2003 on Thursday, a spokesman for the U.S. Fifth Fleet said.

MOSUL, Iraq (Reuters) - A truck bomb in northwest Iraq this week that sparked a wave of reprisal killings was one of the largest bombs in four years of insurgent attacks, a senior U.S. officer said on Thursday.

BEIJING (Reuters) - China chided U.S. lawmakers on Thursday for resorting to threats in their latest attempt to persuade Beijing to let the yuan rise faster.

AP - U.N. chief Ban Ki-moon met Iran's foreign minister Thursday in the world body's first direct intercession in the escalating standoff between Iran and Britain over the Tehran's detention of 15 British sailors and marines.

AP - Helicopters dropped several bombs Thursday near an insurgent stronghold in Somalia's capital, just hours after a gunbattle killed at least six people, witnesses said.

AP - A resident of a burning oceanfront high-rise apartment jumped to his death from an 18th-story balcony, authorities said.

AP - Michael Phelps just can't help himself. The American set his third world record in as many days, winning the 200-meter individual medley at the world swimming championships Thursday night.

Reuters - Britain kept up pressure on Iran on Thursday to release 15 military personnel seized last week in the northern Gulf, a standoff that has stoked Middle East tensions and sent shockwaves through the oil market.

Reuters - The U.S. navy ends its largest exercise in Gulf waters since 2003 on Thursday, a spokesman for the U.S. Fifth Fleet said.

Reuters - A truck bomb in northwest Iraq this week that sparked a wave of reprisal killings was one of the largest bombs in four years of insurgent attacks, a senior U.S. officer said on Thursday.

AFP - Britain pressed Iran on Thursday for access to 15 sailors whose detention has set off a major diplomatic crisis, voicing concern after state television aired pictures of the captured personnel.

TEHRAN (Reuters) - Iran will delay the release of the only woman among 15 British military personnel detained last week if Tehran is faced with 'fuss and wrong behavior' from Britain, a senior Iranian official said on Thursday.

RIYADH (Reuters) - Arab leaders urged world powers on Thursday to use an Arab peace plan to relaunch efforts to end the Arab-Israeli conflict, and the Palestinian president warned of more violence if the 'hand of peace' was rejected.

MOSUL, Iraq (Reuters) - Policemen who took part in the reprisal shootings of scores of men in northwest Iraq this week were arrested but then freed again to prevent unrest, the provincial governor said on Thursday.

AP - Iran may delay the release of the female British sailor if Britain takes the issue to the U.N. Security Council or freezes relations, the country's top negotiator Ali Larijani said Thursday. The Foreign Office in London, meanwhile, said Britain is seeking condemnation of Iran at the United Nations.

AP - U.S. Ambassador Ryan Crocker was sworn in as the new top U.S. envoy to Iraq on Thursday, saying that he was taking over the 'most critical foreign policy mission' facing his country. A series of bomb blasts in Baghdad and its suburbs underlined how tough his job will be.

AP - Six decades after completing their World War II mission and coming home to a country that discriminated against them because they were black, the Tuskegee Airmen are getting high honors from Congress.

AP - When it came time for a Minnesota National Guardsman to kiss the bride, she was about 6,000 miles away. But that didn't matter Wednesday, as Spc. Abraham Rhode and Amanda Hart used video teleconferencing to be joined as husband and wife.

Reuters - Iran will delay the release of the only woman among 15 British military personnel detained last week if Tehran is faced with "fuss and wrong behavior" from Britain, a senior Iranian official said on Thursday.

Reuters - Arab leaders urged world powers on Thursday to use an Arab peace plan to relaunch efforts to end the Arab-Israeli conflict, and the Palestinian president warned of more violence if the "hand of peace" was rejected.

Reuters - Policemen who took part in the reprisal shootings of scores of men in northwest Iraq this week were arrested but then freed again to prevent unrest, the provincial governor said on Thursday.

AFP - Arab leaders were set on Thursday to give their final stamp of approval to a revived five-year-old blueprint for peace in the Middle East although Israel has rejected the plan as it stands.

LONDON (Reuters) - Britain sought international help to isolate Iran on Thursday in a standoff over the capture of 15 military personnel in the Gulf and Iran responded by putting off the planned release of a woman captive.

BRUSSELS (Reuters) - U.S. plans to site a missile shield in the Czech Republic and Poland sparked disagreement among lawmakers in a fierce European Parliament debate on Thursday, highlighting the risk of an EU rift over the project.

CANBERRA (Reuters) - Australia will have no power to shorten any prison sentence for Guantanamo Bay detainee David Hicks under a new prisoner-exchange deal with the United States, the country's top lawmaker said on Thursday.

MANAMA (Reuters) - The U.S. navy said on Thursday it had ordered an aircraft carrier to the Gulf to replace one of two patrolling the region, as the United States winds down naval war games on Iran's doorstep.

AP - President Bush called all House Republicans to the White House Thursday, seeking to shore up the GOP minority in Congress for his likely veto fight with Democrats over Iraq.

AP - An early spring storm swept across the Plains early Thursday, spinning off tornadoes that killed an Oklahoma couple in a home that was blown to pieces and a Colorado woman whose small town was nearly destroyed.

AP - The economy grew at a 2.5 percent pace in the final quarter of last year, healthier than previously thought but still largely caught up in a spell of sluggishness.

AP - A resident of a burning oceanfront high-rise apartment jumped to his death from an 18th-story balcony, authorities said.

AP - Six decades after completing their World War II mission and coming home to a country that discriminated against them because they were black, the Tuskegee Airmen are getting high honors from Congress.

AP - Michael Phelps set his third world record in as many days, winning the 200-meter individual medley at the world swimming championships Thursday night.

Reuters - Britain sought international help to isolate Iran on Thursday in a standoff over the capture of 15 military personnel in the Gulf and Iran responded by putting off the planned release of a woman captive.

Reuters - U.S. plans to site a missile shield in the Czech Republic and Poland sparked disagreement among lawmakers in a fierce European Parliament debate on Thursday, highlighting the risk of an EU rift over the project.

Reuters - Australia will have no power to shorten any prison sentence for Guantanamo Bay detainee David Hicks under a new prisoner-exchange deal with the United States, the country's top lawmaker said on Thursday.

Reuters - The U.S. navy said on Thursday it had ordered an aircraft carrier to the Gulf to replace one of two patrolling the region, as the United States winds down naval war games on Iran's doorstep.

AFP - Britain on Thursday took its escalating crisis with Iran over 15 captured sailors to the UN Security Council, as Tehran said it would not release the only woman among the detainees.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Senate on Thursday defied President George W. Bush by passing a war-funding bill setting a goal of withdrawing all American combat soldiers from Iraq within a year.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Defense Secretary Robert Gates said on Thursday Congress should look for ways to close the U.S. military prison at Guantanamo Bay, but said any solution must ensure some detainees would remain incarcerated for life.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Russian efforts to obtain secrets on U.S. political and military decision-making have reached levels not seen since the Cold War, the top U.S. counterintelligence official said on Thursday.

BAGHDAD, Iraq (Reuters) - At least three suicide car bombs exploded in a mainly Shi'ite town north of Baghdad on Thursday, killing at least 40, police and hospital officials said.

NAIROBI (Reuters) - Kenya charged two men on Thursday with killing two American women riding in a U.S. Embassy vehicle that was carjacked near Nairobi in January.

AP - Senate Democrats ignored a veto threat and pushed through a bill Thursday requiring President Bush to start withdrawing troops from 'the civil war in Iraq,' dealing a rare, sharp rebuke to a wartime commander in chief.

AP - Britain took its case to free its 15 sailors and marines held by Iran to the United Nations on Thursday, asking the Security Council to support a statement that would 'deplore' Tehran's action and demand their immediate release.

AP - A tornado as wide as two football fields carved a devastating path through an eastern Colorado town as a massive spring storm swept from the Rockies into the Plains, killing at least four people in three states.

AP - Attorney General Alberto Gonzales wrongly stated he was not involved in discussions about the firings of federal prosecutors, his former chief of staff told the Senate Judiciary Committee Thursday.

AP - Three car bombs struck a predominantly Shiite town north of Baghdad, killing 25 people and wounding dozens, police said.

AP - Qwest Communications International Inc., AT&T Inc. and Verizon Inc. on Thursday were awarded the government's largest telecommunications contract ever, a 10-year deal worth up to $48 billion.

AP - Irish rock star and global humanitarian Bono became a knight of the British empire Thursday — and joked that his youngest son thought he was about to become a Jedi instead.

AP - Information from at least 45.7 million credit and debit cards was stolen by hackers who accessed TJX's customer information in a security breach that the discount retailer disclosed more than two months ago.

Reuters - The Senate on Thursday defied President George W. Bush by passing a war-funding bill setting a goal of withdrawing all American combat soldiers from Iraq within a year.

Reuters - Defense Secretary Robert Gates said on Thursday Congress should look for ways to close the U.S. military prison at Guantanamo Bay, but said any solution must ensure some detainees would remain incarcerated for life.

Reuters - Russian efforts to obtain secrets on U.S. political and military decision-making have reached levels not seen since the Cold War, the top U.S. counterintelligence official said on Thursday.

Reuters - At least three suicide car bombs exploded in a mainly Shi'ite town north of Baghdad on Thursday, killing at least 40, police and hospital officials said.

Reuters - Kenya charged two men on Thursday with killing two American women riding in a U.S. Embassy vehicle that was carjacked near Nairobi in January.

AFP - Britain took the escalating crisis with Iran over 15 captured sailors to the UN Security Council Thursday, as Tehran withdrew an offer to free the only woman detainee.

AFP - The US Senate on Thursday approved a bill tying funding for the war in Iraq to a timetable for withdrawing US troops, setting the stage for a confrontation with President George W. Bush.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales' claim he was not involved in discussions about the firing of federal prosecutors was inaccurate, his former chief of staff told Congress on Thursday.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Five-and-a-half years after the September 11 attacks, President George W. Bush's war on terrorism has emerged as a wasteful, misguided exercise that poses its own threat to U.S. national security, experts say.

BAGHDAD, Iraq (Reuters) - Suicide bombers killed more than 100 people in a crowded market in a Shi'ite district of Baghdad and a mainly Shi'ite town on Thursday in an upsurge in the sectarian violence that threatens all-out civil war.

LONDON (Reuters) - A man held at the U.S. prison camp at Guantanamo Bay for more than four years, the last 12 months in solitary with only a sleeping mat and Koran, will be sent back soon to Britain, the British government said.

AP - Attorney General Alberto Gonzales falsely denied he was deeply involved in the firing of eight federal prosecutors, his former top aide said Thursday, adding that the final decision on who was to be dismissed was made by Gonzales and President Bush's former counsel.

AP - Prime Minister Tony Blair said Thursday that Britain would not negotiate over British sailors and marines held hostage by Iran. In an interview with ITV News, Blair again called for the unconditional return of the 15 Royal Navy personnel who were seized by Iranian authorities last week.

AP - Multiple suicide bombers struck in predominantly Shiite markets in Baghdad and in a town north of the capital, killing at least 104 people and wounding scores on Thursday — the day that new U.S. Ambassador Ryan Crocker took office.

AP - Republican presidential contender Rudy Giuliani says if elected, he'd be open to his wife attending Cabinet meetings on issues in which she's interested.

AP - Apple Inc., the company that popularized selling songs online for 99 cents apiece, now hopes to buoy interest in albums, giving customers credit for purchases of full albums from which they have bought individual tracks.

Reuters - U.S. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales' claim he was not involved in discussions about the firing of federal prosecutors was inaccurate, his former chief of staff told Congress on Thursday.

Reuters - Five-and-a-half years after the September 11 attacks, President George W. Bush's war on terrorism has emerged as a wasteful, misguided exercise that poses its own threat to U.S. national security, experts say.

Reuters - Suicide bombers killed more than 100 people in a crowded market in a Shi'ite district of Baghdad and a mainly Shi'ite town on Thursday in an upsurge in the sectarian violence that threatens all-out civil war.

AFP - Britain took the escalating crisis with Iran over 15 captured naval personnel to the UN Security Council Thursday, as Tehran withdrew an offer to free the only woman detainee.

LONDON (Reuters) - A war of words escalated sharply on Thursday over British sailors captured by Iran in the Gulf, with Tehran putting off freeing a female prisoner and London calling her treatment 'outrageous and cruel'.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. House of Representatives approved a $2.9 trillion budget that Democrats said imposes fiscal discipline on the federal government and that Republican opponents said will lead to huge tax increases.

BAGHDAD, Iraq (Reuters) - Suicide bombers killed nearly 130 people in a crowded market in a Shi'ite district of Baghdad and a mainly Shi'ite town on Thursday, one of the bloodiest days in Iraq in months.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Congress should explore with the White House ways to close the military prison at Guantanamo Bay while not releasing its most dangerous detainees, Defense Secretary Robert Gates said on Thursday.

AP - A tornado as wide as two football fields carved a devastating path through an eastern Colorado town as a massive spring storm swept from the Rockies into the Plains, killing at least four people in three states, authorities said Thursday.

AP - Stocks ended higher in volatile trading Thursday as investors weighed fears about mounting tension in Iran against a report that indicated better-than-expected U.S. economic growth.

AP - Baseball commissioner Bud Selig defended his sport's hardline stance with cable companies over access to out-of-market games, and received a measure of support from NBA commissioner David Stern on Thursday.

Reuters - A war of words escalated sharply on Thursday over British sailors captured by Iran in the Gulf, with Tehran putting off freeing a female prisoner and London calling her treatment "outrageous and cruel."

Reuters - The U.S. House of Representatives approved a $2.9 trillion budget that Democrats said imposes fiscal discipline on the federal government and that Republican opponents said will lead to huge tax increases.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales wrongly claimed he was not involved in the firing of federal prosecutors, his former chief of staff told Congress on Thursday.

LONDON (Reuters) - Britain ruled out negotiating with Iran over the release of 15 military personnel seized in the Gulf after Tehran put off freeing a female captive on Thursday because of London's 'wrong behavior'.

GUANTANAMO BAY U.S. NAVAL BASE, Cuba (Reuters) - The chief prosecutor at the Guantanamo tribunals bristled on Thursday at suggestions that Australian David Hicks, the only man convicted in a new U.S. military court system, was merely an al Qaeda bit player.

AP - A defiant, Democratic-controlled Senate approved legislation Thursday calling for the withdrawal of U.S. combat troops from Iraq within a year, propelling Congress closer to an epic, wartime veto confrontation with President Bush.

AP - The U.N. Security Council expressed 'grave concern' Thursday over the capture of 15 British sailors and marines and called for an early resolution of the problem, including their release.

AP - Attorney General Alberto Gonzales was briefed regularly over two years on the firings of federal prosecutors, his former top aide said Thursday, disputing Gonzales' claims he was aware of the dismissals from afar and newly undercutting his already shaky credibility.

AP - Congress and the Bush administration should work together to allow the U.S. to permanently imprison some of the more dangerous Guantanamo Bay detainees elsewhere so the facility can be closed, Defense Secretary Robert Gates said Thursday.

AP - Five suicide bombers struck Shiite marketplaces in northeast Baghdad and a town north of the capital at nightfall Thursday, killing at least 122 people and wounding more than 150 in one of Iraq's deadliest days in years.

AP - Dell Inc., one of the world's largest PC makers, said Thursday that an internal audit committee has found a number of accounting errors and evidence of misconduct in its monthslong review of previous earnings statements.

Reuters - U.S. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales wrongly claimed he was not involved in the firing of federal prosecutors, his former chief of staff told Congress on Thursday.

Reuters - Britain ruled out negotiating with Iran over the release of 15 military personnel seized in the Gulf after Tehran put off freeing a female captive on Thursday because of London's "wrong behavior."

Reuters - Suicide bombers killed nearly 130 people in a crowded market in a Shi'ite district of Baghdad and a mainly Shi'ite town on Thursday, one of the bloodiest days in Iraq in months.

Reuters - Congress should explore with the White House ways to close the military prison at Guantanamo Bay while not releasing its most dangerous detainees, Defense Secretary Robert Gates said on Thursday.

AFP - The UN Security Council on Thursday adopted a watered-down statement expressing "grave concern" at the detention of 15 British crew members by Iran but stopped well short of a Britain's call to criticize Tehran.

AFP - The US Senate tied Iraq war funding to a timetable for withdrawing US troops, on Thursday setting the stage for a bitter fight with President George W. Bush.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - China's development of modern modes of warfare including military uses of outer space and cyberspace have yielded impressive gains that require U.S. vigilance, experts told a congressional panel on Thursday.

RIYADH (Reuters) - Arab leaders on Thursday endorsed a 5-year-old peace plan to end conflict with Israel, and the Israeli prime minister said he saw a 'revolutionary change' in the Arab world.

AP - The U.N. Security Council expressed 'grave concern' Thursday over Iran's seizure of 15 British sailors and marines and called for an early resolution of the escalating dispute, but Iran's chief international negotiator suggested the captives might be put on trial.

AP - City prosecutors said Thursday they will ask a judge to revoke Paris Hilton's probation in a reckless driving case, a move that could lead to a jail term.

Reuters - The chief prosecutor at the Guantanamo tribunals bristled on Thursday at suggestions that Australian David Hicks, the only man convicted in a new U.S. military court system, was merely an al Qaeda bit player.

Reuters - China's development of modern modes of warfare including military uses of outer space and cyberspace have yielded impressive gains that require U.S. vigilance, experts told a congressional panel on Thursday.

Reuters - Arab leaders on Thursday endorsed a 5-year-old peace plan to end conflict with Israel, and the Israeli prime minister said he saw a "revolutionary change" in the Arab world.

AFP - Britain on Thursday failed to secure strong UN Security Council support for its tug-of-war with Iran over the capture and continued detention of 15 British naval personnel by Tehran.

LONDON (Reuters) - Britain was preparing a response on Friday to a note from the Iranian government about 15 British sailors and marines seized by Iran a week ago.

HUNTSVILLE, Texas (Reuters) - A man convicted of killing two drug-dealing associates was executed on Thursday after last-minute appeals and a small fire he set failed to stop the execution.

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Two accused members of a notorious New York crime family turned a strip club into a training ground for mobsters, prosecutors told the jury on Thursday in closing arguments in a Mafia extortion trial

AP - Britney Spears and Kevin Federline reached a settlement in their divorce Thursday, a spokesman for Federline's attorney said. After a five-hour meeting with their attorneys present, Spears and Federline signed 'a global settlement on all issues of their marriage,' said Michael Sands, a spokesman for Federline's attorney Mark Vincent Kaplan.

AP - Frank Young and the West Virginia Mountaineers shot past Clemson to their first NIT title in 65 years. Young scored 24 points, including six 3-pointers, and De'Sean Butler added 20 points to help West Virginia beat Clemson 78-73 in the NIT championship on Thursday night. Young was named the tournament's most outstanding player.

Reuters - Britain was preparing a response on Friday to a note from the Iranian government about 15 British sailors and marines seized by Iran a week ago.

Reuters - A man convicted of killing two drug-dealing associates was executed on Thursday after last-minute appeals and a small fire he set failed to stop the execution.

Reuters - Two accused members of a notorious New York crime family turned a strip club into a training ground for mobsters, prosecutors told the jury on Thursday in closing arguments in a Mafia extortion trial

LONDON (Reuters) - Britain will seek on Friday to step up international pressure on Iran to release 15 British sailors and marines seized a week ago, and said it would reply soon to an Iranian government message about the crisis.

RICHMOND, Virginia (Reuters) - Problems in the U.S. subprime mortgage market should not spread and the main risk remains inflation, top Federal Reserve policy-makers said on Thursday in remarks signaling no interest rate cut soon.

Reuters - Britain will seek on Friday to step up international pressure on Iran to release 15 British sailors and marines seized a week ago, and said it would reply soon to an Iranian government message about the crisis.

Reuters - Problems in the U.S. subprime mortgage market should not spread and the main risk remains inflation, top Federal Reserve policy-makers said on Thursday in remarks signaling no interest rate cut soon.

AFP - Fresh battlelines were drawn Friday as the Democratic-led US Congress and the Republican White House faced off again over Iraq after both chambers approved a timetable for withdrawing US troops.