HONG KONG (Reuters) - A rout in Asia pushed world stocks to their lowest in 5- years on Thursday, while oil fell to below $53 a barrel and safe havens such as the yen gained as economic data indicated a global recession could get even uglier.

(Reuters) - The U.S. financial system still needs at least $1 trillion to $1.2 trillion of tangible common equity to restore confidence and improve liquidity in the credit markets, Friedman Billings Ramsey analyst Paul Miller said.

BOSTON (Reuters) - Wall Street's pain is rippling through U.S. small businesses, as bankers who once pulled in million-dollar bonuses lose their jobs and cut back spending on everything from parties to home improvements.

AP - Pounded by a fierce financial crisis, the country is sinking deeper into economic despair and is likely to be in the hole well into next year, forcing more Americans into the ranks of the unemployed.

AP - The Dallas Mavericks didn't need Josh Howard as much as the Houston Rockets missed Yao Ming on Wednesday night.

Reuters - A rout in Asia pushed world stocks to their lowest in 5- years on Thursday, while oil fell to below $53 a barrel and safe havens such as the yen gained as economic data indicated a global recession could get even uglier.

Reuters - The U.S. financial system still needs at least $1 trillion to $1.2 trillion of tangible common equity to restore confidence and improve liquidity in the credit markets, Friedman Billings Ramsey analyst Paul Miller said.

Reuters - Wall Street's pain is rippling through U.S. small businesses, as bankers who once pulled in million-dollar bonuses lose their jobs and cut back spending on everything from parties to home improvements.

AFP - Asian stocks tumbled Thursday as global economic gloom deepened following a plunge in Japanese exports and a warning from the Federal Reserve that the United States could be in recession next year.

HONG KONG (Reuters) - A 6 percent fall in Asia pushed world stocks to their lowest in 5- years on Thursday, while oil fell below $53 and safe havens such as the yen gained on fears the global recession and a financial crisis will get uglier.

TOKYO/BEIJING (Reuters) - Japan's exports to Asia fell in October for the first time since 2002, showing that the fallout from the credit crisis has spread to neighbors such as China and adding momentum to investors' flight to the safety of cash.

SINGAPORE (Reuters) - Oil fell for a fifth straight session to approach $50 a barrel on Thursday as the fallout from the credit crisis hits the global economy, crimping demand for fuel.

ISLAMABAD (Reuters) - Pakistan summoned U.S. ambassador Anne Patterson on Thursday to receive a formal protest over missile strikes launched by pilotless drone aircraft against militant targets on Pakistani soil, a Pakistani foreign ministry official said.

AP - President-elect Barack Obama promised the voters change but has started his Cabinet selection process by naming several Washington insiders to top posts.

AP - Astronauts vowed to double-check, even triple-check, to make sure a bag of tools is properly tied down during a spacewalk Thursday so it doesn't float away like one did earlier this week.

Reuters - A 6 percent fall in Asia pushed world stocks to their lowest in 5- years on Thursday, while oil fell below $53 and safe havens such as the yen gained on fears the global recession and a financial crisis will get uglier.

Reuters - Chances dimmed that a last-minute plan being crafted by Republican senators, with White House support, to provide $25 billion to bail out U.S. automakers would receive enough backing from Democrats to pass before the end of this week.

Reuters - Oil fell for a fifth straight session to approach $50 a barrel on Thursday as the fallout from the credit crisis hits the global economy, crimping demand for fuel.

AFP - Global markets suffered fresh turmoil Thursday, with Asian stocks plunging as a sharp drop in Japanese exports added to gloom about the outlook for the faltering global economy.

AFP - Russia announced Thursday it would send more warships to combat piracy in the waters around Somalia, as the Saudi owners of the Sirius Star negotiated with the pirates holding their oil tanker.

LONDON (Reuters) - Global economic misery spread on Thursday with the Federal Reserve predicting U.S. recession well into 2009, Japan's exports to Asia falling for the first time in six years and another sharp sell-off on global equity markets.

LONDON (Reuters) - World stocks dropped to 5-1/2 year lows and oil hit 22-month troughs as investors reacted to dire Federal Reserve warnings on the economy and fears about the viability of major U.S. auto makers and bank giant Citigroup.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Chances dimmed that a last-minute plan being crafted by Republican senators, with White House support, to provide $25 billion to bail out U.S. automakers would receive enough backing from Democrats to pass before the end of this week.

BAGHDAD (Reuters) - A pact allowing U.S. troops to stay in Iraq for three more years has a chance of being approved by parliament despite some heated opposition, Foreign Minister Hoshiyar Zebari said on Thursday.

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - A Missouri woman established a fake identity online to torment a vulnerable teenage girl who later committed suicide, federal prosecutors said on Wednesday in a trial that is being closely watched by the burgeoning social networking industry.

LONDON (Reuters) - Oil fell for a fifth straight session to approach $50 a barrel on Thursday as the fallout from the credit crisis hits the global economy, hitting demand for fuel.

AP - World stock markets tumbled Thursday, with benchmarks in Tokyo and Seoul losing almost 7 percent each, after recession fears sent Wall Street plunging and Japan suffered its biggest drop in exports in seven years.

AP - China announced a complete overhaul of its dairy industry Thursday to improve safety at every step — from cow breeding to milk sales — saying its worst food quality scandal in years had revealed 'major problems' in quality control.

AP - As far as Miguel Garcia is concerned, Chicago already has a gay high school. Jones College Prep, where the 16-year-old is a junior, has the city's largest Gay Straight Alliance, an organization of more than 100 students that he and other members say wields considerable influence at their downtown campus.

Reuters - Global economic misery spread on Thursday with the Federal Reserve predicting U.S. recession well into 2009, Japan's exports to Asia falling for the first time in six years and another sharp sell-off on global equity markets.

Reuters - World stocks dropped to 5-1/2 year lows and oil hit 22-month troughs as investors reacted to dire Federal Reserve warnings on the economy and fears about the viability of major U.S. auto makers and bank giant Citigroup.

Reuters - A pact allowing U.S. troops to stay in Iraq for three more years has a chance of being approved by parliament despite some heated opposition, Foreign Minister Hoshiyar Zebari said on Thursday.

Reuters - A Missouri woman established a fake identity online to torment a vulnerable teenage girl who later committed suicide, federal prosecutors said on Wednesday in a trial that is being closely watched by the burgeoning social networking industry.

Reuters - Oil fell for a fifth straight session to approach $50 a barrel on Thursday as the fallout from the credit crisis hits the global economy, hitting demand for fuel.

AFP - Governments scrambled to cushion the impact of the finance crisis Thursday with France launching a sovereign wealth fund and China unveiling a jobs protection plan as the car industry made huge new cuts.

LONDON (Reuters) - World economic misery spread on Thursday with forecasts of a global recession running well into 2009, Japan's exports to Asia falling for the first time in six years and job losses mounting.

ISLAMABAD (Reuters) - Pakistan summoned U.S. ambassador Anne Patterson on Thursday to protest over missile strikes launched by pilotless drone aircraft against militant targets in Pakistan.

LONDON (Reuters) - Oil fell below $52 a barrel on Thursday, deepening losses over the previous four sessions as battered financial markets reflected ever lower confidence in the world economy and evidence mounted of falling fuel demand.

AP - European and Asian stock markets tumbled Thursday after recession fears sent Wall Street plunging the day before.

AP - Michael Jackson's lawyer says the pop star has agreed to come to London to respond to a Bahraini sheik's $7 million lawsuit.

AP - The NFL is giving Adam 'Pacman' Jones another chance. Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones said Wednesday the suspended cornerback has been reinstated by league commissioner Roger Goodell, but he must miss two more games — this Sunday and the following game on Thanksgiving. He'll be back Dec. 7 at Pittsburgh.

Reuters - World economic misery spread on Thursday with forecasts of a global recession running well into 2009, Japan's exports to Asia falling for the first time in six years and job losses mounting.

Reuters - Pakistan summoned U.S. ambassador Anne Patterson on Thursday to protest over missile strikes launched by pilotless drone aircraft against militant targets in Pakistan.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The number of U.S. workers filing new claims for jobless benefits surged last week to their highest level in 16 years, Labor Department data showed on Thursday, as a harsh economic environment forces employers to cut back on hiring.

LONDON (Reuters) - World economic misery spread on Thursday with forecasts of a global recession running well into 2009, Japan's exports to Asia falling for the first time in six years and job losses mounting.

BAGHDAD (Reuters) - U.S. forces killed a senior al Qaeda leader wanted for planning suicide bombings, kidnappings and assassinations, including the abduction and killing of a U.S. army sergeant in 2004, the U.S. military said on Thursday.

LONDON (Reuters) - Oil plunged below $50 a barrel on Thursday, deepening losses over the previous four sessions as battered financial markets reflected ever lower confidence in the world economy and evidence mounted of falling fuel demand.

AP - New claims for unemployment benefits jumped last week to a 16-year high, the Labor Department said Thursday, providing more evidence of a rapidly weakening job market expected to get even worse next year.

AP - With weekly jobless claims benefits at a 16-year high, the White House said Thursday that President George W. Bush would quickly sign legislation pending in Congress to provide further unemployment benefits.

AP - Arizona Gov. Janet Napolitano, an early Barack Obama supporter from the southwestern part of the country, is the likely choice for the job of secretary of homeland security, a top Obama adviser said Thursday.

AP - Stock prices are lower in early trading. After falling to a five-year low yesterday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average is down 66 points in today's early going.

AP - GMAC Financial Services has applied to the Federal Reserve to become a bank holding company, which would allow General Motors' financing arm to be eligible for aid under the Treasury's $700 billion bank rescue plan.

AP - Rapper 50 Cent is facing a challenge to his street cred — from Taco Bell. Lawyers for the fast-food chain are calling his federal lawsuit, filed in Manhattan, another attempt to 'burnish his gangsta rapper persona by distorting beyond all recognition a bona fide, good faith offer.'

AP - The NFL is giving Adam 'Pacman' Jones another chance. Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones said Wednesday the suspended cornerback has been reinstated by league commissioner Roger Goodell, but he must miss two more games — this Sunday and the following game on Thanksgiving. He'll be back Dec. 7 at Pittsburgh.

Reuters - The number of U.S. workers filing new claims for jobless benefits surged last week to their highest level in 16 years, Labor Department data showed on Thursday, as a harsh economic environment forces employers to cut back on hiring.

Reuters - World economic misery spread on Thursday with forecasts of a global recession running well into 2009, Japan's exports to Asia falling for the first time in six years and job losses mounting.

Reuters - U.S. forces killed a senior al Qaeda leader wanted for planning suicide bombings, kidnappings and assassinations, including the abduction and killing of a U.S. army sergeant in 2004, the U.S. military said on Thursday.

NEW YORK (Reuters) - The number of American workers on the unemployment rolls surged to the highest in a quarter century and a regional manufacturing gauge slumped as U.S. economic misery intensified.

LONDON/WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Fears of a deep, long global recession intensified on Thursday as markets hit new lows in alarm at reports of record U.S. job losses, oil prices plunging below $50 a barrel and worry that U.S. automakers would not get a bailout from Washington.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President-elect Barack Obama is considering Arizona Gov. Janet Napolitano to be U.S. Homeland Security secretary, heading a sprawling agency formed to bolster civil defense in the wake of the September 11 attacks, a senior Democrat said.

(Corrects first paragraph to clarify that United Nations sanctions do not ban Iranian banks from operating in Dubai, corrects Levey quote, adds additional quote and background)

LONDON (Reuters) - Oil dived under $50 a barrel on Thursday for the first time since May 2005, deepening losses as financial markets reflected ever lower confidence in the world economy and evidence mounted of falling fuel demand.

AP - With weekly jobless claims benefits at a 16-year high, the White House said Thursday that President George W. Bush would quickly sign legislation pending in Congress to provide further unemployment benefits.

AP - Fresh worries about widening unemployment added to investors' list of concerns about the economy Thursday and extended Wall Street's sell-off to a second day. The major indexes each fell more than 1.5 percent, including the Dow Jones industrial average, which lost 110 points.

AP - In a painfully poignant moment reminiscent of the fall of yesteryear's Senate giants, Republican Ted Stevens has spoken and yielded the floor for the last time.

Reuters - Fears of a deep, long global recession intensified on Thursday as markets hit new lows in alarm at reports of record U.S. job losses, oil prices plunging below $50 a barrel and worry that U.S. automakers would not get a bailout from Washington.

Reuters - President-elect Barack Obama is considering Arizona Gov. Janet Napolitano to be U.S. Homeland Security secretary, heading a sprawling agency formed to bolster civil defense in the wake of the September 11 attacks, a senior Democrat said.

Reuters - (Corrects first paragraph to clarify that United Nations sanctions do not ban Iranian banks from operating in Dubai, corrects Levey quote, adds additional quote and background)

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Four senators have reached a bipartisan agreement on a bill to assist the struggling automotive industry, the lawmakers announced in a joint statement on Thursday.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Exasperated U.S. lawmakers criticized Federal Reserve and Treasury Department efforts to shore up the faltering economy on Thursday, telling officials that their financial rescue efforts have not reached small businesses or homeowners.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Five of six Algerians must be released after nearly seven years of captivity at the U.S. military prison at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba, a federal judge ruled on Thursday in a setback for the Bush administration.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President George W. Bush will meet Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert on Monday to review Middle East peace efforts that the U.S. leader had once hoped would produce an agreement before he left office.

MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russian President Dmitry Medvedev's visits to Venezuela and Cuba during a week-long trip to Latin America look set to irk Washington, highlighting a foreign policy challenge facing President-elect Barack Obama.

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Oil dropped more than 3 percent on Thursday, touching the lowest level since May 2005 as record U.S. job losses intensified concerns of a long and deep global recession and further crushed demand expectations.

AP - A federal judge Thursday ordered the release of five Algerians held at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, and the continued detention of a sixth in a major blow to the Bush administration's strategy to capture terror suspects without charges.

AP - A bipartisan group of auto-state senators reached a last-ditch compromise Thursday to throw Detroit's Big Three a government lifeline worth billions, but the plan faces an uphill battle in a reluctant Senate.

AP - Hopes that lawmakers could extend relief to the troubled auto industry eased some of investors' worries about the economy Thursday. Stocks pulled off of steep losses but remained volatile after aides to a bipartisan group of senators said they have reached a compromise to funnel emergency loans to Detroit's car makers.

AP - Astronauts ventured back outside the international space station to perform more repair work on a jammed joint Thursday and promised to keep a tight grip on all their tools so nothing would get away this time.

AP - A judge will likely grant Madonna and Guy Ritchie an initial divorce decree on Friday, according to the schedule for London's High Court.

AP - George Steinbrenner's 35-year reign as boss of the New York Yankees ended Thursday when he passed control of baseball's most famous team to his youngest son, Hal.

Reuters - Four senators have reached a bipartisan agreement on a bill to assist the struggling automotive industry, the lawmakers announced in a joint statement on Thursday.

Reuters - Exasperated U.S. lawmakers criticized Federal Reserve and Treasury Department efforts to shore up the faltering economy on Thursday, telling officials that their financial rescue efforts have not reached small businesses or homeowners.

Reuters - Five of six Algerians must be released after nearly seven years of captivity at the U.S. military prison at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba, a federal judge ruled on Thursday in a setback for the Bush administration.

Reuters - President George W. Bush will meet Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert on Monday to review Middle East peace efforts that the U.S. leader had once hoped would produce an agreement before he left office.

Reuters - California's Supreme Court on Wednesday agreed to hear a legal challenge against the state's voter-approved ban on gay marriage and let the ban stand in the meantime.

AFP - Somali pirates who hijacked a Saudi oil super-tanker demanded a 25 million dollar ransom Thursday amid calls for tougher action to end threats to one of the world's key maritime routes.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Senate and House Democratic leaders at a news conference:

CHICAGO (Reuters) - Conservatives who have abandoned the U.S. Episcopal Church by the thousands in recent years are trying to form a separate-but-equal church, a move that could leave two branches of Anglicanism on American soil.

AP - Democratic leaders in Congress sidetracked legislation to bail out the auto industry Thursday and demanded the Big Three develop a plan assuring the money would make them economically viable.

AP - Flip-flopping sentiment about the prospects for U.S. automakers battered stocks again Thursday as hopes rose then fell that lawmakers would soon put together an aid package for the companies. Stocks declined after a brief advance that came on hopes that Washington would agree to help Detroit's Big Three.

AP - Jennifer Garner has won a restraining order from a man she says has been stalking her for years. An attorney for Garner appeared in a Los Angeles courtroom Thursday morning and won three years of protection for Garner, husband Ben Affleck and their daughter, Violet.

Reuters - Senate and House Democratic leaders at a news conference:

Reuters - The number of American workers on the unemployment rolls surged to the highest in a quarter century and a regional manufacturing gauge slumped as U.S. economic misery intensified.

Reuters - Conservatives who have abandoned the U.S. Episcopal Church by the thousands in recent years are trying to form a separate-but-equal church, a move that could leave two branches of Anglicanism on American soil.

AFP - Companies worldwide slashed jobs Thursday as the global financial crisis deepened, leaving authorities scrambling to cushion the blow and prompting the launch of a French state investment fund.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Democratic congressional leaders seeking to salvage a bailout of the Big Three automakers demanded car executives provide a business survival plan on Thursday in exchange for their support for up to $25 billion in loans.

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Stocks plunged yet again on Thursday, as a frantic flight from risk prompted by investors' deepening economic fears drove the benchmark Standard & Poor's 500 index to its lowest level since 1997 -- completing the erasure of more than a decade of stock market gains.

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the two biggest home loan finance companies, on Thursday said they would suspend foreclosures of occupied homes until early 2009, one of the biggest moves to date by the government to stem the tide of evictions and home losses.

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Citigroup Inc lost more than one-quarter of its market value as new support from its largest individual investor failed to ease worries over whether it will have enough capital to withstand billions of dollars of potential losses.

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Oil prices dropped more than 7 percent to below $50 a barrel on Thursday as a bearish U.S. jobs report intensified concerns of a long and deep global recession and further crushed fuel demand expectations.

AP - Democratic leaders in Congress sidetracked legislation to bail out the auto industry Thursday and demanded the Big Three develop a plan assuring the money would make them economically viable. 'Until they show us the plan, we cannot show them the money,' Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., said at a hastily called news conference in the Capitol.

AP - Jarred by new jobless alarms, Congress raced to approve legislation Thursday to keep unemployment checks flowing through the December holidays and into the new year for a million or more laid-off Americans whose benefits are running out.

AP - Stocks plunged for a second straight day Thursday, falling to a range not seen in more than five years as financial and energy stocks tumbled while demand for the safety of government debt spiked to historic levels.

AP - 'Uncle Ted' Stevens, an old-style Senate giant and the chamber's longest-serving Republican, delivered his swan song address and yielded the floor for the final time Thursday. He was saluted by his colleagues as a staunch friend and teacher.

AP - A man says his cell phone saved his life. A stray .45-caliber bullet hit R.J. Richard's chest while he was mowing the lawn — hitting so hard he thought it was a stone kicked out by his tractor. He pulled out the phone. It fell apart.

AP - Cleveland Browns general manager Phil Savage has apologized to a fan whom he sent a profane e-mail to following Monday night's game against the Buffalo Bills.

Reuters - Democratic congressional leaders seeking to salvage a bailout of the Big Three automakers demanded car executives provide a business survival plan on Thursday in exchange for their support for up to $25 billion in loans.

Reuters - Stocks plunged yet again on Thursday, as a frantic flight from risk prompted by investors' deepening economic fears drove the benchmark Standard & Poor's 500 index to its lowest level since 1997 -- completing the erasure of more than a decade of stock market gains.

Reuters - Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the two biggest home loan finance companies, on Thursday said they would suspend foreclosures of occupied homes until early 2009, one of the biggest moves to date by the government to stem the tide of evictions and home losses.

Reuters - Citigroup Inc lost more than one-quarter of its market value as new support from its largest individual investor failed to ease worries over whether it will have enough capital to withstand billions of dollars of potential losses.

AFP - News of fresh job cuts worldwide and a strong jump in US unemployment Thursday darkened the global economic outlook and sent financial markets into convulsions.

AFP - Somali pirates who hijacked a Saudi oil super-tanker demanded a 25 million dollar ransom Thursday amid calls for tougher action to end threats to one of the world's key maritime routes.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The global economy saw more signs of distress on Thursday with U.S. stocks plunging for a second consecutive day, oil prices falling, a surprise rate cut in Switzerland, export woes in Japan and rescue loans to Turkey and Iceland.

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Stocks plunged yet again on Thursday, as a frantic flight from risk prompted by investors' deepening economic fears drove the benchmark Standard & Poor's 500 index to its lowest level since 1997 -- completing the erasure of more than a decade of stock market gains.

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the two biggest U.S. home loan finance companies, on Thursday said they would suspend foreclosures of occupied homes until early 2009, as the government moves to stem the tide of home losses plaguing the economy.

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Citigroup Inc lost more than one-quarter of its market value on growing worries over whether it has enough capital to withstand billions of dollars of potential losses and despite new support from its largest individual investor.

BOSTON (Reuters) - Passions flared in a Maine town on Thursday over a sign in a store asking customers to place bets on an assassination of President-elect Barack Obama.

KANSAS CITY, Missouri (Reuters) - People in a vast seismic zone in the southern and midwestern United States would face catastrophic damage if a major earthquake struck there and should ensure that builders keep that risk in mind, a government report said on Thursday.

AP - The $25 billion rescue plan for the auto industry, desperately sought by Detroit's beleaguered Big Three, collapsed Thursday as Congress drew the line at one more bailout and Democrats said they wouldn't even consider it until the companies produced a convincing plan for rebuilding their once-mighty industry.

AP - Jarred by new jobless alarms, Congress raced to approve legislation Thursday to keep unemployment checks flowing through the December holidays and into the new year for a million or more laid-off Americans whose benefits are running out.

AP - What Robert Gates once called 'inconceivable to me' — his remaining as defense secretary beyond Inauguration Day — is looking a bit more conceivable to the rest of Washington.

AP - Researchers said Thursday they have identified the remains of Nicolaus Copernicus by comparing DNA from a skeleton and hair retrieved from one of the 16th-century astronomer's books. The findings could put an end to centuries of speculation about the exact resting spot of Copernicus, a priest and astronomer whose theories identified the Sun, not the Earth, as the center of the universe.

AP - There has never been a rain-shortened game in the postseason, and now there never will be. Baseball commissioner Bud Selig announced the sport will enact a rules change stating that postseason games cannot be shortened because of bad weather.

Reuters - The global economy saw more signs of distress on Thursday with U.S. stocks plunging for a second consecutive day, oil prices falling, a surprise rate cut in Switzerland, export woes in Japan and rescue loans to Turkey and Iceland.

Reuters - Stocks plunged yet again on Thursday, as a frantic flight from risk prompted by investors' deepening economic fears drove the benchmark Standard & Poor's 500 index to its lowest level since 1997 -- completing the erasure of more than a decade of stock market gains.

Reuters - Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the two biggest U.S. home loan finance companies, on Thursday said they would suspend foreclosures of occupied homes until early 2009, as the government moves to stem the tide of home losses plaguing the economy.

Reuters - Citigroup Inc lost more than one-quarter of its market value on growing worries over whether it has enough capital to withstand billions of dollars of potential losses and despite new support from its largest individual investor.

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Citigroup Inc is looking at multiple options as its share price sinks, including selling businesses, selling shares, or merging with another firm, a person familiar with the matter said.

CHICAGO (Reuters) - President-elect Barack Obama moved closer to assembling his Cabinet on Thursday with Arizona Gov. Janet Napolitano emerging as the top contender to head the Homeland Security Department, created to protect Americans after the September 11 attacks.

EVANSVILLE, Indiana (Reuters) - Deflation would be very damaging to the United States economy and with nominal interest rates already very low, quantitative easing may be needed to keep it at bay, a top Federal Reserve official said on Thursday.

AP - Ryan Fitzpatrick's 10-yard touchdown pass to Glenn Holt gave the Cincinnati Bengals a 7-0 lead over the Pittsburgh Steelers after one quarter Thursday night.

Reuters - Citigroup Inc is looking at multiple options as its share price sinks, including selling businesses, selling shares, or merging with another firm, a person familiar with the matter said.

Reuters - President-elect Barack Obama moved closer to assembling his Cabinet on Thursday with Arizona Gov. Janet Napolitano emerging as the top contender to head the Homeland Security Department, created to protect Americans after the September 11 attacks.

Reuters - Deflation would be very damaging to the United States economy and with nominal interest rates already very low, quantitative easing may be needed to keep it at bay, a top Federal Reserve official said on Thursday.

AFP - A militant Taliban group warned Thursday of reprisals in Pakistan if there was another US drone attack, as the government condemned the latest missile strike in its territory.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Signs of distress in the global economy mounted on Friday, with shares in U.S. bank Citigroup Inc plunging on fears about its future, oil prices falling and the future of U.S. automakers hanging in the balance.

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Citigroup Inc lost more than one-quarter of its market value on growing worries over whether it has enough capital to withstand billions of dollars of potential losses and despite new support from its largest individual investor.

CHICAGO (Reuters) - U.S. President-elect Barack Obama is on track to nominate his former rival, New York Democratic Sen. Hillary Clinton as secretary of state after the November 27 Thanksgiving holiday, a Democratic official said.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Attorney General Michael Mukasey collapsed while delivering a speech on national security at a hotel in Washington on Thursday, the Justice Department said.

CHICAGO (Reuters) - Retired Marine Gen. James Jones emerged as a leading contender for White House national security adviser as President-elect Barack Obama worked on Thursday to assemble his foreign policy team.

AP - Attorney General Michael Mukasey, the no-nonsense former federal judge who took over the Justice Department after Alberto Gonzales resigned in disgrace, collapsed during a speech Thursday night and lost consciousness.

AP - President-elect Barack Obama plans to nominate Hillary Rodham Clinton as secretary of state after Thanksgiving, an aide to his transition said Thursday.

AP - China acknowledged Friday for the first time that more than 19,000 schoolchildren were among the dead in the massive earthquake that struck Sichuan province in May.

AP - Ben Roethlisberger and the Pittsburgh Steelers know exactly how to beat the Cincinnati Bengals — with or without Chad Ocho Cinco.

Reuters - Signs of distress in the global economy mounted on Friday, with shares in U.S. bank Citigroup Inc plunging on fears about its future, oil prices falling and the future of U.S. automakers hanging in the balance.

Reuters - Citigroup Inc lost more than one-quarter of its market value on growing worries over whether it has enough capital to withstand billions of dollars of potential losses and despite new support from its largest individual investor.

Reuters - U.S. President-elect Barack Obama is on track to nominate his former rival, New York Democratic Sen. Hillary Clinton as secretary of state after the November 27 Thanksgiving holiday, a Democratic official said.

Reuters - U.S. Attorney General Michael Mukasey collapsed while delivering a speech on national security at a hotel in Washington on Thursday, the Justice Department said.

Reuters - Retired Marine Gen. James Jones emerged as a leading contender for White House national security adviser as President-elect Barack Obama worked on Thursday to assemble his foreign policy team.

AFP - The UN Security Council approved an extra 3,000 peacekeeping troops to help end conflict in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, where fresh fighting erupted earlier in the day.