AP - Australia's leader says there has been `considerable' loss of life in a ferry sinking off Tonga.

AP - 'Sam' the koala, who gained worldwide fame and sympathy when she was rescued during devastating wildfires this year, has died during surgery.

AP - Jay Leno says comedy will rule on his new daily prime-time series and he'll put stars in cars instead on a couch.

AP - The only tweets during the Miami Dolphins scrimmage Saturday will come from the officials' whistles.

AFP - President Hugo Chavez said Venezuela would purchase dozens of Russian tanks, in a move signaling growing military ties between the two countries that have frequently clashed with Washington.

KANDAHAR, Afghanistan (Reuters) - A roadside bomb struck a tractor carrying people to a wedding in southern Afghanistan, killing 21 civilians in one of the deadliest strikes in weeks, Afghan officials said on Thursday.

JERUSALEM (Reuters) - The United States has asked Israel to commit to a one-year freeze of West Bank settlement to prod Arab countries to take steps toward normalizing relations with the Jewish state, an Israeli newspaper said on Thursday.

AP - Sonia Sotomayor is poised to make history as the Supreme Court's first Hispanic justice despite staunch opposition from Republicans who call her ill-suited for the bench, a pending victory for Democrats who believe her confirmation will pay off politically.

AP - On a trip to Africa, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton is honoring the victims of the deadly 1998 al-Qaida-linked attacks on the American embassies in Kenya and Tanzania.

AP - The number of petitions from employers trying to bring foreigners to work permanently in the U.S. has declined dramatically over the last two years, an Associated Press review of government data has found.

AP - The Senate is poised to add $2 billion to the popular 'cash-for-clunkers' program after lawmakers agreed to vote on the government car incentives and give shoppers until Labor Day to visit their local dealerships and make a deal.

AP - A local police chief says a Western airstrike has killed five farmers loading cucumbers into a taxi in southern Afghanistan.

AP - A hospital coordinator in South Dakota says Aerosmith frontman Steven Tyler is being brought there after reportedly falling off stage during a concert.

Reuters - A roadside bomb struck a tractor carrying people to a wedding in southern Afghanistan, killing 21 civilians in one of the deadliest strikes in weeks, Afghan officials said on Thursday.

Reuters - The United States has asked Israel to commit to a one-year freeze of West Bank settlement to prod Arab countries to take steps toward normalizing relations with the Jewish state, an Israeli newspaper said on Thursday.

AFP - Iran's hardline press hailed President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on Thursday for snubbing Western powers after he was sworn in for a second term and warned the Islamic republic would stand up to US 'plots.'

JERUSALEM (Reuters) - The United States has asked Israel to freeze West Bank settlement for a year to prod Arab countries to take steps toward normalizing relations with the Jewish state, an Israeli newspaper said on Thursday.

HIROSHIMA, Japan (Reuters) - Japan's main opposition Democratic Party, which has a good shot at winning power in a general election this month, said on Thursday it backed U.S. President Barack Obama's call to rid the world of nuclear arms.

MUMBAI (Reuters) - A court on Thursday sentenced to death three Indians found guilty of conspiring with a Pakistan-based militant group to carry out serial blasts in Mumbai in 2003 that killed at least 54 people, officials said.

GENEVA (Reuters) - Procedures to fast-track approvals of new vaccines to combat H1N1 influenza do not reduce safety, the World Health Organization said on Thursday.

GENEVA (Reuters) - The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) is working with the U.S. administration on the closure of the Guantanamo prison and protecting prisoners' rights, its president Jakob Kellenberger said.

PARIS (Reuters) - Pakistan has launched a global search for 13 suspects in last November's attack on Mumbai, the international police network Interpol said Thursday.

AP - A roadside bomb hit a wedding party on its way to a ceremony in southern Afghanistan, killing 21 people including women and children, Afghan officials said Thursday.

AP - A year after showing they can hold off the Red Sox and Yankees, the Tampa Bay Rays are trying to prove they can come from behind in a pennant race, too.

Reuters - The United States has asked Israel to freeze West Bank settlement for a year to prod Arab countries to take steps toward normalizing relations with the Jewish state, an Israeli newspaper said on Thursday.

Reuters - Japan's main opposition Democratic Party, which has a good shot at winning power in a general election this month, said on Thursday it backed U.S. President Barack Obama's call to rid the world of nuclear arms.

Reuters - A court on Thursday sentenced to death three Indians found guilty of conspiring with a Pakistan-based militant group to carry out serial blasts in Mumbai in 2003 that killed at least 54 people, officials said.

Reuters - Procedures to fast-track approvals of new vaccines to combat H1N1 influenza do not reduce safety, the World Health Organization said on Thursday.

Reuters - The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) is working with the U.S. administration on the closure of the Guantanamo prison and protecting prisoners' rights, its president Jakob Kellenberger said.

AFP - US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton was to meet Thursday in Kenya with Somalia's embattled president, who faces a bruising offensive by groups experts say could turn the country into a new Afghanistan.

AFP - A roadside bomb killed 21 Afghans heading to a wedding, the latest in a wave of violent attacks ahead of key elections, as the NATO chief Thursday assessed efforts to quell the insurgency.

KANDAHAR, Afghanistan (Reuters) - A roadside bomb struck a tractor carrying revelers to a wedding in southern Afghanistan, killing 21 civilians in a deadly strike as the country gears up for a presidential election.

AP - U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton on Thursday pledged continued American support for Somalia's weak interim government as it struggles against Islamist extremists believed linked to al-Qaida.

AP - Aerosmith frontman Steven Tyler was airlifted to a hospital after falling from stage during a concert at the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally in western South Dakota.

Reuters - A roadside bomb struck a tractor carrying revelers to a wedding in southern Afghanistan, killing 21 civilians, part of worsening violence in the final weeks of campaigning before a presidential election.

AFP - US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton went into talks Thursday with the embattled president of Somalia, a country experts fear is poised to turn into a global terrorist haven.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The number of U.S. workers filing new claims for jobless benefits fell sharply last week, a government report showed on Thursday, boosting views the labor market and the economy were stabilizing.

KANDAHAR, Afghanistan (Reuters) - A roadside bomb struck a tractor carrying revelers to a wedding in southern Afghanistan, killing 21 civilians, part of worsening violence in the final weeks of campaigning before a presidential election.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid announced an agreement with Republicans to vote on Thursday on the popular 'cash for clunkers' auto sales incentive bill.

GENEVA (Reuters) - The first vaccines to combat H1N1 swine flu should be approved and ready for use in some countries from September, the World Health Organization said on Thursday.

By Laura MacInnis GENEVA (Reuters) - Ethnic riots in northwest China have exposed the failings of Beijing's minority policies, and a more 'realistic' stance toward Tibetans and others could emerge within a decade, the Dalai Lama said on Thursday.

AP - The Senate is poised to add $2 billion to the popular 'cash-for-clunkers' program after lawmakers agreed to vote on the government car incentives and give shoppers until Labor Day to visit their local dealerships and make a deal.

AP - U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton has pledged to 'expand and extend' American support for Somalia's weak interim government as it struggles against Islamist extremists believed linked to al-Qaida.

AP - Shoppers, worried about job security and finding fewer options among the sales bins, remained tight-fisted in July, resulting in sluggish sales for many merchants and raising concern about the back-to-school shopping season's health.

Reuters - The number of U.S. workers filing new claims for jobless benefits fell sharply last week, a government report showed on Thursday, boosting views the labor market and the economy were stabilizing.

Reuters - The first vaccines to combat H1N1 swine flu should be approved and ready for use in some countries from September, the World Health Organization said on Thursday.

Reuters - Georgia and Russia on Thursday each pointed the finger at the other as the aggressor on the eve of the first anniversary of their five-day war.

AFP - US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on Thursday threw her support behind Somalia's embattled president and warned Eritrea to stop sponsoring Al-Qaeda inspired insurgents turning the country into a terror hub.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Former President Bill Clinton has briefed a member of the White House's National Security Council about his trip to North Korea, White House spokesman Robert Gibbs said on Thursday.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - American International Group's former Chief Executive Hank Greenberg agreed to pay $15 million to settle regulators' allegations of improper accounting transactions, a Securities and Exchange Commission official said on Thursday.

KANDAHAR, Afghanistan (Reuters) - Two roadside bombs in Afghanistan's most violent province killed five revelers heading to a wedding and five policemen, officials said on Thursday.

ISLAMABAD (Reuters) - Pakistan said on Thursday that evidence given by India failed to build a case for the arrest of Hafiz Saeed, the founder of a Pakistan-based group blamed for the Mumbai attacks, a stance certain to stoke anger in India.

TBILISI (Reuters) - Georgia and Russia on Thursday each pointed the finger at the other as the aggressor on the eve of the first anniversary of their five-day war.

AP - A hacker attack shut down Twitter on Thursday morning, and Facebook also said it was 'looking into' possible site problems.

AP - He was a soldier, a survivor of the trenches — and, in later years, an advocate for peace.

AP - Steven Tyler of Aerosmith suffered head, neck and shoulder injuries in a tumble from the stage at a South Dakota concert and joked about the fall as he was loaded into the helicopter to be taken to a hospital, a concert spokesman said Thursday.

Reuters - The number of U.S. workers filing new claims for jobless benefits fell sharply last week, a government report showed on Thursday, boosting views the labor market and the economy were stabilizing.

Reuters - Former President Bill Clinton has briefed a member of the White House's National Security Council about his trip to North Korea, White House spokesman Robert Gibbs said on Thursday.

Reuters - American International Group's former Chief Executive Hank Greenberg agreed to pay $15 million to settle regulators' allegations of improper accounting transactions, a Securities and Exchange Commission official said on Thursday.

Reuters - Two roadside bombs in Afghanistan's most violent province killed five revelers heading to a wedding and five policemen, officials said on Thursday.

AFP - Fresh Afghan violence left 13 people dead including wedding-goers and a US soldier in new attacks ahead of elections, as the NATO chief Thursday visited insurgent hotspots in the south.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The number of laid-off U.S. workers submitting new claims for jobless benefits fell sharply last week, fanning hopes the fragile labor market was on the mend and that the broader economy was stabilizing.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said the chamber would do its 'very best' to approve a $2 billion extension of the 'cash for clunkers' auto sales incentive on Thursday.

TUSCON, Ariz (Reuters) - The U.S. government said on Thursday it would create a new detention system for immigrants facing deportation, taking control of facilities criticized for their treatment of detainees.

CIUDAD JUAREZ, Mexico (Reuters) - Mexican drug gangs are killing rivals in record numbers in a major setback for the government, which will seek more support from U.S. President Barack Obama when he visits the country this weekend.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama's spokesman said on Thursday that U.S. policy toward North Korea was unchanged in the wake of former President Bill Clinton's trip to Pyongyang.

WASHINGTON/NEW YORK (Reuters) - AIG's former Chief Executive Maurice 'Hank' Greenberg agreed to pay $15 million to settle government allegations that he had cooked the books to inflate the insurer's earnings in the first half of this decade, the Securities and Exchange Commission said on Thursday.

AP - The husband of a suburban New York mother who caused a car crash that killed her and seven others said Thursday she didn't have a drinking problem and suggested diabetes and other health problems were to blame.

AP - The Iraqi Cabinet has approved a draft bill to stamp out smoking in public places, the first such bill in a country where lighting up is virtually a rite of passage for most young men, a government spokesman said Thursday.

AP - A hacker attack Thursday shut down the fast-growing messaging service Twitter, and Facebook also said it was looking into possible site problems.

AP - Fox Entertainment Chairman Peter Rice says negotiations are over with Paula Abdul and she's not coming back to 'American Idol.'

AP - Cleveland Indians owner Paul Dolan projects the team will lose $16 million this season and says the recent trades of Cy Young winner Cliff Lee and All-Star catcher Victor Martinez were necessary long-term moves.

Reuters - The number of laid-off U.S. workers submitting new claims for jobless benefits fell sharply last week, fanning hopes the fragile labor market was on the mend and that the broader economy was stabilizing.

Reuters - U.S. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said the chamber would do its 'very best' to approve a $2 billion extension of the 'cash for clunkers' auto sales incentive on Thursday.

Reuters - The U.S. government said on Thursday it would create a new detention system for immigrants facing deportation, taking control of facilities criticized for their treatment of detainees.

Reuters - Mexican drug gangs are killing rivals in record numbers in a major setback for the government, which will seek more support from U.S. President Barack Obama when he visits the country this weekend.

Reuters - President Barack Obama's spokesman said on Thursday that U.S. policy toward North Korea was unchanged in the wake of former President Bill Clinton's trip to Pyongyang.

Reuters - AIG's former Chief Executive Maurice 'Hank' Greenberg agreed to pay $15 million to settle government allegations that he had cooked the books to inflate the insurer's earnings in the first half of this decade, the Securities and Exchange Commission said on Thursday.

AFP - Afghan violence left 17 people dead including wedding-goers and five US soldiers in new attacks ahead of elections as the NATO chief Thursday visited insurgent hotspots in the south.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Judge Sonia Sotomayor won U.S. Senate approval on Thursday to become the first Hispanic on the U.S. Supreme Court.

AP - Sonia Sotomayor won confirmation Thursday as the nation's first Hispanic Supreme Court justice in a history-making Senate vote that capped a summer-long debate heavy with ethnic politics. She'll be sworn in Saturday as the court's 111th justice, third woman and first nominee by a Democrat in 15 years. The Senate vote was 68-31 to confirm Sotomayor, President Barack Obama's first Supreme Court nominee.

AP - Acting with unusual haste, the Senate readied a $2 billion fill-up Thursday for 'cash for clunkers,' an economy-boosting program that sent car buyers storming into formerly deserted auto showrooms at a pace that quickly exhausted its $1 billion funding.

AP - Conservative activists are vowing to keep up their fight against President Barack Obama's health care plans, even as the Democratic Party pushes back hard, accusing Republicans of organizing angry mobs.

AP - Got an itch to scratch? Scientists have pinpointed a key group of cells that sends itch-alerts to the brain. When researchers at Washington University in St. Louis knocked out those cells in mice, it alleviated their itchiness without affecting their ability to sense pain — work that opens a possible new target for creating better itch relievers.

AP - Aerosmith's Steven Tyler suffered head, neck and shoulder injuries in a tumble from the stage at a South Dakota show, a concert spokesman said Thursday, and the audience thought it was part of his hipshaking act until he didn't get up.

AP - Authorities said a 86-year-old woman charged with shoplifting wrinkle cream and other items from a Chicago grocery store has been arrested 61 times since 1956. Ella Orko was arrested Sunday afternoon on the North Side after she allegedly stuffed $252 worth of groceries into her pants, including cosmetics, salmon, batteries and instant coffee.

AP - Cliff Lee pitched seven impressive innings in his home debut, Paul Bako hit a tiebreaking homer and the Philadelphia Phillies beat the Colorado Rockies 3-1 Thursday.

Reuters - Judge Sonia Sotomayor won U.S. Senate approval on Thursday to become the first Hispanic on the U.S. Supreme Court.

Reuters - Hundreds of supporters of Iranian opposition leader Mirhossein Mousavi chanted 'death to the dictator' in Tehran on Thursday, a witness said, a day after Mahmoud Ahmadinejad sworn in as president.

AFP - Sonia Sotomayor won historic Senate confirmation on Thursday as the first Hispanic justice on the US Supreme Court, in a big victory for President Barack Obama over stiff Republican objections.

AFP - The United States plans to double its arms flow to Somalia, an official said Thursday, as Secretary of State Hillary Clinton threw support behind the war-torn country's embattled president and warned neighbouring Eritrea to halt backing insurgents.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Judge Sonia Sotomayor won approval on Thursday to become the first Hispanic on the U.S. Supreme Court in a Senate vote that President Barack Obama said broke another social barrier.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The number of U.S. workers submitting new claims for jobless benefits fell sharply last week, fanning hopes the fragile labor market was on the mend and that the broader economy was stabilizing.

ISLAMABAD (Reuters) - There is a strong likelihood that Pakistani Taliban chief Baitullah Mehsud was killed along with his wife and bodyguards in a missile attack two days ago, Pakistan's Interior Minister Rehman Malik told Reuters.

TEHRAN (Reuters) - Hundreds of supporters of Iranian opposition leader Mirhossein Mousavi chanted 'death to the dictator' in Tehran on Thursday, a witness said, a day after Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was sworn in as president.

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Former U.S. President Bill Clinton and drugmakers Pfizer and Matrix Laboratories Ltd announced a deal on Thursday to lower the cost of treatments for patients with drug-resistant forms of HIV/AIDS.

WASHINGTON/NEW YORK (Reuters) - AIG's former CEO Maurice 'Hank' Greenberg agreed to pay $15 million to settle government accusations that he altered AIG's financial records to inflate its earnings between 2000 and 2005, U.S. securities regulators said on Thursday.

AP - U.S. and Pakistani authorities are investigating reports that Pakistani Taliban chief Baitullah Mehsud was killed in an American missile strike, officials from both countries said Friday. If confirmed, Mehsud's demise would be a major boost to Pakistani and U.S. efforts to eradicate the Taliban and al-Qaida.

AP - The Senate's most powerful Democrat on Thursday scolded health care protesters dogging his party's lawmakers at local meetings, arguing that some critics on the political right have run out of ideas — and ditched their civic manners. Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada accused the protesters of trying to 'sabotage' the democratic process.

AP - It seemed too horrendous even to imagine. But the case of the mother who caused a deadly wrong-way crash while drunk and stoned is part of a disturbing trend: Women in the U.S. are drinking more, and drunken-driving arrests among women are rising rapidly while falling among men.

AP - Get ready to roll up your sleeve three times for flu shots this fall. That's right, three times. This year's flu season is shaping up to be a very different one. Most people will need one shot for the regular seasonal flu and probably two others to protect against the new swine flu.

AP - Writer-director John Hughes, Hollywood's youth impresario of the 1980s and '90s who captured and cornered the teen and preteen market with such favorites as 'Home Alone,' 'The Breakfast Club' and 'Ferris Bueller's Day Off,' died Thursday, a spokeswoman said. He was 59.

Reuters - Judge Sonia Sotomayor won approval on Thursday to become the first Hispanic on the U.S. Supreme Court in a Senate vote that President Barack Obama said broke another social barrier.

Reuters - The number of U.S. workers submitting new claims for jobless benefits fell sharply last week, fanning hopes the fragile labor market was on the mend and that the broader economy was stabilizing.

Reuters - There is a strong likelihood that Pakistani Taliban chief Baitullah Mehsud was killed along with his wife and bodyguards in a missile attack two days ago, Pakistan's Interior Minister Rehman Malik told Reuters.

Reuters - Former U.S. President Bill Clinton and drugmakers Pfizer and Matrix Laboratories Ltd announced a deal on Thursday to lower the cost of treatments for patients with drug-resistant forms of HIV/AIDS.

NEW YORK (Reuters) - American International Group Inc, the insurer that has received about $180 billion of federal bailouts, on Thursday named former American Express Co chief executive Harvey Golub as its nonexecutive

AP - Congress has passed a $2 billion extension of the popular 'cash for clunkers' program, clearing the legislation for President Barack Obama's signature. The Senate passed the extension Thursday evening. The House approved the measure last week.

AP - U.S. and Pakistani authorities are investigating reports that Pakistani Taliban chief Baitullah Mehsud was killed in an American missile strike, officials from both countries said Friday. If confirmed, Mehsud's demise would be a major boost to Pakistani and U.S. efforts to eradicate the Taliban and al-Qaida.

AP - Top White House officials counseled Democratic senators Thursday on coping with disruptions at public events on health care this summer, officials said, and promised the party and allies would respond with twice the force if any individual lawmaker is criticized in television advertising.

AP - A Connecticut woman who authorities say spent more than $2,000 to stage a dinner honoring her as 'Nurse of the Year' has been charged with pretending to be a nurse at a doctor's office. Betty Lichtenstein, 56, of Norwalk was charged Thursday.

AP - Milwaukee Brewers star Prince Fielder and Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Guillermo Mota were fined Thursday for their run-in this week. Major League Baseball will not suspend them. The amounts of the fines were not disclosed.

Reuters - American International Group Inc, the insurer that has received about $180 billion of federal bailouts, on Thursday named former American Express Co chief executive Harvey Golub as its nonexecutive

AFP - The Pakistani Taliban chief Baitullah Mehsud may be dead after a reported drone strike, a US official said on Thursday.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Senate approved and sent to the White House on Thursday a $2 billion extension of the 'cash for clunkers' autos sales incentive program.

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - The New York Times Co has enlisted Goldman Sachs to explore a sale of its New England Media Group, which owns the 137-year-old Boston Globe and other media assets.

AP - Top White House officials counseled Democratic senators Thursday on coping with disruptions at public events on health care this summer, officials said, and promised the party and allies would respond with twice the force if any individual lawmaker is criticized in television advertising.

AP - Red Sox star David Ortiz may soon provide more details about his 2003 drug test. The Boston slugger and incoming players' union head Michael Weiner plan a news conference Saturday at Yankee Stadium before the Red Sox play New York.

Reuters - The New York Times Co has enlisted Goldman Sachs to explore a sale of its New England Media Group, which owns the 137-year-old Boston Globe and other media assets.

AP - First, the good news. Workers probably got slapped with fewer pink slips in July as the worst recession since World War II winds down.

AP - U.S. and Pakistani authorities were investigating whether Pakistani Taliban chief Baitullah Mehsud, who has led a violent campaign of suicide attacks and assassinations against Pakistan's government, was killed in a CIA missile strike.

AP - Melky Cabrera and the New York Yankees knocked out John Smoltz early, and soon it was all over: They had finally beaten the Boston Red Sox.

AFP - US and Pakistani officials were investigating reports that Pakistani Taliban chief Baitullah Mehsud may have been killed after a US drone strike.

AFP - Sonia Sotomayor won historic confirmation as the first Hispanic justice on the US Supreme Court, in a big victory for President Barack Obama over stiff Republican objections.