KABUL (Reuters) - Sporadic attacks hit Afghan towns as polls opened on Thursday for an anxiously awaited presidential election that Taliban fighters have vowed to disrupt, but the United Nations said the turnout was encouraging.

HUNTSVILLE, Alabama (Reuters) - Boeing Co unveiled a surprise proposal to build a mobile interceptor missile in an effort to blunt Russian fears of possible U.S. fixed missile-defense sites in Europe.

AP - The CIA hired private contractors at Blackwater USA in 2004 as part of a secret program to kill top-level members of al-Qaida, a person familiar with the program said Wednesday.

Reuters - Sporadic attacks hit Afghan towns as polls opened on Thursday for an anxiously awaited presidential election that Taliban fighters have vowed to disrupt, but the United Nations said the turnout was encouraging.

Reuters - Boeing Co unveiled a surprise proposal to build a mobile interceptor missile in an effort to blunt Russian fears of possible U.S. fixed missile-defense sites in Europe.

LONDON/ZURICH (Reuters) - The Swiss government's sale of a 9 percent stake in UBS drew lively bids, traders said on Thursday, with a price range seen above the stock's closing price in the previous session.

AP - Iraqi police say at least two people have been killed and 10 others wounded in a bicycle bombing in Baghdad.

AP - The Obama administration is developing plans to wind down the popular Cash for Clunkers program and could announce by Friday when the incentives will no longer be available.

AP - Two minutes after he cleared a private plane for takeoff and a fateful flight over the Hudson River, an air traffic controller at New Jersey's Teterboro Airport was on the phone with a woman in the airport operations office, joking about barbecuing a dead cat.

AP - Sen. John Ensign told The Associated Press on Wednesday that his affair with a friend's wife was different from former President Bill Clinton's relationship with a White House intern because he didn't lie about it under oath.

AP - The federal budget picture will look slightly better next week. Relatively speaking.

AP - Cliff Lee keeps finding ways to outdo his previous performance.

KABUL (Reuters) - Two Taliban insurgents were killed in a gunbattle in the Afghan capital on Thursday as millions voted in an anxiously awaited presidential election marked by sporadic violence across the country.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. government on Thursday announced grants of almost $1.2 billion to help hospitals and healthcare providers implement and use electronic health records.

TEHRAN (Reuters) - A senior Iranian MP served notice on Thursday that President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad will face a tough battle to secure approval for his new cabinet, saying the assembly was likely to reject several proposed ministers.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The CIA in 2004 hired contractors from the private security firm Blackwater USA as part of a secret program to track and assassinate senior al Qaeda figures, the New York Times reported on Wednesday.

TOKYO (Reuters) - Japan's opposition Democratic Party may be headed for a landslide election victory, trouncing the conservative party that has ruled for most of the past half-century, a leading newspaper said on Thursday.

ISLAMABAD (Reuters) - The deputy head of the Pakistani Taliban said he has temporarily taken over command in a move likely to fuel rifts among militant factions after the reported killing of leader Baitullah Mehsud.

SEOUL (Reuters) - North Korea said on Thursday it would send a high-ranking delegation to the South to mourn former President Kim Dae-jung in the latest sign of easing tensions with the outside world.

AP - A cancer-stricken Sen. Edward M. Kennedy has written a poignant letter to Massachusetts leaders asking that they change state law to allow a speedy replacement of him in Congress.

AP - A bicycle bomb exploded near a restaurant in Baghdad Thursday killing two people in a deadly reminder of Iraq's security problems as the death toll rose to at least 101 from a string of blasts the day before that mainly targeted heavily guarded government buildings.

AP - The federal budget picture will look slightly better next week. Relatively speaking.

AP - Track and field's ruling body is investigating whether a South African teenager meets the requirements to compete as a woman amid concerns about her dramatic improvement in times, muscular build and deep voice.

Reuters - Two Taliban insurgents were killed in a gunbattle in the Afghan capital on Thursday as millions voted in an anxiously awaited presidential election marked by sporadic violence across the country.

Reuters - The U.S. government on Thursday announced grants of almost $1.2 billion to help hospitals and healthcare providers implement and use electronic health records.

Reuters - A senior Iranian MP served notice on Thursday that President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad will face a tough battle to secure approval for his new cabinet, saying the assembly was likely to reject several proposed ministers.

Reuters - The CIA in 2004 hired contractors from the private security firm Blackwater USA as part of a secret program to track and assassinate senior al Qaeda figures, the New York Times reported on Wednesday.

Reuters - Japan's opposition Democratic Party may be headed for a landslide election victory, trouncing the conservative party that has ruled for most of the past half-century, a leading newspaper said on Thursday.

AFP - Afghans voted Thursday to elect a president for the second time in history with officials saying turnout was healthy despite sporadic violence by Taliban militants determined to sabotage the ballot.

AFP - Iraq detained 10 senior security officers and tightened security across Baghdad on Thursday after two truck bombs in the capital killed 95 people in the country's worst day of violence in 18 months.

TEHRAN (Reuters) - Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad will face a tough battle to win parliament's approval for his cabinet after lawmakers signaled they were likely to reject several proposed ministers.

AP - Taliban threats appeared to dampen voter turnout in the militant south Thursday as Afghans chose the next president for their deeply troubled country. Insurgents launched scattered rocket, suicide and bomb attacks that closed some polling sites.

AP - The only man ever convicted in the bombing of a Pan Am jet over Lockerbie, Scotland, was to learn Thursday whether he will be freed on compassionate grounds and allowed to return to Libya or die in a British prison.

AP - A day after winning her first 800-meter world title amid a gender test controversy, South African teenager Caster Semenya's father dismissed any speculation his daughter is not a woman.

Reuters - Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad will face a tough battle to win parliament's approval for his cabinet after lawmakers signaled they were likely to reject several proposed ministers.

AFP - Afghans voted Thursday to elect a president for the second time in history as fears emerged of weak turnout despite only sporadic violence from Taliban militants determined to sabotage the ballot.

EDINBURGH (Reuters) - Scotland released on Thursday a former Libyan agent jailed for life for the 1988 Lockerbie bombing that killed 270 people, most of them Americans, because he is dying of cancer.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The number of U.S. workers filing new claims for jobless benefits unexpectedly rose last week, a government report showed on Thursday, fanning worries of an anemic recovery from the worst recession in 70 years.

MIAMI (Reuters) - Hurricane Bill weakened on Thursday, falling to a Category 3 storm with its winds dropping to 125 mph, but hurricane watchers said it had the potential to reach Category 4 status again.

SEOUL (Reuters) - An international gathering of youth and children, billed as the largest ever of its type on climate change, Thursday pressed world leaders to do far more to curb damage to the environment.

TEHRAN (Reuters) - Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad will face a tough battle to win parliament's approval for his new cabinet after lawmakers signaled they were likely to reject several proposed ministers.

AP - A plane carrying freed Lockerbie bomber Abdel Baset al-Megrahi has taken off from Glasgow Airport bound for Libya.

AP - Taliban threats appeared to dampen voter turnout in the militant south Thursday when Afghans chose the next president for their deeply troubled country. Insurgents launched scattered rocket, suicide and bomb attacks that closed some polling sites.

AP - BOSTON (AP) — A cancer-stricken Sen. Edward M. Kennedy has asked Massachusetts leaders to change state law to allow a speedy replacement if it becomes necessary for him to surrender his seat, fearing a months-long vacancy would deny Democrats a crucial vote on President Barack Obama's health care overhaul.

AP - A private research group says its forecast of economic activity rose for a fourth straight month in July, but at slower pace than in the past three months.

AP - The Obama administration is developing plans to wind down the popular Cash for Clunkers program and could announce by Friday when the incentives will no longer be available.

AP - China detained two factory officials after 1,300 children were poisoned by pollution from a manganese processing plant, state media said Thursday, days after emissions from a lead smelter in another province sickened hundreds.

AP - A county sheriff's office in Washington state said Thursday that a former reality television contestant wanted for questioning in the death of his ex-wife has apparently escaped into Canada.

AP - A day after winning her first 800-meter world title amid a gender-test controversy, the father of South African teenager Caster Semenya dismissed speculation his daughter is not a woman.

Reuters - Scotland released on Thursday a former Libyan agent jailed for life for the 1988 Lockerbie bombing that killed 270 people, most of them Americans, because he is dying of cancer.

Reuters - The number of U.S. workers filing new claims for jobless benefits unexpectedly rose last week, a government report showed on Thursday, fanning worries of an anemic recovery from the worst recession in 70 years.

Reuters - Hurricane Bill weakened on Thursday, falling to a Category 3 storm with its winds dropping to 125 mph, but hurricane watchers said it had the potential to reach Category 4 status again.

Reuters - An international gathering of youth and children, billed as the largest ever of its type on climate change, Thursday pressed world leaders to do far more to curb damage to the environment.

Reuters - The deputy head of the Pakistani Taliban said he has temporarily taken over command in a move likely to fuel rifts among militant factions after the reported killing of leader Baitullah Mehsud.

Reuters - Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad will face a tough battle to win parliament's approval for his new cabinet after lawmakers signaled they were likely to reject several proposed ministers.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States strongly condemned Thursday's decision by Scottish authorities to free a terminally ill Libyan convicted of the 1988 Lockerbie plane bombing, saying there was no justification for his release.

KABUL (Reuters) - Millions of Afghans went to the polls on Thursday, defying Taliban threats of violence and sporadic attacks across the country to choose a president in the midst of a worsening war.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Manufacturing in the U.S. Mid-Atlantic region expanded in August for the first time in 10 months but new claims for jobless benefits rose unexpectedly last week, underscoring the uneven nature of the nation's economic recovery.

AP - Scotland freed the terminally ill Lockerbie bomber on compassionate grounds Thursday, letting the Libyan go home to die despite American pleas to show no mercy for the man responsible for the 1988 attack that killed 270 people.

AP - Taliban threats scared voters and dampened turnout in the militant south Thursday as Afghans voted for president for the second time ever. Insurgents killed 26 Afghans in scattered attacks, but officials said militants failed to disrupt the vote.

Reuters - The United States strongly condemned Thursday's decision by Scottish authorities to free a terminally ill Libyan convicted of the 1988 Lockerbie plane bombing, saying there was no justification for his release.

Reuters - Millions of Afghans went to the polls on Thursday, defying Taliban threats of violence and sporadic attacks across the country to choose a president in the midst of a worsening war.

Reuters - Manufacturing in the U.S. Mid-Atlantic region expanded in August for the first time in 10 months but new claims for jobless benefits rose unexpectedly last week, underscoring the uneven nature of the nation's economic recovery.

Reuters - North Korea said on Thursday it would send a high-ranking delegation to the South to mourn former President Kim Dae-jung in the latest sign of easing tensions with the outside world.

AFP - Iraq arrested 11 senior security officers on Thursday as public anger mounted after the government admitted that negligence at checkpoints led to 95 people being killed in two massive truck bombings.

EDINBURGH (Reuters) - A former Libyan agent jailed for life for the 1988 Lockerbie bombing that killed 270 people flew home on Thursday after Scottish authorities released him on compassionate grounds because he is dying of cancer.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States widened efforts to crack Swiss bank secrecy codes by indicting on Thursday a banker who moved from UBS AG to another bank and a Zurich lawyer, on charges of helping wealthy Americans hide their assets from U.S. tax authorities.

HAMILTON (Reuters) - Hurricane Bill weakened slightly on Thursday but was expected to regain power on a northwest ocean track that will take it between Bermuda, where inhabitants prepared for high winds and heavy seas, and the U.S. East Coast.

BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Iraqis seethed at their security forces on Thursday after 95 people died and more than 1,000 were wounded in the bloodiest day of attacks in Iraq this year, many blaming political infighting as parliamentary elections near.

AP - President Barack Obama guaranteed Thursday that his health care overhaul will win approval and said any bill he signs will have to reduce rapidly rising costs, protect consumers from insurance abuses and provide affordable choices to the uninsured — while not adding to the federal deficit.

AP - The South African teenager caught up in the gender-test flap bowed her head to receive the gold medal for winning the 800-meter win at the world championships on Thursday, while officials and family came to her defense.

Reuters - A former Libyan agent jailed for life for the 1988 Lockerbie bombing that killed 270 people flew home on Thursday after Scottish authorities released him on compassionate grounds because he is dying of cancer.

Reuters - The United States widened efforts to crack Swiss bank secrecy codes by indicting on Thursday a banker who moved from UBS AG to another bank and a Zurich lawyer, on charges of helping wealthy Americans hide their assets from U.S. tax authorities.

Reuters - Hurricane Bill weakened slightly on Thursday but was expected to regain power on a northwest ocean track that will take it between Bermuda, where inhabitants prepared for high winds and heavy seas, and the U.S. East Coast.

Reuters - Iraqis seethed at their security forces on Thursday after 95 people died and more than 1,000 were wounded in the bloodiest day of attacks in Iraq this year, many blaming political infighting as parliamentary elections near.

AFP - Iraq arrested 11 senior security officers on Thursday as public anger mounted after the government admitted that negligence at checkpoints led to 95 people being killed in two massive truck bombings.

BERLIN (Reuters) - Triple Olympic champion Usain Bolt of Jamaica shattered his 200 meters world record, clocking 19.19 seconds to win the world championship gold medal on Thursday.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States stepped up efforts to crack Swiss bank secrecy codes on Thursday by indicting a banker who moved from UBS AG to another bank and a Zurich lawyer, on charges of helping wealthy Americans hide their assets from U.S. tax authorities.

AP - President Barack Obama guaranteed Thursday that his health care overhaul will win approval and said any bill he signs will have to reduce rapidly rising costs, protect consumers from insurance abuses and provide affordable choices to the uninsured — while not adding to the federal deficit.

AP - The only man convicted in the bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 returned home to Libya to die after he was released from a Scottish prison Thursday, a decision that outraged some relatives of the 270 people killed when the jetliner blew up over Lockerbie, Scotland, more than two decades ago.

AP - Taliban threats scared voters and dampened turnout in the militant south Thursday as Afghans voted for president for the second time ever. Insurgents killed 26 Afghans in scattered attacks, but officials said militants failed to disrupt the vote.

AP - The Obama administration plans to end the popular $3 billion Cash for Clunkers program on Monday at 8 p.m EDT, The Associated Press has learned.

AP - Even South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford's supporters are asking if he can remain focused on state business during his final 16 months in office.

AP - Thousands of feet beneath the sea live worms that can cast off green glowing body parts, a move scientists think may be a defensive effort to confuse attackers. Researchers have dubbed the newly discovered critters 'green bombers.'

AP - A New Zealand man who promised his wife he would find his wedding ring after it fell into the capital's murky harbor has succeeded — 16 months later. Ecologist Aleki Taumoepeau was checking Wellington harbor for invasive plant species in March last year when the ring went into 10 feet of water.

Reuters - Triple Olympic champion Usain Bolt of Jamaica shattered his 200 meters world record, clocking 19.19 seconds to win the world championship gold medal on Thursday.

Reuters - The United States stepped up efforts to crack Swiss bank secrecy codes on Thursday by indicting a banker who moved from UBS AG to another bank and a Zurich lawyer, on charges of helping wealthy Americans hide their assets from U.S. tax authorities.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Manufacturing in the U.S. Mid-Atlantic region expanded in August for the first time in 10 months but new filings for unemployment benefits rose last week, an indication weak spending would constrain recovery.

BERLIN (Reuters) - Jamaica's Usain Bolt shattered his own 200 meters world record on Thursday to win gold at the world championships in a breathtaking 19.19 seconds and secure his place as the greatest sprinter ever seen.

HAMILTON (Reuters) - Hurricane Bill charged across the Atlantic on Thursday and was expected to regain power as it headed northwest on a track that will take it between Bermuda and the U.S. East Coast en route to eastern Canada.

AP - With control of the health care debate slipping from his grasp, President Barack Obama pitched his ambitious plan to both conservative talk radio and his own liberal supporters Thursday — and denied a challenge from one backer that he was 'bucklin' a little bit' under Republican criticism.

AP - The only man convicted of the Lockerbie bombing returned home Thursday to a cheering crowd tossing flower petals in the air after his release from a Scottish prison — an outrage to many relatives of the 270 people who perished when Pan Am Flight 103 exploded.

AP - Millions of Afghans defied threats Thursday to cast ballots in the country's second national elections since Taliban rule, but turnout appeared weaker this time because of continuing violence, fear and disenchantment. In much of the Taliban's southern strongholds, many people did not dare to vote, bolstering the hopes of President Hamid Karzai's chief rival.

AP - The Obama administration will end the popular $3 billion Cash for Clunkers program on Monday, giving car shoppers a few more days to take advantage of big government incentives.

AP - For nearly half a century, Sen. Edward Kennedy has guarded his family's political legacy. Stricken with cancer and as Congress takes up his signature issue, he is tending to his own.

AP - Opponents dominated a public meeting Thursday on moving terrorism suspects from Guantanamo Bay to a prison in this small town, many accusing President Barack Obama of making Michigan a target for killer jihadists.

AP - An embarrassed Sheriff Gary Painter fired one Midland County deputy and suspended three others without pay after a scantily dressed waitress holding a rifle posed for photographs on the hood of a patrol vehicle. Round Rock officers were dispatched to the restaurant after someone reported the waitress with the weapon, which had been given to her by one of the deputies who had been attending a training session near Austin.

Reuters - Manufacturing in the U.S. Mid-Atlantic region expanded in August for the first time in 10 months but new filings for unemployment benefits rose last week, an indication weak spending would constrain recovery.

Reuters - Jamaica's Usain Bolt shattered his own 200 meters world record on Thursday to win gold at the world championships in a breathtaking 19.19 seconds and secure his place as the greatest sprinter ever seen.

BERLIN (Reuters) - Jamaica's Usain Bolt shattered his own 200 meters world record on Thursday to win gold at the world championships in a breathtaking 19.19 seconds and secure his place as the greatest sprinter ever seen.

AP - Former Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge claims in a new book that he was pressured by other members of President George W. Bush's Cabinet to raise the nation's terror alert level just before the 2004 presidential election.

AP - Police investigating a reality TV contestant in his ex-wife's death say her fingers and teeth had been removed when her body was found in a California trash bin.

Reuters - Jamaica's Usain Bolt shattered his own 200 meters world record on Thursday to win gold at the world championships in a breathtaking 19.19 seconds and secure his place as the greatest sprinter ever seen.

WASHINGTON/KABUL (Reuters) - President Barack Obama said the U.S.-led forces must 'focus on finishing the job' in Afghanistan after what he said appeared to have been a successful election in the country.

Reuters - President Barack Obama said the U.S.-led forces must 'focus on finishing the job' in Afghanistan after what he said appeared to have been a successful election in the country.

AFP - The terminally ill Libyan convicted over the 1988 Lockerbie bombing flew home from Scotland to a joyous reception Thursday after being freed on compassionate grounds despite fierce US opposition.

AP - The California Senate, after a highly charged debate, approved a plan Thursday to trim the state's prison population by 27,000 inmates, acting over the objections of Republican lawmakers and law enforcement groups.

AP - J.D. Drew homered twice, Jon Lester pitched eight strong innings and the Boston Red Sox beat the Toronto Blue Jays 8-1 on Thursday to complete a three-game sweep.

AFP - Votes were counted in Afghanistan Friday after a presidential election hailed as a success by the international community despite low turnout, Taliban violence and allegations of irregularities.