AP - The remnants of Tropical Storm Hermine trekked northward after forcing more than 100 high-water rescues in Texas, swamping streets, producing several tornadoes and killing at least two people.

AFP - US President Barack Obama gets better marks for his wartime leadership than his stewardship of the sluggish economic recovery, a new opinion poll found Thursday.

AFP - The number of Americans filing new claims for jobless benefits fell faster than expected last week, extending a three-week decline, government data showed Thursday.

AP - As Florida officials worried about public safety surrounding a small church's plan to burn the Quran, President Barack Obama added his voice to the chorus of opposition to the church's intention to burn copies of Islam's holiest text to mark the 9/11 terrorist attacks.

AP - The number of people signing up for unemployment benefits dropped to the lowest level in two months, an encouraging sign that companies aren't resorting to deeper layoffs even as the economy has lost momentum.

AP - New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady walked away unhurt from a two-car accident near his home on Thursday morning and was expected at practice later in the day, the team confirmed.

AP - Thousands of people waited Thursday to learn if their homes survived a wildfire that's raged for four days in a parched area near Boulder as firefighters battled to contain the blaze before winds picked up.

AP - The trade deficit narrowed significantly in July as exports climbed to the highest level in nearly two years, reflecting big gains in sales of U.S.-made airplanes and other manufactured goods while imports declined.

AP - Something was wrong.

AP - New York's governor says the imam behind the proposed Islamic community center near ground zero has offered an "opening" with his latest comments about the debate.

AFP - The US trade deficit dropped more than expected in July as exports reached their highest level in two years, official data showed Thursday, boosting hopes for the US economic recovery.

Reuters - New claims for unemployment benefits fell more than expected last week to a two-month low, while the trade deficit narrowed sharply in July, hopeful signs for the stuttering economic recovery.

Reuters - The trade deficit narrowed more than expected in July, as imports retreated and exports shot to their highest since August 2008, according to a government report on Thursday that could lift hopes for third-quarter economic growth.

AP - President Barack Obama is exhorting a Florida minister to "listen to those better angels" and call off his plan to engage in a Quran-burning protest this weekend.

Reuters - The Bank of England kept interest rates at 0.5 percent for the 18th month in a row and announced no new quantitative easing purchases, in a widely expected decision on Thursday.

AP - The number of people dying on the nation's roads has fallen to its lowest level in six decades, helped by a combination of seat belts, safer cars and tougher enforcement of drunken driving laws.

AP - Suzi Hanks reads Playboy magazine for the articles. And the jokes. And the letters and cartoons.

AFP - Global equities rose and the dollar steadied against the euro on Thursday amid renewed confidence in the economy and as markets awaited US jobs data and a British interest rate decision.

AP - Former first lady Laura Bush will speak at a National Park Service fundraiser in Pittsburgh on Friday, a day before joining Michelle Obama in rural Pennsylvania to remember the victims of Flight 93, which crashed there in the Sept. 11 attacks.

AP - The police officer who shot and killed a knife-wielding man whose death has sparked three days of violent protests in Los Angeles had been involved in two previous shootings while on duty, according to a media report.

AP - The father of a U.S. soldier serving in Afghanistan says he tried nearly a half dozen times to pass an urgent message from his son to the Army: Troops in his unit had murdered an Afghan civilian, planned more killings and threatened him to keep quiet about it.

AP - Amid the uproar over the proposed mosque near ground zero in New York, a new Islamic college recently opened its doors in California with plans to educate a new generation of Muslim-American leaders.

AP - BP's long-awaited internal report on what it believes went wrong when a rig exploded and started the massive Gulf oil spill never mentions the words blame, regret, apology, mistake or pollution. The word fault shows up 20 times, but only once in the same sentence as the company's name.

Reuters - Switzerland remains the world's most competitive economy, while the United States has fallen from second to fourth after losing the top spot last year, according to the World Economic Forum's annual rankings issued on Thursday.