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 - 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 - President-elect Barack Obama is likely to choose Arizona Gov. Janet Napolitano to be secretary of homeland security, top Obama advisers and several Democrats said Thursday as the shape of Obama's Cabinet begins to emerge.

AP - A federal judge on 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 keep terror suspects locked up without charges.

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 - 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.

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.

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 - His home was looted by wild government soldiers still pillaging this empty hilltop town. His fields are at the mercy of armed militias. And somewhere in the countryside, a rebel army is digging in.

AP - Opposition lawmakers shouted and pounded their desks in protest Thursday in a second day of emotional debate in parliament over a proposed agreement with the U.S. that would allow American forces to stay in Iraq for three more years.

AP - Pakistan protested to the U.S. ambassador Thursday over a deep cross-border missile strike, and a militant group threatened to target foreigners unless the attacks stop.

AP - Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin used a meeting of his powerful political party to take center stage Thursday, casting himself as an indispensable leader even as the global financial meltdown threatens the achievements of his boom-time presidency.

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 - Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas took his case for a peace deal directly to ordinary Israelis Thursday, assuring them in Hebrew-language newspaper ads that a withdrawal from the West Bank, Gaza and parts of Jerusalem would bring them full recognition by the Arab world.

AFP - South Africa said Thursday it will hold back nearly 30 million dollars of aid to Zimbabwe until a new government is formed there, as it prepares to host new power-sharing talks next week.

AFP - Tokyo's bid for the 2016 Summer Olympic Games will not be affected by the present global financial crisis their bid chief told AFP here on Thursday.