AP - Barack Obama launched his historic fall campaign for the White House on Thursday with an outdoor Democratic National Convention extravaganza that blended old-fashioned speechmaking, Hollywood-quality stagecraft and innovative, Internet age politics.

AP - Residents, tourists and oil workers fled as Gustav swamped Jamaica on Thursday, leaving 59 people dead in its wake. Louisiana and Texas put their national guards on standby, and New Orleans said a mandatory evacuation might be necessary.

AP - A former Marine accused of killing unarmed Iraqi detainees was acquitted of voluntary manslaughter Thursday in a first-of-its-kind federal trial.

AP - Afghan officials said Thursday that a deadly U.S.-led special forces raid on a remote western village last week was based on misleading information provided by a rival clan.

AP - With Gustav approaching hurricane strength and showing no signs of veering off a track to slam into the Gulf Coast, authorities across the region began laying the groundwork Thursday to get the sick, elderly and poor away from the shoreline.

AP - An art museum in northern Italy said Thursday it will continue displaying a sculpture portraying a green frog nailed to a cross that has angered Pope Benedict XVI and local officials.

AP - Wall Street barreled higher Thursday after a better-than-expected reading on the gross domestic product and a drop in jobless claims gave investors some reassurance that the economy is holding up. The Dow Jones industrial average jumped more than 200 points.

AP - It seems like an easy solution: Americans are looking for more fuel-efficient vehicles, so Ford Motor Co. is bringing over some of the small, gas-sipping cars it's been selling to Europeans for years.

AP - Rapper DMX has pleaded out a Miami drug case and now awaits extradition to face more charges in Arizona.

AP - Venus Williams and James Blake kept favorites on the fast track at the U.S. Open, with top-seeded Rafael Nadal and Ana Ivanovic hoping to join them later Thursday in reaching the third round.

Reuters - Democrats prepared a grand spectacle on Thursday to celebrate the historic presidential nomination of Barack Obama, who will take the party reins with a speech that spells out his vision for change in America.

Reuters - Tropical Storm Gustav hit Jamaica with near hurricane-force winds on Thursday after killing at least 59 people elsewhere in the Caribbean and taking aim at New Orleans and Gulf of Mexico oil fields, where it could become a major hurricane next week.

Reuters - Russia faced diplomatic isolation over its military action against Georgia on Thursday, with its Asian allies failing to offer support and France saying EU leaders were considering sanctions.

Reuters - Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc is looking at cutting some 1,200 jobs in its latest round of cost cutting, a person familiar with the matter said, as weak financial markets spur layoffs across Wall Street.

Reuters - An outbreak of an unusual strain of Salmonella that sickened more than 1,400 people and put 286 in the hospital appears to be over in the United States, federal health officials said on Thursday.