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US, Iraq have draft to pull US troops out (AP)
AP - Iraq and the U.S. have reached preliminary agreement to withdraw American forces from Iraqi cities by next June, six years into the increasingly unpopular war, Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari said Thursday after meeting with Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice.
Suicide bombers kill 59 at Pakistani arms factory (AP)
AP - Two Taliban suicide bombers blew themselves up at the gates to a huge weapons factory near Pakistan's capital Thursday, killing at least 59 people and wounding 70 in one of the country's worst terrorist attacks.
Tropical Storm Fay forces more evacuations in Fla. (AP)
AP - Torrential rains from a slow-moving Tropical Storm Fay triggered a new round of flooding Thursday, submerging roads and forcing dozens of people to flee the rising water in their homes.
U.S. softball team denied 4th-straight gold, loses to Japan (AP)
AP - Losing for the first time since 2000, the U.S. softball team was denied a chance for a fourth straight gold medal Thursday, beaten 3-1 by Japan in the sport's last appearance in the Olympics for at least eight years — and maybe for good.
Butterfingers drop US men, women out of 400 relays (AP)
AP - Tyson Gay reached back to grab the baton "and there was nothing." He's not the only American track favorite who will leave Beijing empty-handed. The American men's and women's 400-meter relay teams both misconnected on the final handoffs in their preliminaries Thursday, a pair of stunning setbacks that made it that much easier for the Jamaicans to say the Bird's Nest is really their house.
16-year-old dies in Tennessee school shooting (AP)
AP - A student fatally shot a 16-year-old classmate during a dispute Thursday at a Knoxville high school, as other teenagers watched in horror as the victim clutched his chest and fell to the floor.
Leading economic indicators fell sharply in July (AP)
AP - A private business group's measure of the economy's health showed the largest drop in one year as stocks fell, new building permits declined and unemployment rose.
Rejected by Hong Kong, Glitter arrives in Thailand (AP)
AP - Thai police said disgraced rocker Gary Glitter agreed Thursday to leave Thailand for London, possibly ending a two-day odyssey that began when he was released from a Vietnamese prison after serving time for molesting children.
Now on the Hallmark aisle: Gay marriage cards (AP)
AP - Most states don't recognize gay marriage — but now Hallmark does.
NFLPA head Gene Upshaw dies of cancer at age 63 (AP)
AP - Gene Upshaw, the Hall of Fame guard who during a quarter century as union head helped get NFL players free agency and the riches that came with it, has died. He was 63.
Rice in Baghdad, says troops deal close (Reuters)
Reuters - The United States and Iraq are close to
a deal extending the presence of U.S. troops beyond 2008, but
any timetable for their withdrawal must be "feasible," U.S.
Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said on Thursday.
Russia says to pull out troops from Georgia in 10 days (Reuters)
Reuters - Russia will withdraw troops that
were sent to Georgia to reinforce peacekeepers within 10 days,
the commander of Russian ground forces told reporters on
Thursday.
Analysts see tough quarter for U.S. investment banks (Reuters)
Reuters - Wall Street research analysts are
projecting yet another tough quarter for U.S. investment banks
marked by additional writedowns across a series of fixed-income
assets amid an already weak operating environment.
Jamaica sweeps the sprint golds in Beijing (Reuters)
Reuters - Jamaica made a clean sweep of Olympic
sprint golds on Thursday with victory in the women's 200 meters
humbling the United States, the traditional track and field
superpower.
Suicide bombs kill 59 outside Pakistani arms plant (Reuters)
Reuters - Two Pakistani Taliban suicide bombers
blew themselves up outside the country's main defense industry
complex on Thursday, killing at least 59 people as workers were
leaving at the end of their shift, officials said.
Relatives seek to identify Spain crash victims (Reuters)
Reuters - Grieving relatives on Thursday tried to
identify charred bodies from the wreckage of a Spanish jet
which crashed at Madrid airport on its second attempt at
takeoff after mechanical problems.
Lehman shares fall after report of failed sale (Reuters)
Reuters - Lehman Brothers shares fell
4.3 percent on Thursday after a newspaper reported the bank had
tried to sell a stake of itself to South Korean or Chinese
parties and failed, and a Citigroup analyst reduced his
estimates for the sector.
Parents refusing vaccines fueling measles outbreak, report finds (Reuters)
Reuters - Parents refusing to have their children vaccinated against measles have helped drive cases of the illness to their worst levels in a dozen years in the United States, health officials reported on Thursday.
Suicide blasts kill 64 at Pakistan arms factory (AFP)
AFP - Two suicide bombers blew themselves up outside Pakistan's main army munitions factory Thursday, killing 64 workers in the deadliest attack on a military installation in the country's history.
Relatives face grim mission to identify Madrid crash victims (AFP)
AFP - Distraught relatives of the 153 victims of the Madrid holiday jet disaster struggled Thursday to identify burned body parts as investigators scoured the wreckage for clues.
