AFP - Police hunted hundreds of inmates Thursday who escaped when suspected Islamists used machine guns and bombs in a Nigerian prison attack, while authorities warned other jails may be vulnerable.

AFP - Prime Minister David Cameron returned from France on Thursday following the death of his father whom he described as an "amazing man and a real life enhancer."

Reuters - Stocks rose on Thursday as better-than-expected jobs and trade gap data improved fragile investor optimism over the economic recovery.

AP - North Korean children are already singing the praises of the young man in line to become the reclusive nation's next leader, analysts say, but the rest of the world doesn't even know the age, or, until recently, how to spell the name of Kim Jong Il's youngest son.

AP - A suicide car bomber hit a central market in southern Russia on Thursday, killing at least 17 people and wounding more than 130 in one of the North Caucasus region's worst attacks in years, officials said.

AP - Iran's Culture Ministry says one of the three Americans jailed for more than a year will be released Saturday.

AP - A suicide car bomber exploded at the gate to Mogadishu's airport Thursday, and suicide bombers in a second vehicle rushed toward the terminal before exploding themselves short of their goal, officials said. Up to 14 people were killed, including five attackers.

AP - Hundreds of angry Afghans burned a U.S. flag and chanted "Death to the Christians" on Thursday to protest plans by a small American church to torch copies of the Muslim holy book on the anniversary of the Sept. 11 terror attacks.

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.

AP - Spain gave final approval Thursday to labor market reforms designed to shake up a listless economy and help slash a bloated deficit that has prompted European-wide worries of another Greek-style debt crisis.

Reuters - Britain's financial watchdog fined Goldman Sachs Group Inc 17.5 million pounds ($27 million) for failing to tell the regulator that it was the subject of a U.S. probe, reviving disclosure headaches for the Wall Street powerhouse.

Reuters - McDonald's Corp reported softer-than-expected August sales in Europe, its biggest revenue market, due to weakness in France, sending its shares down nearly 3 percent.

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.

Reuters - President Barack Obama stood firm on Thursday in opposition to a Republican push to extend Bush-era tax cuts for the rich but stopped short of threatening to veto such a measure if passed by Congress.

AFP - Australian regulators rejected National Australia Bank's 12.2 billion US dollar bid for financial firm AXA Asia Pacific on competition concerns Thursday, in a move welcomed by rival suitor AMP.

AP - As exhausted Detroit firefighters battled wind-fed blazes burning wild in some neighborhoods and threatening to char much of the city, a half-dozen departments from surrounding communities brought in sorely needed — and gladly accepted — help.

AFP - Kuwait has appointed its first independent regulatory body, the Capital Market Authority, to oversee its stock exchange, Commerce Minister Ahmad al-Harun said on Wednesday.