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1 hour, 17 minutes ago  Economists are bracing for a weak showing in the August employment report, which is scheduled to be released Friday with the private sector forecast to add a net total of only 41,000 jobs, the fewest since January.

1 hour, 22 minutes ago  Residents and officials of North Carolina's barrier islands were waiting for daybreak to see how much damage the storm's winds and waves had left behind.

1 hour, 25 minutes ago  BP says it has so far spent $8 billion responding to the disastrous oil well blowout in the Gulf of Mexico.

1 hour, 29 minutes ago  Defense Secretary Robert Gates says he saw and heard evidence the U.S. counterinsurgency strategy is taking hold in critical Kandahar province.

Yesterday at 5:21 PM  Worried about the fragile economy and their own upcoming elections, a growing number of Democrats are joining the rock-solid Republican opposition to President Barack Obama's plans to let some of the Bush administration's tax cuts expire.

Yesterday at 5:05 PM  UPDATED 4:05 p.m. CDT. The Coast Guard is backing off its earlier report that an oil sheen about a mile long was spreading following a platform explosion in the Gulf of Mexico.

Yesterday at 4:51 PM  Boeing Co. will do some limited testing on two more 787 airliners in addition to the six planes in its flight test fleet.

Yesterday at 4:46 PM  The 48-year-old singer of U.S. hard-rock band Guns N' Roses irritated thousands of his Dublin fans at the 02 Arena on Wednesday night by showing up nearly an hour late - a recurring problem on his band's European tour.

Yesterday at 11:40 AM  Eric Gordon scored 21 points and the United States pulled away after a sluggish first half to beat Tunisia 92-57 on Thursday in its final game of pool play at the world championship.

Yesterday at 10:00 AM  The National Hurricane Center in Miami issued a tropical storm warning early Thursday for the coast of Long Island in New York and a hurricane watch was issued for areas of Massachusetts.

Yesterday at 7:38 AM  Hurricane Earl was barreling toward the Eastern Seaboard on Thursday with winds swirling at around 145 mph and forecasters were trying to pinpoint exactly how close the strongest winds and heaviest surge would get to North Carolina's fragile chain of barrier islands.

Yesterday at 7:21 AM  A gunman police shot to death after he took hostages at Discovery Channel's headquarters said he hated the company's shows such as "Kate Plus 8" because they promote population growth and its environmental programming because it did little to save the planet.

Yesterday at 7:15 AM  Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke is set to go before a panel investigating the financial crisis Thursday.

Yesterday at 7:12 AM  Chicago's police chief has been the focus of criticism in recent days for calling a meeting with reputed gang leaders.

Yesterday at 7:03 AM  A homeless man who called 911 from the hot tub of a suburban Portland home and asked for towels, hot chocolate and a hug got arrested for trespassing instead.