Reuters - Stocks rose on Thursday as stronger-than-expected jobs and trade data helped lift optimism about the economic recovery, although sentiment was fragile as investors fretted over European banks.

Reuters - New U.S. 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.

Reuters - McDonald's Corp's European sales growth fell in August from the sizzling levels it experienced for much of the year due to weakness in France, which generates the company's biggest European sales, and its shares fell nearly 3 percent.

Reuters - Regulators probing the stock market "flash crash" last May still have not uncovered a single cause but will point to "stub quotes" and other previously identified issues as having exacerbated the market's dramatic drop, according to two sources familiar with the probe.

AP - No, the economy isn't roaring ahead. And no, companies aren't making lots of job offers. But a fresh batch of economic data Thursday at least eased summertime fears that the economy might be on the brink of another recession.

AP - Chauncey Billups made the promise. Kevin Durant made sure it was kept.

AP - Officials say a Massachusetts driver whose van collided with a car driven by New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady has had his driver's license suspended at least five times.

AP - Already having a great season, Matt Kuchar got off to his best start of the year at the BMW Championship.

AFP - Carlos Queiroz was sacked as Portugal coach on Thursday after a disciplinary feud sparked by a six-month ban for insulting officials from the country's anti-doping body.

AP - Police searched the offices of the Toronto Blue Jays and turned over documents in connection with the perjury case against seven-time Cy Young winner Roger Clemens.

AP - The Los Angeles Galaxy activated David Beckham from their disabled list Thursday, clearing the English superstar for his return to MLS competition.

AP - Caster Semenya returned to form by winning the 800 meters at the Notturna di Milano meet on Thursday, her last race before the Commonwealth Games in New Delhi.

AP - Chris Nelson stole home in the eighth inning to send the Colorado Rockies to a 6-5 victory over the Cincinnati Reds on Thursday, completing a four-game series sweep and extending their winning streak to season-best seven games.

AP - Los Angeles Lakers forward Matt Barnes has been arrested on suspicion of domestic violence, Sacramento County authorities said Wednesday.

AP - The leader of a tiny church on Thursday backed off his threat to burn the Quran, saying he gave up the plan in exchange for a deal to move a planned Islamic center and mosque away from New York's ground zero. The imam planning the center, however, quickly denied any such deal.

AP - "Advocate tolerance, and disregard the ignorant," one book counsels. Advises the other, "Be gentle towards all, ... forbearing."

AP - Lawyers for a Nigerian man charged with trying to blow up a plane near Detroit on Christmas said Thursday that they've talked to prosecutors about resolving the case with a deal.

AP - Boulder residents were warned to be ready to evacuate Thursday as officials feared a wildfire that has destroyed at least 169 homes in the nearby foothills could get pushed into the city by wind gusts expected to reach 60 mph.

AP - If Rahm Emanuel decides to run for Chicago mayor, the White House chief of staff would easily be the best-known figure in the race, with national name recognition that few others could match and invaluable experience from helping engineer the Democrats' takeover of the House in 2006.

AP - In early August, three women, each of them more than four months pregnant, sought abortions from Dr. Steven Brigham at his clinic in New Jersey. Instead of turning them down, authorities said Brigham used a novel scheme to take advantage of the disparities in state abortion laws.

AP - A federal appeals court ruled Thursday that Hazleton, Pa., may not enforce its crackdown on illegal immigrants, dealing another blow to 4-year-old regulations that inspired similar measures around the country. The city's mayor pledged to take the case to the Supreme Court.

AP - Donald Trump offered Thursday to buy out a major investor in the real estate partnership that controls the site near ground zero where a Muslim group wants to build a 13-story Islamic center and mosque.

AP - Boston police have cited the driver of a van involved in an accident with New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady.

AP - Iran said Thursday it will free Sarah Shourd, one of three Americans jailed for more than 13 months, as an act of clemency to mark the end of the Islamic holy month of Ramadan.

AP - Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin blamed extremists "without souls, without hearts" for a suicide car bombing that killed 17 people Thursday in the crowded central market of a city in the North Caucasus.

AP - U.S. Marine commandos stormed a pirate-held cargo ship off the Somalia coast Thursday, reclaiming control and taking nine prisoners without firing a shot in the first such boarding raid by the international anti-piracy flotilla, U.S. Navy officials said.

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

AP - Terrified Somalis fleeing an offensive by Islamist insurgents in their capital described a hellish scene of putrefying corpses, graves hastily dug in gardens and neighborhoods flattened by mortars.

AP - A rescue operation was planned to untangle a humpback whale caught in creel buoys near a remote Scottish island. Officials said the rescue would be difficult because of rough weather conditions.