Yahoo! News: Top Stories

Stock futures sink ahead of opening (AP)

Thu, 13 Mar 2008 13:02:13 GMT

AP - Wall Street headed for a sharply lower opening Thursday amid mounting concerns about the health of the economy and as gold rose to $1,000 an ounce for the first time.

Retail sales plunge by 0.6 percent (AP)

Thu, 13 Mar 2008 12:53:44 GMT

AP - Consumers, battered by plunging home prices and a credit crunch, stayed away from the malls in February, pushing retail sales down by a larger-than-expected amount. It was another worrisome sign that the country could be falling into a recession.

New color $5 bills come out today (AP)

Thu, 13 Mar 2008 11:45:35 GMT

AP - Abraham Lincoln is getting a little color in his cheeks. New $5 bills bearing the gaunt visage of the nation's 16th president � but with some touches of color added � are making their way to banks and cash registers near you.

Report: Spitzer call girl identified (AP)

Thu, 13 Mar 2008 10:14:44 GMT

AP - The call girl at the center of the prostitution scandal that prompted Gov. Eliot Spitzer to resign in disgrace has been identified as a 22-year-old aspiring musician who struggled in a broken home as a child.

Iraq: Car bomb kills 11 in Baghdad (AP)

Thu, 13 Mar 2008 12:27:51 GMT

AP - A parked car bomb exploded in a commercial district of central Baghdad Thursday, killing 11 people and wounding 57, police said.

Astronauts to work on giant robot (AP)

Thu, 13 Mar 2008 11:39:20 GMT

AP - After linking up with the international space station, Endeavour's astronauts got right to work Thursday unloading the parts they'll need to build a giant robot that will help maintain the orbiting outpost.

New sales program pays Facebook members (AP)

Thu, 13 Mar 2008 11:33:36 GMT

AP - Facebook Inc.'s popular online hangout so far has proven to be a better place for promoting fun and games than peddling products.

'American Idol' axes first finalist (AP)

Thu, 13 Mar 2008 11:56:17 GMT

AP - A juicy backstory wasn't enough to keep David Hernandez on "American Idol." The 24-year-old ex-stripper from Glendale, Ariz., was dismissed Wednesday, leaving 11 aspiring singers to vie for the "Idol" title and a record contract.

Conn. school backs off candy punishment (AP)

Thu, 13 Mar 2008 12:16:35 GMT

AP - An eighth-grade honors student who was suspended for a day, barred from attending an honors dinner and stripped of his title as class vice president after he was caught with contraband candy in school will get his student council post back, school officials said.

Rockets top Hawks for 20th straight win (AP)

Thu, 13 Mar 2008 11:23:07 GMT

AP - The Houston Rockets became the third team in NBA history to win 20 consecutive games, tying for the league's second-longest winning streak with an 83-75 victory over the Atlanta Hawks on Wednesday night.

New York Gov. Spitzer resigns but more woes likely (Reuters)

Thu, 13 Mar 2008 06:26:22 GMT

Reuters - Resigning over reports he paid for a $1,000-an-hour prostitute, New York Gov. Eliot Spitzer leaves behind his political post but could face legal trouble from the stunning sex scandal.

Race flap forces Clinton supporter to quit (Reuters)

Thu, 13 Mar 2008 04:36:47 GMT

Reuters - A high-profile supporter quit Hillary Clinton's presidential campaign on Wednesday after a remark about black Democratic rival Barack Obama was interpreted as racist.

Kidnapped Iraq archbishop dead: Church officials (Reuters)

Thu, 13 Mar 2008 12:55:27 GMT

Reuters - Paulos Faraj Rahho, the Chaldean Catholic archbishop who was kidnapped in Iraq last month, has been found dead, Church officials in Rome and Baghdad said on Thursday.

Feb retail sales tumble unexpectedly (Reuters)

Thu, 13 Mar 2008 12:38:09 GMT

Reuters - Retail sales plunged 0.6 percent in February, the Commerce Department said on Thursday in a report that showed a worried consumer as the economy dramatically slowed.

Rockets hit Israel after West Bank raid (Reuters)

Thu, 13 Mar 2008 12:05:35 GMT

Reuters - Islamic Jihad fired rockets into Israel from the Gaza Strip on Thursday after an Israeli raid in the occupied West Bank, in renewed violence that threatened prospects for an Egyptian-brokered truce.

China sees conspiracy behind Olympics criticisms (Reuters)

Thu, 13 Mar 2008 09:20:28 GMT

Reuters - China said the United States is unfit to present itself as a "defender of human rights" and a senior official accused Western critics of conspiring to use the Beijing Olympic Games to subvert Communist Party rule.

Shuttle and station crews meet, greet and get to work (Reuters)

Thu, 13 Mar 2008 13:12:42 GMT

Reuters - Astronauts from space shuttle Endeavour and the International Space Station greeted one another with hugs and smiles on Thursday to begin a joint 12-day mission to install a Japanese laboratory and Canadian robotic system.

U.S. passion for guns has roots in hunting (Reuters)

Thu, 13 Mar 2008 12:18:53 GMT

Reuters - The life-sized stuffed animals at the massive Cabela's store in Fort Worth can give the impression of being in a natural history museum.

Gaza violence lull ends with Israeli strikes, rockets (AFP)

Thu, 13 Mar 2008 10:38:39 GMT

AFP - Israeli warplanes hit the Gaza Strip Thursday after militants rattled the Jewish state with rocket fire, ending a five-day lull and threatening efforts to strike a more permanent truce.

Serbia calls early vote over EU, Kosovo dispute (AFP)

Thu, 13 Mar 2008 10:43:22 GMT

AFP - Serbian President Boris Tadic on Thursday dissolved the parliament and called early legislative elections for May 11, following the collapse of the ruling coalition in a policy rift over ties with the EU and Kosovo's disputed independence.