D.C. Council Chairman Vincent C. Gray said Thursday that he will ask authorities to investigate allegations that his opponent, Mayor Adrian M. Fenty, offered jobs to some people if they cast ballots for him in early voting.

Mr. Fenty's campaign questioned the credibility of the allegations.

At a press conference ...

The nation's economic outlook improved Thursday as the government reported big drops in the nation's trade deficit in July and a large decline in claims for unemployment benefits last week.

Investors were particularly focused on the jobs outlook, as weak growth in employment and incomes has stymied hopes for more ...

TORONTO | The overseers of the glossy new home of the Toronto International Film Festival have two key aims: to infuse their building with the spirit of cinema's future and the ghosts of its past.

The festival, which got under way Thursday for an 11-day run, opens the doors this ...

GAINESVILLE, Fla. | The minister of a Florida church said he has canceled plans to burn copies of the Quran because the leader of a much-opposed plan to build an Islamic Center near ground zero has agreed to move its location. The agreement couldn't be immediately confirmed.

The Rev. Terry ...

Iran will free an American woman jailed there for more than 13 month "very soon," an Iranian diplomat at the United Nations told The Washington Times Thursday.

Reports from Tehran said one of three detained Americans will be freed Saturday.

"I can confirm that Sarah Shourd will be released very ...

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — A sharply divided federal appeals court on Wednesday threw out a lawsuit challenging a controversial post-Sept. 11 CIA program that flew terrorism suspects to secret prisons.

The complaint was filed by five terrorism suspects who were arrested shortly after 9/11 and say they were flown by a Boeing ...

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Obama is conceding that if the midterm election turns out to be mostly a referendum on the sluggish economy, Democrats are "not going to do well."

In an interview with ABC News aired Thursday, Mr. Obama said the party should be able to maintain control of ...

ALLENTOWN, Pa. (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 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Philadelphia said that Hazleton's Illegal Immigration Relief Act ...

TEHRAN (AP) — Iran said it will free one of three Americans jailed for more than a year on Saturday in a clemency to mark the end of the Islamic holy month of Ramadan.

The Culture Ministry sent a text message to reporters telling them to come to a Tehran ...

BOSTON (AP) — New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady was in a two-car accident near his home on Thursday morning but was unhurt and attended a walk-through practice later in the day.

"I understand he's fine, but I haven't talked to him," the two-time Super Bowl MVP's father, Tom ...

The economic outlook improved Thursday as the government reported big drops in the nation's trade deficit in July and a large decline in claims for unemployment benefits last week.

Investors are particularly focused on the jobs outlook, as weak growth in employment and incomes has stymied hopes for more ...

GAINESVILLE, Fla. (AP) — As Florida officials worried about public safety surrounding a small church's plan to burn the Koran, President Obama added his voice to the chorus of opposition to the church's intention to burn copies of Islam's holiest text to mark the 9/11 terrorist attacks.

Elsewhere, an Afghan ...

WASHINGTON (AP) — The number of people signing up for unemployment benefits dropped to the lowest level in two months, an encouraging sign that companies aren't resorting to deeper layoffs even as the economy has lost momentum.

The Labor Department reported Thursday that new claims for unemployment aid plunged ...

MOGADISHU, Somalia (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.

The coordinated ...

BAGHDAD (AP) — Four prisoners with links to al Qaeda have escaped from the U.S.-controlled part of a maximum-security prison in Baghdad, U.S. and Iraqi officials said Thursday.

The breakout from Karkh Prison, formerly called Camp Cropper, is an embarrassment for the U.S. military, which has handed over control of ...

SEOUL (AP) — North Korea celebrated its 62nd anniversary Thursday with odes to supreme leader Kim Jong-il and pilgrimages to his late father's statue amid hints that a political meeting believed aimed at promoting his son as successor is imminent.

There is widespread speculation that Mr. Kim will use the ...

ROSTOV-ON-DON, Russia (AP) — A suicide car bomber hit the central market of a major city in Russia's North Caucasus on Thursday, killing at least 17 and wounding more than 130 people in one of the worst attacks in the volatile region in years, officials said.

The attacker detonated ...

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Obama is exhorting a Florida minister to "listen to those better angels" and call off his plan to engage in a Koran-burning protest this weekend.

Mr. Obama told ABC's "Good Morning America" in an interview aired Thursday that he hopes the Rev. Terry Jones of Florida ...

President Obama says the federal government needs more revenue, while House Minority Leader John A. Boehner says it needs to spend less. One of them could walk out of this year's congressional elections with a mandate to handle one of the most intractable problems facing the country.

Spending has risen ...

Using his strongest political rhetoric yet, President Obama said Wednesday that Republicans are banking on the calculation that "if I fail, they win," and he told Congress to make a clean break with the Bush-era tax policies by letting the tax cuts for the wealthiest expire.

In a stump-style speech ...