AP - House Democratic leaders on Thursday worked to rally their rank-and-file members around last-minute agreements on insurance taxes and prescription drug coverage that could move President Barack Obama's overhaul of the nation's health care system a step closer to reality.

AP - American households saw their wealth increase at the end of last year, mainly because the healing economy boosted stock portfolios.

AP - Pro Football Hall of Famer and former television actor Merlin Olsen has died. He was 69.

AP - Without a TV show to do every night, Conan O'Brien is taking his act on the road.

AP - Chilean President Sebastian Pinera is urging citizens along the coast to move quickly to higher ground following five strongly felt aftershocks, including the biggest since last month's 8.8-magnitude temblor.

Reuters - U.S. Vice President Joe Biden called on Thursday for Israeli-Palestinian peace talks to start without delay despite Palestinian insistence that Israel first cancel a settlement project condemned by Washington.

AP - In a victory for the concept album, Britain's High Court on Thursday ordered record company EMI Group Ltd. to stop selling downloads of Pink Floyd tracks individually rather than as part of the band's original records.

AP - Partial preliminary results from four of 18 provinces in Iraq show the prime minister's bloc and a secular challenger winning two provinces each.

AFP - Sony on Wednesday unveiled a hotly anticipated motion-sensing controller that it hopes will fuel new interest in its PlayStation 3 videogame consoles.

AP - Cathleen Griffin usually feeds her passion for the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race through the Internet, but next week she'll travel to Alaska for the first time to see the winner cross the finish line in the old gold rush town of Nome.

AP - In a victory for the concept album, Britain's High Court on Thursday ordered record company EMI Group Ltd. to stop selling downloads of Pink Floyd tracks individually rather than as part of the band's original records.

AFP - Google said Thursday that it was in talks with China on the future of the US Internet giant in the Asian nation, after the firm threatened to leave over cyberattacks and state web censorship.

Macworld.com - We’ve talked about the glory and promises of OnLive in the past—it’s the online gaming system that promises to let you play your favorite games whenever, wherever, and on whatever device you want. Now the gaming revolution has a street date, too: June 17, 2010.

PRANZAC, Charentes (Reuters) - Repliée sur sa région de Poitou-Charentes, son fief depuis 2004, Ségolène Royal boucle sa campagne pour les élections régionales au plus près du terrain, loin de Paris et du Parti socialiste.

PARIS (Reuters) - Gérard Longuet a tenté jeudi de clore le tollé déclenché par ses propos sur le profil du futur président de la Halde en annonçant qu'il inviterait Malek Boutih à défendre son projet devant le Sénat.

PARIS (Reuters) - A trois jours du premier tour des élections régionales, les socialistes s'efforcent de lutter contre leur premier adversaire, l'abstention, et appellent au rassemblement face à des écologistes qui se sentent pousser des ailes.

PARIS (Reuters) - François Bayrou et les têtes de listes du Mouvement démocrate (MoDem) tentent de faire bonne figure à trois jours du premier tour des élections régionales où les sondages prédisent une déroute pour le parti centriste.

PARIS (Reuters) - Europe Ecologie estime que les questions d'environnement se sont suffisamment ancrées dans l'électorat français pour se traduire par des présidences de région "vertes" après le deuxième tour des élections régionales.

AFP - SAO PAULO (AFP) - Canada's Bombardier has won a 22 million dollar contract for signaling systems for an electric railway system in the Peruvian capital, a company official told AFP Thursday.

The Canadian Press - OTTAWA - Stephen Harper says his government has put Canada on track to emerge stronger and faster from the global recession than any other industrialized country.

The Canadian Press - EDMONTON - Alberta Health Services says a court hearing to consider the future of a brain-damaged infant on life support will not proceed.

AFP - MOSCOW (AFP) - Sergei Afanasiev, the owner of the world's biggest private collection of ice hockey-related memorabilia, returned Olympic gold medallist Sidney Crosby's "golden" stick, local media reported Thursday.

AFP - VANCOUVER (AFP) - The cauldron of the Paralympic Winter Games will blaze to life in this western Canadian city Friday, starting the competition between athletes with disabilities from 45 countries in a games running parallel to the Olympics.

Reuters - CHICAGO (Reuters) - U.S. and Canadian health officials have approved the use of the medical isotopes created at a Polish nuclear reactor, a move that will help ease a shortage of the materials used in millions of diagnostic tests, health products provider Covidien said on Thursday.

Reuters - OTTAWA (Reuters) - Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper adopted a more upbeat tone than usual when discussing the economy on Thursday, saying the nation was recovering with a growing sense of optimism.

The Canadian Press - KANDAHAR, Afghanistan - Canadian soldiers are repairing a key bridge on the road between Kandahar city and Pakistan after it was badly damaged by a suicide bomber's blast earlier this month.

Radio-Canada - L'industrie du thon rouge en Atlantique est menacée par une possible interdiction du commerce international de cette espèce.

La Presse Canadienne - VICTORIAVILLE - Une vingtaine de policiers de la Sûreté du Québec (SQ) fouillent les berges de la rivière Saint-François, entre Windsor et Richmond, dans les Cantons-de-l'Est, afin de retrouver une femme portée disparue.

La Presse Canadienne - SAINT-HYACINTHE - Une opération policière amorcée mercredi soir se poursuivait jeudi, en Montérégie, dans le but de démanteler un réseau de trafic de stupéfiants.

La Presse Canadienne - MONTRÉAL - Des accusations de fraude et de fausse facturation ont été déposées mercredi contre l'ancien directeur général de la FTQ-Construction, Jocelyn Dupuis.

La Presse Canadienne - QUEBÉC - Le ministre Claude Béchard, affligé depuis un certain temps par un cancer, a obtenu jeudi son congé de l'hôpital.

La Presse Canadienne - MONTRÉAL - La situation difficile que l'on vit actuellement dans le système de santé va s'aggraver si les infirmières n'obtiennent pas de meilleures conditions de travail.

La Presse Canadienne - OTTAWA - Le premier ministre Stephen Harper n'a eu rien de neuf à offrir dans sa réplique au discours du Trône livré la semaine dernière.

Radio-Canada - La FTQ-Construction dit être en accord avec la décision du ministre Dupuis de demander à la SQ d'enquêter sur les allégations d'intimidation sur des chantiers de construction de la Côte-Nord, rapportées par Radio-Canada.