AP - Two strongly felt earthquakes have rocked central Chile as dignitaries arrive for the inauguration of President-elect Sebastian Pinera.

AP - Kansas City School Superintendent John Covington says the decision to close almost half the district's schools was difficult and painful but "unquestionably the right thing to do."

AP - WASHINGTON AP) — Senate Banking Committee Chairman Christopher Dodd plans to offer his own version of a financial regulation bill as bipartisan talks have failed to yield agreement on consumer protections and other sticking points.

Reuters - A 7.2 magnitude aftershock struck near Chile's capital Santiago on Thursday, the U.S. Geological Survey said.

AP - Early results from Iraq's key election began coming in Thursday, showing a coalition led by the prime minister ahead in two southern Shiite provinces where he was opposed by hard-line religious parties with close ties to Iran.

Reuters - Police clashed with stone-throwing youths in Athens on Thursday as tens of thousands protested draconian cutbacks aimed at pulling Greece out of a debt crisis shaking the euro zone.

AFP - Prospects for indirect peace talks lay in tatters on Thursday after the Palestinians said they would not negotiate with Israel unless it reversed plans to build 1,600 settler homes in east Jerusalem.

AP - Serious street clashes erupted between rioting youths and police in central Athens Thursday as some 30,000 people demonstrated during a nationwide strike against the cash-strapped government's austerity measures.

AP - The number of newly laid-off workers requesting unemployment benefits slipped last week, the latest sign the employment picture is slowly brightening.

Reuters - Preliminary results from Iraq's national election began to trickle in on Thursday, showing Shi'ite Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki ahead in the country's largely Shi'ite south.

Reuters - London-based oil major BP has agreed to buy Brazilian, Azeri and Gulf of Mexico assets from Devon Energy for $7 billion, as the U.S. producer refocuses on onshore U.S. fields.

AFP - Greek police battled demonstrators on Thursday as the country ground to a halt in the latest protest strike against government austerity measures aiming to end a crippling debt crisis.

Reuters - 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 - U.S. Vice President Joe Biden on Thursday implored Israelis and Palestinians to move beyond a diplomatic spat that has marred his trip to the region, urging the sides to waste no time in resolving their decades-old conflict despite daunting obstacles.

AP - A final agreement nearly in hand, President Barack Obama and Democratic leaders are about to embark on one last sales job that will determine the outcome of the president's signature health care overhaul.

AP - The foreclosure crisis isn't over, but the pace of growth may finally be slowing down.

AP - Toyota's massive recalls are prompting Congress to reconsider whether the nation's auto safety agency has lived up to its mission of protecting motorists.

AFP - Ukraine's new President Viktor Yanukovych on Thursday tightened his grip on power as one of his closest allies became the new prime minister and his party succeeded in forming a ruling coalition.

AP - Mexican telecom tycoon Carlos Slim is the first man from a developing nation to become the world's richest person — a shift that underlines the loosening of America and Europe's stranglehold on the top spots in the billionaires' club.

AP - Michael "Big Mike" Lynche made Kara DioGuardi cry and turned the rest of the "American Idol" judges giddy with a moving performance of "This Woman's Work."