National and World News

BUXTON, N.C. (AP) -- The last ferry left for the mainland and coastal residents hunkered down at home as Hurricane Earl closed in with 105 mph winds Thursday on North Carolina's dangerously exposed Outer Banks, the first and perhaps most destructive stop on the storm's projected journey up the Eastern Seaboard....

NEW ORLEANS (AP) -- An oil platform exploded and burned off the Louisiana coast Thursday, the second such disaster in the Gulf of Mexico in less than five months. This time, the Coast Guard said there was no leak, and no one was killed....

WASHINGTON (AP) -- In an early sign of promise, Israeli and Palestinian leaders pledged Thursday in a cordial first round of talks to keep meeting at regular intervals, aiming to nail down a framework for overcoming deep disputes and achieving lasting peace within a year....

PHOENIX (AP) -- It will go down as one of the most painful openings to a political debate in recent memory....

NEW YORK (AP) -- This year's back-to-school season isn't as big a bust for retailers as they feared - or as last year's - but it's not great either....

LOS ANGELES (AP) -- Investigators have identified the owner of a trunk in which the mummified remains of two babies were found, bringing them a step closer to solving the intriguing international mystery....

MONTERREY, Mexico (AP) -- A shootout between soldiers and suspected drug cartel members in northeastern Mexico left 25 purported gunmen dead Thursday, the military said....

HONOLULU (AP) -- Six recruiters were accused Thursday of luring 400 laborers from Thailand to the United States and forcing them to work, according to a federal indictment that the FBI called the largest human-trafficking case ever charged in U.S. history....

NEW YORK (AP) -- The former television producer who tried to blackmail David Letterman was freed Thursday after four months in jail for a plot that put a spotlight on the comic icon's office affairs, city Correction Department records show....

NEW YORK (AP) -- Roger Federer is one cool customer....