BUXTON, N.C. (AP) - Hurricane Earl packed winds near 140 mph as it blew toward North Carolina on Thursday, putting the Eastern Seaboard up to Maine on alert for a Labor Day weekend pounding by waves, gales and rain. A hurricane warning for the tip of Massachusetts, including Nantucket and Martha's Vineyard, joined earlier warnings and watches for hurricanes or tropical storms that stretch from North Carolina up to near the Canadian border.
NEW ORLEANS, La. (AP) - An offshore petroleum platform exploded and was burning Thursday in the Gulf of Mexico about 100 miles off the Louisiana coast, west of the site where BP's undersea well spilled after a rig explosion. The Coast Guard said no one was killed in the explosion, which was spotted by a commercial helicopter flying over the site Thursday morning. All 13 people aboard the rig have been accounted for, with one injury. The extent of the injury was not known.
WASHINGTON (AP) - A weak economy got a little lift Thursday with new data suggesting companies aren't pursuing mass layoffs and stores are a little busier. New applications for unemployment benefits declined for a second straight week after rising in the previous three. Retailers reported surprisingly strong sales in August. And more people signed contracts to buy homes.
WASHINGTON (AP) - Israeli and Palestinian leaders sat down for their first direct peace talks in two years on Thursday, pledging to overcome deep skepticism and disappointment with past U.S.-brokered attempts to resolve the long-running conflict. Formally opening the negotiations after a day of discussions with President Barack Obama at the White House, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton implored Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas to make the difficult compromises needed to forge an agreement.
PHOENIX (AP) - The U.S. Justice Department sued Sheriff Joe Arpaio on Thursday, saying the Arizona lawman refused for more than a year to turn over records in an investigation into allegations his department discriminates against Hispanics. The lawsuit calls Arpaio and his office's defiance "unprecedented," and said the federal government has been trying since March 2009 to get officials to comply with its probe of alleged discrimination, unconstitutional searches and seizures, and jail policies that discriminate against people with limited English skills
SILVER SPRING, Md. (AP) - As the three hostages at Discovery Channel's headquarters appeared ready to make a run for it, police said Thursday that a SWAT team officer quickly shot and killed the increasingly agitated gunman who had explosives strapped to himself, ending the four-hour standoff. After several hours of negotiations, the tactical officers moved in. Authorities saw the hostages begin to move on building security cameras and heard a "pop" they believed to be a gunshot or an explosive device, Montgomery County Police Chief Thomas Manger said. That's when an officer shot the gunman, James J. Lee, in the lobby of the building in Silver Spring, just outside the nation's capital. None of the hostages were hurt.
Can home cooking be hazardous to your health? ATLANTA (AP) - A new study suggests that at least one in seven home kitchens would flunk the kind of health inspection commonly administered to restaurants. The small study done in Los Angeles County found that less than two-thirds of home kitchens would get an A or B if put through the rigors of a restaurant inspection. At least 14 percent would fail.
MUMBAI, India (AP) - India has widened its security crackdown, asking all companies that provide encrypted communications - not just BlackBerry-maker Research In Motion - to install servers in the country to make it easier for the government to obtain users' data. That would likely affect digital giants like Google and Skype. "People who operate communication services in India should (install a) server in India as well as make available access to law enforcement agencies," Home Secretary G.K. Pillai told reporters. "That has been made clear to RIM of BlackBerry but also to other companies."
WEST HOLLYWOOD, Calif. (AP) - Grammy-winning rapper T.I. was arrested along with his wife on suspicion of possessing methamphetamines, five months after the hip-hop star finished a prison stint on weapons charges. The 29-year-old rapper and his wife, Tameka Cottle, were arrested Wednesday night in West Hollywood after deputies smelled marijuana and pulled the couple over, the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department said. They were released from jail at about 4 a.m. Thursday after posting $10,000 bail each, sheriff's Deputy Luis Castro said.
NEW YORK (AP) - One woman's exit from the U.S. Open was jarring and sudden. Another's came off as sad and not all that surprising. Victoria Azarenka and Melanie Oudin said goodbye to Flushing Meadows in starkly different manners Wednesday - Azarenka, a concussion victim collapsing on the overheated court and Oudin a straight-set loser to a player who cared little about the 18-year-old's dreams of a fairy tale repeat.
