Latest News Stories and Headlines

AP – Hurricane Earl’s powerful gusts and driving rains are churning over the Outer Banks of North Carolina and starting to be felt in southeastern Virginia.

Reuters – Hurricane Earl battered North Carolina’s coast with rain, winds and waves on Friday and swirled up the U.S. eastern seaboard toward New England and Canada as a weakened but still dangerous storm.

AP – Soldiers killed at least 25 suspected cartel members Thursday in a raid and gunbattle in a Mexican state near the U.S. border that has become one of the most dangerous battlegrounds in the country’s drug war.

Time.com – Nine weeks before the midterm elections, Barack Obama finds himself on the wrong side of the polls. Where did all that adoration go — and is a Republican sweep next?

AP – Could your kitchen at home pass a restaurant inspection?

AP – The last ferry left for the mainland and coastal residents hunkered down at home as Hurricane Earl closed in with 115 mph winds Thursday on North Carolina’s dangerously exposed Outer Banks, the first and potentially most destructive stop on the storm’s projected journey up the Eastern Seaboard.

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.

AP – Congress seems increasingly reluctant to let taxes go up, even on wealthier Americans.

CQPolitics.com – White House spokesman Robert Gibbs on Thursday defended President Barack Obama’s track record of campaigning for House Democrats as new polling shows their party taking a nose dive.

Time.com – Israelis feel prosperous, secure — and disengaged from the peace process with the Palestinians. Is that wise?

Time.com – Nine weeks before the midterm elections, Barack Obama finds himself on the wrong side of the polls. Where did all that adoration go — and is a Republican sweep next?

AP – Roger Federer will stroll into the third round of the U.S. Open.

Ann Coulter – The nonsense about President Obama being a Muslim has got to stop. I rise to defend him from this absurd accusation by pointing out that he is obviously an atheist.

AFP – Crews managed to extinguish a massive blaze on a rig in the Gulf of Mexico Thursday and have not been able to locate an oil slick spotted earlier in the day, the Coast Guard said.

AP – Two young goats wandered onto the thin ledge of a railroad bridge and spent nearly two days high above the ground until rescuers in a towering cherry picker plucked them from their perch, hungry but safe.

AFP – Hurricane Earl bore down on a vast stretch of the US East Coast on Thursday, as tens of thousands of people fled North Carolina’s barrier islands to avoid dangerous winds and surf.

AFP – Burger King said Thursday it had accepted a four-billion-dollar takeover bid by a little known investment firm, as the fast food chain tries to close the gap with leader McDonald’s and expand overseas.

Reuters – President Barack Obama will hold a press conference on Friday, September 10, the White House said on Thursday.

Reuters – Burger King Holdings Inc agreed to sell itself to investment firm 3G Capital for $3.26 billion, giving the No. 2 U.S. fast-food chain breathing room to fix its business and close the gap with leader McDonald’s Corp.

AFP – The United States has apologised to Pakistan over “mistreatment” of a Pakistani military delegation at a US airport this week, the Pakistani defence ministry said Friday.

AP – A federal appeals court has ruled against the Baltimore Ravens and the National Football league in a copyright dispute over the team’s original logo.

AP – Five-time champion Roger Federer has breezed into the third round at the U.S. Open, serving 15 aces in beating 104th-ranked Andreas Beck of Germany 6-3, 6-4, 6-3.

AP – Burger King’s new ruler could help its empire expand.

AP – Verizon Wireless on Thursday announced it’s opening up access to smart phones for customers who prepay for service, such as people with poor credit and those who don’t want to be tied down by long-term contracts.

Reuters – Canadian parents are more lenient with their children than mothers and fathers in France and Italy, according to a new study.