AP - Earth seems to have its first fuzzy photos of alien planets outside our solar system, images captured by two teams of astronomers. The pictures show four likely planets that appear as specks of white, nearly indecipherable except to the most eagle-eyed experts. All are trillions of miles away — three of them orbiting the same star, and the fourth circling a different star.

AP - The New York Yankees started their offseason makeover by acquiring Nick Swisher from the Chicago White Sox on Thursday. Swisher, who can play first base and all three outfield spots, was obtained for pitching prospect Jeff Marquez and infielder Wilson Betemit.

AP - The mother was running out of more than patience when she abandoned her 18-year-old daughter at a hospital over the weekend under Nebraska's safe-haven law. She was also running out of time: She knew that state lawmakers would soon meet in a special session to amend the ill-fated law so that it would apply to newborns only.

AP - Sarah Palin called on fellow Republican governors to keep the new president and his strengthened Democratic majority in check on issues from taxes to health care as she signaled she'll take a leadership role in a party searching for a new standard-bearer.

AP - President-elect Barack Obama's inauguration is expected to draw 1 million-plus to the capital, and already some lawmakers have stopped taking ticket requests and hotels have booked up.

AP - Prosecutors filed a murder charge Thursday against the man accused of imprisoning his daughter for 24 years in a rat-infested cell and fathering her seven children, saying one of the youngsters who died in infancy might have survived if brought to a doctor.

Reuters - Goldman Sachs suspended its rating on General Motors Corp on Thursday and said the automaker needs at least $22 billion in federal aid, while Chrysler said it would be "very difficult to survive" without government support.

Reuters - The number of U.S. workers drawing jobless benefits hit a 25-year high this month and imports suffered a record fall in September, according to reports on Thursday that underscored a rapid drop-off in the U.S. economy.

Reuters - President-elect Barack Obama said on Thursday he would resign his U.S. Senate seat effective Sunday, which means he will not participate in next week's post-election session that could address the ailing economy and struggling auto industry.

AFP - US stocks staged a powerful rebound Thursday in highly volatile trade as traders shook off grim economic news and were buoyed by a successful test of market lows hit last month.

Reuters - Three of the world's largest economies painted bleak pictures of current conditions on Thursday as the United States, China and Germany all provided fresh evidence of the global economic slide.

AFP - Rebels in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo swept to the outskirts of a strategic crossroads town Thursday where hundreds of government troops and UN peacekeepers stood in their way.

Reuters - Afghanistan's geography and socioeconomic conditions will make it hard for the U.S. military there to duplicate policies that helped stem Iraq's insurgency, a senior Pentagon official said on Thursday.

Reuters - Senators asked the nation's biggest banks on Thursday to explain how they are using the billions of taxpayer dollars provided to them under a massive government bailout program. The answers were mixed.

Reuters - The U.S. Treasury backed away from using a $700 billion bailout fund to cleanse bank balance sheets of bad mortgage debt, while Europe reported more gloomy economic news, fanning fears of a worldwide recession.

AP - Vice President Dick Cheney, getting ready to hand off the job as the nation's second-in-command, will sit down with Vice President-elect Joe Biden on Thursday at the Naval Observatory.

AP - Urgently shifting course, the Bush administration is abandoning the centerpiece of its massive $700 billion economic rescue plan and exploring new ways to shore up not only banks but credit-card, auto-loan and other huge nonbank businesses. Democrats are pressing hard to include a multibillion-dollar bailout for faltering automakers, too — over administration objections. Unimpressed by any of the talk on Wednesday, Wall Street dove ever lower.

AP - Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin on Wednesday said she would consider serving in the Senate if God gave her the opportunity and Alaskans wanted her to take the job. Republican Sen. Ted Stevens holds a narrow lead in a race for his seat that is still undecided. About 90,000 votes were outstanding and a little more than half are being counted Wednesday, according to election officials.

AP - The Air Force general who runs the Pentagon's missile defense projects said Wednesday that American interests would be "severely hurt" if President-elect Obama decided to halt plans developed by the Bush administration to install missile interceptors in Eastern Europe.

AP - Same-sex couples exchanged vows Wednesday for the first time in Connecticut amid cheers and tears of joy, while gay activists planned protests across the country over the vote that took away their right to marry in California.

AP - Transition officials call it Obama 2.0 — an ambitious effort to transform the president-elect's vast Web operation and database of supporters into a modern new tool to accomplish his goals in the White House. If it works, the new president could have an unprecedented ability to appeal for help from millions of Americans who already favor his ideas, bypassing the news media to pressure Congress.

AP - Lindsay Lohan referred to President-elect Barack Obama as the country's "first colored president" in an interview on "Access Hollywood." Describing her experience on Election Day, Lohan said: "It was really exciting. It's an amazing feeling. It's our first colored president."

AP - Joe Maddon had a good reason for interrupting his honeymoon. About an hour after he landed in Rome, the newly married Maddon easily won the American League Manager of the Year award Wednesday for guiding Tampa Bay from baseball's basement to the World Series in one astonishing season.

AP - An American man who suffered from AIDS appears to have been cured of the disease 20 months after receiving a targeted bone marrow transplant normally used to fight leukemia, his doctors said Wednesday.