AP - President Barack Obama sought Thursday to put some detail behind his lofty drive to double U.S. exports over the next five years, calling the effort imperative to putting people back to work. But doubts remain about how many net jobs his trade agenda will create — and how he will get it done.

AFP - Initial election results from two mainly Shiite Iraqi provinces put Shiite Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki in the lead on Thursday, as rival blocs voiced doubts over the vote count.

Reuters - A cross-sectarian, secularist alliance headed by former Prime Minister Iyad Allawi is ahead in two Iraqi provinces north of Baghdad, early results from the country's electoral commission showed Thursday.

AP - House Democratic leaders Thursday walked their rank-and-file members through last-minute agreements that could move President Barack Obama's overhaul of the nation's health care system a step closer to reality.

AP - Over the years, "Little Billy" learned much from the country's top minds.

AFP - Initial results from Iraq's election released on Thursday put Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki's bloc ahead in two predominantly Shiite provinces.

AP - WASHINGTON AP) — Unable to muster bipartisan agreement on key banking provisions, Senate Banking Committee Chairman Christopher Dodd said Thursday he will offer his own version of a sweeping overhaul of financial regulations without Republican support.

AP - On Christmas Day, a passenger on a Northwest Airlines flight bound for Detroit tried to blow up the plane with plastic explosives in his underwear. He failed, yet the very attempt shook the U.S. government, set federal agencies against each other and triggered months of political second-guessing.

AP - U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates on Thursday downplayed Iran's influence on Afghanistan, but the war of words escalated, with Iran's president promising that the region's people would "cut your hands off of the Persian Gulf oil."

AP - Shortly after entering Congress in 1993, Rep. Bart Stupak withstood President Bill Clinton's charm offensive and voted against free-trade legislation — an early display of the independent streak that has put him at odds with fellow Democrats many times since.

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.

AP - A conservative group's bashing of several Obama administration lawyers as the "al-Qaida Seven" has struck a nerve in the U.S. legal community, prompting even some fellow Republicans to denounce the group's attack.

AP - U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates said Thursday he regrets that a major defense contractor has pulled out of the contest to build a badly needed new Air Force plane.

AFP - Iran has freed for the new year holidays a prominent opposition figure rounded up during protests against the disputed June re-election of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, news reports said Thursday.