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    • Earl threatens East Coast with a pounding (AP)

      People stand on a pier as waves crash below them in Southern Shores, North Carolina. 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/Getty Images/Mark Wilson)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.


    • No sign of oil spill after Gulf platform fire (AP)

      Boats are seen spraying water on an oil and gas platform that exploded in the Gulf of Mexico, off the coast of Louisiana., Thursday, Sept. 2, 2010. All 13 crew members were rescued. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)AP - The Coast Guard is saying there are no immediate signs of a spill from an oil platform fire in the Gulf of Mexico off the Louisiana coast.


    • Temporary cap that stopped oil gusher removed (AP)

      In this image courtesy of KATC3 news channel in Lafayette, Louisiana, an offshore oil platform burns in the Gulf of Mexico 90 miles (145 kilometers) south of the Louisiana coast. 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.(AFP/KATC3)AP - Engineers removed a temporary cap Thursday that stopped oil from gushing into the Gulf of Mexico from BP's blown-out well in mid-July. No more oil was expected to leak into the sea, but crews were standing by with collection vessels just in case.


    • Feds sue Arizona sheriff in civil rights probe (AP)

      Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio speaks to the media after learning the U.S. Justice Department is suing Arpaio saying the Arizona lawman refused for more than a year to turn over records in an investigation into allegations his department discriminates against Hispanics, Thursday, Sept. 2, 2010, in Phoenix. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)AP - The Justice Department sued the nation's self-proclaimed "toughest sheriff" on Thursday, calling Joe Arpaio's defiance of an investigation into his office's alleged discrimination against Hispanics "unprecedented."


    • Hamas among intractable issues in Mideast talks (AP)

      Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton looks on as Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, right, and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu shake hands as she hosts the re-launch of direct negotiations, Thursday, Sept. 2, 2010, at the State Department in Washington. (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak)AP - To relaunch Middle East peace talks on Thursday, the Israeli and Palestinian leaders and their American mediators quietly agreed to push aside the question of Hamas — the Islamic militant group that controls one of the two Palestinian territories and rejects negotiations.


    • Gunman shot as Discovery hostages planned escape (AP)

      In this image released by the Montgomery County Police, James J. Lee is seen is a booking mugshot from 2008 on disorderly conduct. Lee, 43, a gunman with what police described as 'concerns' with the Discovery Channel networks took at least one person hostage in the company's Silver Spring, Md., headquarters Wednesday, Spet. 1, 2010. A law enforcement official speaking on condition of anonymity because the investigation is ongoing said authorities have identified Lee as the likely suspect. (AP Photo/Montgomery County (Md.) Police)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.


    • Chicago gangs to top cop: You're not playing fair (AP)

      Jim Allen, a member of the Vice Lords speaks at a news conference, joined by several current and former gang members Thursday, Sept. 2, 2010, in Chicago. The 32-year-old describes his gang as devoted to social support, and he says police can't hold the group responsible for the criminal acts of individuals. He calls the superintendent's so-called 'gang summit' initiative to crack down on crime 'a joke' that won't stem violence. (AP Photo/M. Spencer Green)AP - Several current and ex-gang members lashed out at Chicago's police chief on Thursday, calling his so-called "gang summit" initiative to crack down on crime a wasted effort that will have little effect on the streets of the county's third largest city.


    • Man in Letterman blackmail plot freed from NY jail (AP)

      FILE-In a Nov.10, 2009 file photo, Robert 'Joe' Halderman, who tried to blackmail David Letterman over the comedian's office affairs, listens as his attorney Gerald Shargel speaks to the media outside Manhattan criminal court following his court appearance in New York. Halderman was released from a New York City jail Thursday, Sept. 2, 2010. He served four months of his six-month sentence and got time off for good behavior. (AP Photo/Louis Lanzano,File)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.


    • Judge punishes Michigan juror for Facebook post (AP)

      In this May 19, 2010 photo, Desiree Francisco, left, with other members of her family, stand by a box containing the remains of her father, Siegfried Francisco, at the International Airport in Port-au-Prince. Francisco, 57, who was attending a conference at the Hotel Montana, died during the Jan 12 earthquake but it took until April to identify his remains. The desperate quest to find loved ones started just minutes after the quake, as cell phones rang unanswered from beneath the rubble of Haiti's best hotel. A few hours later, the search went online with a Facebook page dedicated to the Hotel Montana. (AP Photo/Esteban Felix)AP - A Detroit-area woman who was removed from a jury for commenting about the ongoing case on Facebook has a longer writing task ahead: a five-page essay about the constitutional right to a fair trial.


    • Embattled Illinois prisons chief resigns (AP)
      AP - Illinois' prison chief, who became a political liability to Gov. Pat Quinn during an election year because of a secret prisoner release program he oversaw, is stepping down, the governor said Thursday.
    • Army: Chaplain is 1st killed in action since '70 (AP)
      AP - A chaplain killed in Afghanistan this week was the first Army clergyman killed in action since the Vietnam War, the military said Thursday.
    • Attorney accused in prison drug-smuggling case (AP)
      AP - An FBI agent says an Illinois defense attorney facing federal charges that he tried to smuggle a heroin-filled condom into an Indiana federal prison claims to have done it repeatedly, exploiting greater privacy privileges lawyers are afforded in the lockups.
    • Fired aide to ex-Mo. gov runs for gov's dad's seat (AP)

      Scott Eckersley, right, Democratic candidate for the U.S. House, talks with Juli Matthews, left, and her husband Shawn Matthews, as he canvasses local businesses while on the campaign trail in Springfield, Mo., Wednesday, Sept. 1, 2010. Eckersley, a former state legal adviser who won a $500,000 settlement after being fired for pointing out the improper deletion of emails by state officials, is running for the seat held by retiring U.S. Rep. Roy Blunt. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)AP - It's been three years since Scott Eckersley was fired after asserting that his then-boss, former Gov. Matt Blunt, and others in Blunt's administration should not be deleting certain e-mails because they belonged to the public record.


    • Mariner Energy shares fall after platform blast (AP)
      AP - Mariner Energy, Inc. shares dropped more than 4 percent Thursday following news that one of its production platforms exploded in the Gulf of Mexico.
    • Senate upset erases Alaska seniority (AP)

      ** FILE ** In this March 5, 2009 file photo, Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, is interviewed in her office on Capitol Hill in Washington. The defeat of Murkowski by an upstart fiscal conservative in Alaska's GOP primary could mark a significant shift for a state. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite, File)AP - The defeat of Republican U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski by an upstart fiscal conservative in Alaska's GOP primary could mark a significant shift for a state that has so long relied on federal pork to survive. The outcome was also an unexpected blow to the seniority Alaska has enjoyed in the Senate.


    • McCourt: Wife didn't risk of being a Dodgers owner (AP)

      Jamie McCourt leaves court during a lunch break Thursday Sept. 2, 2010 in Los Angeles. Frank McCourt testified at his divorce trial, his estranged wife, Jamie McCourt, wanted no part in the risk associated with buying the Los Angeles Dodgers six years ago. (AP Photo/Nick Ut)AP - Former Dodger CEO Jamie McCourt didn't want to take the risk associated with buying the Los Angeles Dodgers six years ago and if she had, it would have adversely affected the team, her estranged husband testified Thursday at their divorce trial.


    • Co-worker: Suspect's girlfriend alive during chase (AP)

      In this undated photo provided by the Hercules Police Department, Efren Valdemoro is shown. Valdemoro, 38, was shot and killed by California Highway Patrol officers Tuesday, Aug. 31, 2010, after refusing to drop a large knife when the chase ended in a strip mall, police said. He was wanted in the death of a 73-year-old man last weekend. In the passenger seat of the car, officers found the body of his girlfriend, whose identity has not been released. She had suffered 'pretty serious head and neck injuries,' said CHP spokesman Sgt. Trent Cross. (AP photo/Hercules Police Department via the San Francisco Chronicle)AP - The co-worker of a woman found dead in her boyfriend's car after a fatal California police chase said Thursday that she spoke with the victim during the pursuit.


    • Search still on for missing son of boxing promoter (AP)

      Boxing promoter Bob Arum, pictured in 2009. A search and rescue team is combing the mountainous terrain around Seattle on foot and in helicopters to look for the missing son of Bob Arum.(AFP/Getty Images/File/Ethan Miller)AP - Searchers in the rugged North Cascades have found a backpack belonging to the son of Hall of Fame boxing promoter Bob Arum, but they are still looking for the missing climber.


    • Arrest made after manhunt shuts down Wash. freeway (AP)
      AP - A sheriff's spokeswoman in Washington state says tips from the public helped authorities make an arrest following a search for an armed suspect Wednesday that shut down a busy freeway and disrupted commuter traffic.
    • Botox maker to pay $600M to resolve investigation (AP)

      Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Commissioner Margaret Hamburg speaks to reporters during a news conference at the Justice Department in Washington, Wednesday, Sep. 1, 2010, regarding a major settlement with a pharmaceutical company for False Claims Act and off-label marketing violations. Allergan Inc., the maker of wrinkle-smoothing Botox, has agreed to pay $600 million to settle a years long federal investigation into its marketing of the top-selling, botulin-based drug. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)AP - Allergan Inc., the maker of wrinkle-smoothing Botox, has agreed to pay $600 million to settle a yearslong federal investigation into its marketing of the top-selling, botulin-based drug.