AP - Attorney General Michael Mukasey, the no-nonsense former federal judge who took over the Justice Department after Alberto Gonzales resigned in disgrace, collapsed during a speech Thursday night and was rushed to a hospital after losing consciousness.

AP - President-elect Barack Obama plans to nominate Hillary Rodham Clinton as secretary of state after Thanksgiving, a new milestone for a former first lady and a convergence of two political forces who contested mightily for the presidency.

AP - Jarred by new jobless alarms, Congress raced to approve legislation Thursday to keep unemployment checks flowing through the December holidays and into the new year for a million or more laid-off Americans whose benefits are running out.

AP - The $25 billion rescue plan for the auto industry, desperately sought by Detroit's beleaguered Big Three, collapsed Thursday as Congress drew the line at one more bailout and Democrats said they wouldn't even consider it until the companies produced a convincing plan for rebuilding their once-mighty industry.

AP - A federal judge on Thursday ordered the release of five Algerians held at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, and the continued detention of a sixth in a major blow to the Bush administration's strategy to keep terror suspects locked up without charges.

AP - An agency director improperly used state computers to find personal information on "Joe the Plumber," a government watchdog said in a report released Thursday.

AP - Dr Pepper is making good on its promise of free soda now that the release of Guns N' Roses' "Chinese Democracy" is a reality.

AP - Ben Roethlisberger and the Pittsburgh Steelers know exactly how to beat the Cincinnati Bengals — with or without Chad Ocho Cinco.

Reuters - Signs of distress in the global economy mounted on Friday, with shares in U.S. bank Citigroup Inc plunging on fears about its future, oil prices falling and the future of U.S. automakers hanging in the balance.

Reuters - Democratic congressional leaders, seeking to salvage a bailout of the Big Three automakers, demanded executives provide a business survival plan in exchange for their support of up to $25 billion in loans.

Reuters - Citigroup Inc lost more than one-quarter of its market value on growing worries over whether it has enough capital to withstand billions of dollars of potential losses and despite new support from its largest individual investor.

Reuters - U.S. President-elect Barack Obama is on track to nominate his former rival, New York Democratic Sen. Hillary Clinton as secretary of state after the November 27 Thanksgiving holiday, a Democratic official said.

Reuters - Stocks plunged yet again on Thursday, as a frantic flight from risk prompted by investors' deepening economic fears drove the benchmark Standard & Poor's 500 index to its lowest level since 1997 -- completing the erasure of more than a decade of stock market gains.

Reuters - Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the two biggest U.S. home loan finance companies, on Thursday said they would suspend foreclosures of occupied homes until early 2009, as the government moves to stem the tide of home losses plaguing the economy.

Reuters - Retired Marine Gen. James Jones emerged as a leading contender for White House national security adviser as President-elect Barack Obama worked on Thursday to assemble his foreign policy team.

AFP - Somali pirates who hijacked a Saudi oil super-tanker demanded a 25 million dollar ransom Thursday amid calls for tougher action to end threats to one of the world's key maritime routes.

AFP - The UN Security Council approved an extra 3,000 peacekeeping troops to help end conflict in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, where fresh fighting erupted earlier in the day.