GREENSBORO, North Carolina (Reuters) - Former U.S. Senator John Edwards was acquitted on Thursday on one count of accepting illegal campaign contributions, and the judge declared a mistrial on five other counts because the jury was deadlocked. The jury's decision came on the ninth day of deliberations and marked yet another dramatic turn of events for the one-time politician who rose to become the Democratic Party's vice presidential nominee in 2004, only to see his career ruined by scandal four years later. ...

GREENSBORO, North Carolina (Reuters) - Former U.S. Senator John Edwards was acquitted on Thursday on one count of accepting illegal campaign contributions, and the judge declared a mistrial on five other counts because the jury was deadlocked. The jury's decision came on the ninth day of deliberations and marked yet another dramatic turn of events for the one-time politician who rose to become the Democratic Party's vice presidential nominee in 2004, only to see his career ruined by scandal four years later. ...

GREENSBORO, North Carolina (Reuters) - Former U.S. Senator John Edwards was acquitted on Thursday on one count of accepting illegal campaign contributions, and the judge declared a mistrial on five other counts because the jury was deadlocked. The jury's decision came on the ninth day of deliberations and marked yet another dramatic turn of events for the one-time politician who rose to become the Democratic Party's vice presidential nominee in 2004, only to see his career ruined by scandal four years later. ...

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Private payroll growth picked up only slightly in May and claims for jobless benefits rose last week, suggesting the U.S. labor market recovery was losing steam after a strong performance early in the year. Other data on Thursday showed factory activity in the Midwest slowed considerably in May and economic growth in the first quarter was a bit softer than initially estimated. Economists said the reports reflected business anxiety amid an uncertain global economic outlook as the euro zone's debt crisis escalates and China's economy slows. ...

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Private payroll growth picked up only slightly in May and claims for jobless benefits rose last week, suggesting the U.S. labor market recovery was losing steam after a strong performance early in the year. Other data on Thursday showed factory activity in the Midwest slowed considerably in May and economic growth in the first quarter was a bit softer than initially estimated. Economists said the reports reflected business anxiety amid an uncertain global economic outlook as the euro zone's debt crisis escalates and China's economy slows. ...

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Relatives of a Rutgers student who committed suicide after his roommate used a webcam to spy on his gay encounter rejected the roommate's apology on Thursday, calling it a work of "public relations" designed to counter his lack of remorse. Dharun Ravi, who is serving a 30-day prison sentence, should have been given a stiffer punishment for his conviction in March in Middlesex County, New Jersey Superior Court on 15 charges, including invasion of privacy, bias intimidation and witness tampering, the family said in a statement. ...

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Relatives of a Rutgers student who committed suicide after his roommate used a webcam to spy on his gay encounter rejected the roommate's apology on Thursday, calling it a work of "public relations" designed to counter his lack of remorse. Dharun Ravi, who is serving a 30-day prison sentence, should have been given a stiffer punishment for his conviction in March in Middlesex County, New Jersey Superior Court on 15 charges, including invasion of privacy, bias intimidation and witness tampering, the family said in a statement. ...

The European Union urged Spain on Thursday to come clean on how it plans to finance the overhaul of its banking sector, warning that uncertainty over this has contributed the recent market turmoil and the country's soaring borrowing costs.

The European Union urged Spain on Thursday to come clean on how it plans to finance the overhaul of its banking sector, warning that uncertainty over this has contributed the recent market turmoil and the country's soaring borrowing costs.

Syria on Thursday blamed up to 800 rebel fighters for the massacre in central Syria last week that killed more than 100 people, nearly half of them children, in its most comprehensive explanation to date of the bloodshed.

(Reuters) - JPMorgan Chase & Co's losing bets in credit derivatives were so huge that one of its traders was known as "the London whale" and the hedge funds that attacked him have often been portrayed as harpooners who made a killing. But the story, it turns out, is more complicated than that. According to hedge fund managers and traders close to the struggle, the bank's losses - more than $2 billion - may not lead to stunning returns for the funds that were on the other side of the transactions. ...

NEW YORK (Reuters) - The debt crisis and central bank policy responses have degraded the quality and value of debt markets and signal a "potential breaking point" in the global economy, PIMCO's Bill Gross, manager of the world's largest bond fund, said in his monthly letter to investors. In his June outlook entitled "Wall Street Food Chain," Gross said stimulus policies by the Federal Reserve and the European Central Bank have led to riskier government bonds with lower value and paved the way for higher inflation. ...

The head of the European Central Bank warned Thursday that the euro currency union is "unsustainable" without stronger political and financial ties, and called for a new course to save it from a crippling debt crisis.

In the picture, the girl will always be 9 years old and wailing "Too hot! Too hot!" as she runs down the road away from her burning Vietnamese village.

For decades, Israel has marketed an array of cosmetics and food products manufactured in the occupied West Bank as "Made in Israel," blurring their true origins in Jewish settlements opposed by virtually the entire international community.

VISION NEEDED: Mario Draghi, head of the European Central Bank, said Thursday that the 17-country euro currency union is unsustainable in its current form. He told EU leaders they must quickly come up with a broad vision for the future to get the bloc through the current financial crisis.

Top congressional Republicans made a new offer to President Barack Obama on Thursday in their fight over heading off a doubling of interest rates on federal college loans for 7.4 million students, proposing fresh ways to cover the effort's $6 billion cost.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Republican Presidential candidate Mitt Romney is scheduled to deliver his latest personal financial disclosure statement to federal elections authorities on Friday, government and campaign sources said. The financial statement, which last year ran to 28 pages, is expected to show that Romney sold "nearly all" his holdings in individual stocks since last year. Instead, he moved substantial wealth into cash, according to an analysis posted earlier this month on the Forbes.com website. ...

The political impact of President Barack Obama's support for gay marriage will be tested this fall in Minnesota, where opponents of a proposed gay marriage ban are hoping the president's enduring popularity here will help persuade skeptical Democrats to vote it down.