AP - The strongest aftershock since Chile's devastating earthquake rocked the South American country Thursday as President Sebastian Pinera was sworn into office.

AP - Early results from Iraq's key election began coming in Thursday, showing a coalition led by the prime minister ahead in two southern Shiite provinces where he was opposed by hard-line religious parties with close ties to Iran.

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 - Serious street clashes erupted between rioting youths and police in central Athens Thursday as some 30,000 people demonstrated during a nationwide strike against the cash-strapped government's austerity measures.

AP - The number of newly laid-off workers requesting unemployment benefits slipped last week, but remains above the level many economists say would signal new hiring.

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 - Kansas City School Superintendent John Covington says the decision to close almost half the district's schools was difficult and painful but "unquestionably the right thing to do."

AP - Mexican telecom tycoon Carlos Slim is the first man from a developing nation to become the world's richest person — a shift that underlines the loosening of America and Europe's stranglehold on the top spots in the billionaires' club.

AP - Alex Rodriguez may soon be talking to federal authorities, and he hopes it will happen close to spring training.

Reuters - A 7.2 magnitude aftershock struck near Chile's capital Santiago on Thursday, the U.S. Geological Survey said.

Reuters - Police clashed with stone-throwing youths in Athens on Thursday as tens of thousands protested draconian cutbacks aimed at pulling Greece out of a debt crisis shaking the euro zone.

Reuters - Vice President Joe Biden called on Thursday for Israeli-Palestinian peace talks to start without delay despite Palestinian insistence that Israel first cancel a settlement project condemned by Washington.

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.

Reuters - Ukraine's new prime minister, Mykola Azarov, declaring state coffers were empty, promised on Thursday to meet all obligations to the International Monetary Fund and push through a realistic 2010 budget.

Reuters - The number of U.S. workers filing new applications for unemployment benefits fell slightly less than expected last week, hinting at a slow labor market recovery.

AFP - Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu issued a public apology to the visiting US vice president on Thursday, hoping to defuse a row over settlements that prompted a Palestinian boycott of indirect peace talks.

AFP - Greek police clashed with hooded youths on Thursday as thousands demonstrated against austerity measures aiming to end a crippling debt crisis and the country was gripped by a new general strike.