OLYMPIA, Wash. (AP) — The father-in-law of missing Utah mother Susan Powell won't be released from prison Thursday, the Washington state Corrections Department said.

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Barack Obama is set to at least partially lift the veil of secrecy surrounding U.S.-directed drone strikes around the world, a key component of counterterrorism strategy, as he outlines the contours of the continuing threat to American security.

PRETORIA (Reuters) - South Africa's Reserve Bank left its repo rate unchanged as expected at 5 percent on Thursday, citing concerns about a lower rand exchange rate and weak economic growth. All but one of 25 economists polled by Reuters last week expected the Bank would keep rates on hold, with the majority forecasting steady rates throughout 2013.

NEW YORK (AP) — A company that promised sightseer tours to the Bronx that included a New York City "ghetto" has stopped the bus rides under protest from an outraged neighborhood.

By Marc Jones LONDON (Reuters) - A senior central banker sought to give reassurance on Thursday that the Fed is in no hurry to start winding down its economic stimulus after comments by chairman Ben Bernanke sent stock markets tumbling. James Bullard, president of the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, said on Thursday he did not think the Fed was "that close" to starting the process of winding down its support although it was the likely next step if the economy continued to improve and inflation picks up. ...

NEW YORK (AP) — The momentum of a late sell-off on Wall Street carried over into a second day, sending U.S. futures and global stock markets into retreat.

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — A band of thunderstorms is battering the Oklahoma City area and slowing cleanup operations in the southern suburb where a tornado killed 24 people and destroyed thousands of homes earlier this week.

ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) — A Chechen immigrant shot to death in Florida after an altercation with an FBI agent implicated himself in a triple slaying that officials believe may have been connected to Boston Marathon bombing suspect Tamerlan Tsarnaev, authorities said.

(Reuters) - Canada's main stock index looked set to open lower on Thursday as comments from Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke raised fears the U.S. central bank would end its bond-buying program sooner-than-expected. TOP STORIES Toronto-Dominion Bank quarterly profit rose 2 percent, driven by stronger wholesale banking income, it said. The European Central Bank is looking into expanding its range of policy tools, while the U.S. central bank is mulling scaling back its support measures, highlighting the contrasting fortunes between the world's two biggest economic blocs. ...

GRAPEVINE, Texas (AP) — The Boy Scouts of America's national leadership will vote Thursday on whether to allow openly gay Scouts in its ranks, a critical and emotionally charged moment for one of the nation's oldest youth organizations and its millions of members.

By Kevin Yao BEIJING (Reuters) - China's plan to spend $6.5 trillion on urbanization to bolster the economy is running into snags, sources close to the government said, as top leaders fear another spending binge could push up local debt levels and inflate a property bubble. Premier Li Keqiang has rejected an urbanization proposal drafted by the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC), seeking changes to put more emphasis on economic reform, according to the sources, who are familiar with the matter. ...

MOORE, Okla. (AP) — All that is left of Shayne Patteson's three-bedroom home is the tiny area where his wife hunkered down under a mattress to protect their three children when a tornado packing winds of at least 200 mph slammed through his neighborhood.

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — For bicyclist Rudi Saldia, you could say a cat is his co-pilot.

By Leigh Thomas and Jason Lange PARIS/WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The European Central Bank is looking into expanding its range of policy tools, while the U.S. central bank is mulling scaling back its support measures, highlighting the contrasting fortunes between the world's two biggest economic blocs. ECB Executive Board member Peter Praet said late on Wednesday that the central bank could try new policies if needed to battle deflation risks, adding that the central bank was also weighing measures to encourage more lending in the euro zone. ...

TOKYO (AP) — Japan's financial markets gyrated wildly Thursday, underscoring the vulnerability of its economy to a loss of investor confidence as Prime Minister Shinzo Abe attempts shock monetary easing to end two decades of stagnation.

CAPE TOWN (Reuters) - South African President Jacob Zuma said on Thursday labour strikes could cause major problems and job losses in Africa's biggest economy. "We are likely to run the economy of the country into a serious problem and therefore there will be more people unemployed and there will be therefore an extension of poverty," Zuma said during an address to traditional leaders in parliament.

By Andy Bruce LONDON (Reuters) - Chinese factory activity shrank in May for the first time in seven months, overshadowing signs that the euro zone's downturn tempered slightly in May, business surveys showed on Thursday. World stock markets tumbled after the Chinese data and also in response to U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke, who hinted on Wednesday the Fed could soon pare back its bond-buying with new money if the economy maintains momentum. China's flash HSBC Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) entrenched fears recovery in the world's No. ...

NAIROBI (Reuters) - Kenya's economy is expected to expand by about 6 percent in 2013, up from a growth rate of 4.6 percent last year, driven by a pick-up in sectors like agriculture, the planning minister said on Thursday. Optimism around the prospects for east Africa's biggest economy has risen after the country held a peaceful presidential poll in March, in contrast with the violence-riddled election of five years ago. ...

By Keith Coffman DENVER (Reuters) - Public defenders representing James Holmes, accused of killing 12 moviegoers in Colorado last summer, will return to court on Thursday to challenge the state's insanity defense law in a bid to try to avoid the death penalty for their client. Lawyers representing Holmes, 25, are challenging Colorado's capital punishment statute on several fronts, and on Thursday are arguing that it unconstitutionally bars him from calling his own mental health experts at sentencing if he refuses to cooperate with court-appointed psychiatrists. ...

Your daily look at late-breaking news, upcoming events and the stories that will be talked about today:

By Richard Hubbard LONDON (Reuters) - Share markets fell sharply on Thursday as investors piled back into safer assets, unnerved by the twin setbacks of unexpected weakness in China's economy and signals that the U.S. central bank may soon scale back its stimulus program. The yen bounced sharply off recent lows and German Bunds rose, gaining support from a shift in sentiment that followed Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke's comment that the bank may trim its bond purchases at one of its next policy meetings. ...

ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) — A Chechen immigrant shot to death in central Florida after an altercation with an FBI agent had several ties to that of one of the Boston Marathon bombing suspects who authorities were questioning him about at the time.

ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) — A Chechen immigrant shot to death in central Florida after an altercation with an FBI agent had several ties to that of one of the Boston Marathon bombing suspects who authorities were questioning him about at the time.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The economy is recovering, the White House is dealing with multiple controversies, and President Barack Obama appears generally unaffected either way.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The economy is recovering, the White House is dealing with multiple controversies, and President Barack Obama appears generally unaffected either way.

BANGKOK (AP) — Japanese stocks plummeted Thursday after a spike in government bond yields and unexpectedly weak Chinese manufacturing spooked investors sitting atop months of massive gains in share prices. The Nikkei 225 in Tokyo nosedived 7.3 percent to close at 14,483.98, its worst drop since the 2011 tsunami.

NORTH WEBSTER, Ind. (AP) — A school bus slammed into the back of another one, setting off a chain-reaction crash involving four buses in northern Indiana, leaving about 50 middle and high students with non-serious injuries and one driver seriously injured.

DENVER (AP) — Democratic Gov. John Hickenlooper's decision to block the execution of convicted killer Nathan Dunlap for as long as he is governor infuriated victims' relatives and drew quick criticism from Republicans ahead of the 2014 election.

PHOENIX (AP) — Jurors in Jodi Arias' murder trial resume deliberations Thursday after they were unable to reach a unanimous verdict on whether she should be sentenced to life in prison or death for killing her one-time boyfriend, prompting the judge to instruct them to keep trying.

DENVER (AP) — In the most prominent challenge of its kind, Hobby Lobby Stores Inc. is asking a federal appeals court Thursday for an exemption from part of the federal health care law that requires it to offer employees health coverage that includes access to the morning-after pill.

YORBA LINDA, Calif. (AP) — U.S. Navy Lt. Mike McGrath was just 27 years old, with a wife and two toddler sons in the U.S., when he was shot down and taken prisoner on his 179th bombing mission during the Vietnam War.