Gordon Brown urges voters not to "risk" a different government while David Cameron and Nick Clegg both put the case for change in the final UK prime ministerial TV debate.
AP - An oil spill that threatened to eclipse even the Exxon Valdez disaster spread out of control with a faint sheen washing ashore along the Gulf Coast Thursday night as fishermen rushed to scoop up shrimp and crews spread floating barriers around marshes.
AP - The U.S. attorney's office in Manhattan is conducting a criminal investigation of Goldman Sachs over mortgage securities deals the big Wall Street firm arranged, a knowledgeable person said Thursday.
Knowing a bailout for Athens would be unpopular, Chancellor Angela Merkel wanted to postpone taking action on the Greek crisis until a key state election on May 9. But financial markets don't care about domestic German politics. Her delay could end up costing the country billions.
Maria Challis was widowed last year when her husband Paul died of cancer. She compensated by making a full-size cardboard cutout of him. It has practically become part of the family.
Experts still hope to close a stuck valve that's let oil flow into the Gulf of Mexico for more than a week. But if those efforts fail, the next-best plans will take weeks more to stop the flow, officials say.
President Obama has started meeting with possible Supreme Court nominees, including talks Thursday with federal Judge Sidney Thomas, a senior administration official told CNN.