U.S. National - Reuters

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Novak Djokovic and Andy Roddick put in a show-stopping performance at the U.S. Open on Thursday night but only the fired up Serbian was left standing to take an encore -- albeit from a hostile Flushing Meadows crowd.

DETROIT (Reuters) - Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick pleaded guilty on Thursday to obstruction of justice in a plea agreement that forces him from office and caps a scandal that had threatened to spill over into the U.S. presidential campaign in a key battleground state.

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Jeanne Hopkins flew all the way from California to line up to put her name in a lottery for a $20 ticket to see one of the last Broadway performances of the hit musical "Rent," which closes on Sunday after 12 years.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. toddlers got the recommended vaccinations against childhood diseases at record levels in 2007, federal health officials said on Thursday, as they urged parents to continue to trust vaccine safety.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Disgraced lobbyist Jack Abramoff was sentenced on Thursday to serve four more years in prison in a corruption scandal that rocked Washington's power elite and helped Republicans lose control of Congress.

MANILA (Reuters) - Alan Marasigan looks like any other Filipino as he fiddles with his cell phone inside a shopping mall in Manila. But his American accent and perfect English give him away.

NEW YORK (Reuters) - New York's state attorney general is planning to sue the student loan company, Goal Financial, accusing it of engaging in illegal practices to lure customers, the New York Times reported on Thursday.

NEW YORK (Reuters) - With her trademark cascade of curled blonde hair pinned to the side, Tinsley Mortimer is a charity ball staple, attends countless fashion shows and is one of the most recognizable faces in New York society.

NEW YORK (Reuters) - The old saying holds true: The rich do get richer.

GONAIVES, Haiti (Reuters) - Powerful Hurricane Ike weakened slightly as it charged across the Atlantic toward the Bahamas and the United States on Thursday while Tropical Storm Hanna's death toll from floods in Haiti grew to 136.

HOUSTON (Reuters) - Entergy Corp officials on Thursday said power should be restored in 70 percent of the Louisiana parishes where Entergy supplies power within one week as thousands of workers continue to repair damage from Hurricane Gustav which slammed the state's coast Monday.

NEW YORK (Reuters) - A Pakistani woman suspected of links to al Qaeda has refused a strip search, delaying her trial in New York on charges she grabbed a U.S. soldier's gun in Afghanistan and tried to kill her American interrogators.

DETROIT (Reuters) - The incoming mayor for Detroit said on Thursday that he was considering a forensic audit of the financially strapped city's finances.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Tobacco use caused 2.4 million cases of cancer in the United States from 1999 to 2004, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported on Thursday.

NEW ORLEANS (Reuters) - For New Orleans cafe owner Kappa Horn, the inconvenience of a hurricane like Gustav, which roared through town this week, is shutting down the business and laying off staff.

LOS ANGELES/SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - This back-to-school season, high school student Tony Lopez is sticking to basics like jeans and shirts so he has enough money to buy his football equipment and go out on weekends.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Florida (Reuters) - NASA hauled the space shuttle Atlantis to the seaside launch pad on Thursday, hopeful a trio of storms churning over the Atlantic Ocean will steer clear of the Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

NEW YORK (Reuters) - The dominant U.S. service sector improved last month and businesses boosted productivity in the second quarter but evidence of labor market weakness overshadowed other data the day before a key jobs report.

CHICAGO (Reuters) - The entire Mississippi River, the most important U.S. commercial waterway, has reopened to barge traffic after being closed near New Orleans due to Hurricane Gustav, said the U.S. Coast Guard on Thursday.

NEW YORK (Reuters) - More than two thirds of Americans would rather be stranded on a desert island with their pet than with their partner, a poll showed on Thursday.

SEATTLE (Reuters) - Boeing Co's largest labor union said its members had rejected the plane maker's contract offer and voted to strike, but the union agreed to postpone a walkout for 48 hours to allow more time for negotiations.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A higher percentage of patients treated with an experimental Pfizer Inc drug for osteoporosis died during a clinical trial compared with a placebo, U.S. drug reviewers said in an analysis released on Thursday.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A retired professor of electrical engineering at the University of Tennessee was convicted on Wednesday of violating U.S. arms export controls and passing sensitive data to a Chinese national, the U.S. Justice Department said.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - More young adults abused prescription pain drugs last year but their use of cocaine and methamphetamines fell, while illicit drug use by baby boomers in their late fifties soared, a U.S. agency said on Thursday.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Top U.S. defense officials have recommended that President George W. Bush withdraw one combat brigade from Iraq but not until early next year, Pentagon sources said on Thursday.

SEATTLE (Reuters) - The International Association of Machinists, Boeing Co's largest labor union, said on Wednesday that it will postpone a potential strike for 48 hours to allow more time to negotiate with the company.

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Major League Baseball's instant replay system was used for the first time on Wednesday when umpires upheld a home run by Alex Rodriguez during the New York Yankees' 8-4 victory over the Tampa Bay Rays.

NEW YORK (Reuters) - New York cable TV operator Cablevision Systems Corp has started rolling out a free Wi-Fi network for subscribers who want to access the Web via laptops and other wireless devices.