AP - The search by the booming North American population of Amish for affordable, fertile farmland has produced settlements in 28 states and Ontario — and has even led parties to scout recently for suitable properties in Alaska and Mexico.

Politico - The Oval Office is nearly as familiar an image as the president himself.

AP - An al-Qaida-linked group claimed responsibility Thursday for a bombing earlier this week targeting the Baghdad offices of a pan-Arab television station, describing the deadly attack that killed six people as a victory against a "corrupt channel."

Reuters - Foreclosures rose in 3 of every four large U.S. metro areas in this year's first half, likely ruling out sustained home price gains until 2013, real estate data company RealtyTrac said on Thursday.

AP - When he heard the first scream in a campground outside Yellowstone National Park, Don Wilhelm thought it was just teenagers, maybe a domestic dispute in the middlle of the night.

AP - Crews took another step toward readying the relief well expected to finally kill the Gulf of Mexico oil gusher, removing the plug they had popped in before clearing the area ahead of Tropical Storm Bonnie last week, federal officials said Wednesday.

AP - Thailand's army is prepared to defend its border with Cambodia if a territorial dispute heats up, the prime minister said Wednesday, as the two nations were set to tussle on the diplomatic front at a U.N. meeting in Brazil.

AP - Lawmakers in the region of Catalonia thrust a sword deep into Spain's centuries-old tradition of bullfighting, banning the blood-soaked pageant that has fascinated artists and writers from Goya to Hemingway.

AP - A tornado ripped a family's farmhouse from its foundation in Montana's remote northeastern corner, killing two people and leaving neighbors and authorities to dig through the rubble to rescue a 71-year-old woman who was found next to her grandson's body. Her nephew was found dead 200 feet away.

AFP - Berlin police said Wednesday they impounded a clapped-out Latvian tour bus with 1.8 million kilometres (1.1 million miles) behind it -- enough to go to the Moon and back twice, and then back to Latvia.

AP - More bystanders are willing to attempt CPR if an emergency dispatcher gives them firm and direct instructions — especially if they can just press on the chest and skip the mouth-to-mouth, according to new research.

Reuters - Japan's Toyota Motor Corp said on Thursday it would recall 412,000 high-end passenger cars in the United States to fix steering problems.

Reuters - Suspected drug hitmen have kidnapped four Mexican journalists who were reporting on organized crime in northern Mexico, the latest attempt by cartels to silence the media, a Mexican media group said on Wednesday.

AP - Never mind that the details about Chelsea Clinton's wedding are being guarded like state secrets. The postcard-pretty town of Rhinebeck is ready for its close-up.

AP - NASCAR team owner Jack Roush remained hospitalized in serious but stable condition Wednesday, one day after he walked away from a plane crash in Wisconsin.

AP - New York Gov. David Paterson will not face criminal charges for calling up a woman who later dropped domestic violence charges against a top aide, though the aide could still face prosecution, according to an investigative report issued Wednesday.

AP - Louisville basketball coach Rick Pitino is used to answering questions from reporters.