Top Stories - AP

WASHINGTON - Fear and loathing is spreading as signs mount that the economy is in danger of losing its balance.

HONG KONG - Asian stocks plummeted Thursday, with Tokyo's market plunging more than 10 percent, after another dive on Wall Street as worse-than-expected data about the U.S. economy heightened fears of a global recession.

CHRISTIANSTED, U.S. Virgin Islands - A fast-strengthening Hurricane Omar was crossing the northern Leeward Islands early Thursday as a major Category 3 storm.

BAGHDAD - American soldiers killed the alleged No. 2 leader of al-Qaida in Iraq, a Moroccan who trained in Afghanistan, recruited foreign fighters and ran operations in northern Iraq where Sunni insurgents remain a potent threat, the U.S. military said Wednesday.

WASHINGTON - Democratic Rep. John Murtha said Wednesday his home base of western Pennsylvania is racist and that could reduce Barack Obama's victory margin in the state by 4 percentage points.

LEESBURG, Va. - A one-time top lieutenant to Martin Luther King Jr. was sentenced Wednesday to 15 years in prison for having sex more than a decade ago with his then-teenage daughter.

NEW YORK - Monkeys taught to play a computer game were able to overcome wrist paralysis with an experimental device that might lead to new treatments for patients with stroke and spinal cord injury.

WASHINGTON - Janet Jackson took the stage to exploding fireworks, clouds of smoke and the sounds of some early hits Wednesday in her first concert since she was sidelined for two weeks by a bout of vertigo.

LOS ANGELES - The losingest team in pro sports history was soaked in champagne and whooping it up Wednesday night. Next stop for these Philadelphia Phillies: the World Series.

CORNING, Calif. - The family of a dead elderly woman cremated her remains on a makeshift barbecue and continued collecting her retirement checks amounting to more than $25,000, authorities in Northern California said. Ramona Allmond's daughter and grandson were arrested Sunday on suspicion of embezzlement, elder abuse and disposing of a body without a permit.

DENVER - In the beginning, there was a long line for Judgment Day ale.

NEW YORK - A soft-spoken designer from Portland, Ore., has the competition sewn up on Bravo's hit reality show "Project Runway."

BAGHDAD - American troops could face trial before Iraqi courts for major crimes committed off base and when not on missions, under a draft security pact hammered out in months of tortuous negotiations, Iraqi officials familiar with the accord said Wednesday.

NEW YORK - Given Google Inc.'s reputation as a trend setter on the Web, I expected great things from its first mobile phone — especially since it is emerging more than a year after Apple Inc. launched the enormously popular iPhone.

CINCINNATI - Close to one in every three newly registered Ohio voters will end up on court-ordered lists being sent to county election boards because they have some discrepancy in their records, an elections spokesman said Wednesday.

MALIBU, Calif. - Ryan O'Neal and his son, Redmond, were charged Wednesday with possession of methamphetamine.

IRVING, Texas - Not far from the unoccupied locker of suspended cornerback Adam "Pacman" Jones, receiver Roy Williams talked excitedly Wednesday about coming home to play for the Dallas Cowboys.

ORLANDO, Fla. - Prosecutors have DNA tests and hair samples. They have testimony about "the smell of death" in the trunk of the suspect's car. What they do not have is a body. Prosecutors building a case against a single 22-year-old Florida mother accused of killing her young daughter will have to rely on forensic evidence and persuade a jury that Casey Anthony lacks credibility and had a motive, legal experts say.

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. - Two days after bruising his chest on what he considered a questionable hit, Eli Manning practiced with the New York Giants on Wednesday and said he would play Sunday against the San Francisco 49ers.

LOS ANGELES - Nancy Reagan suffered a broken pelvis in a fall at her home and will be hospitalized for several days, her spokeswoman said Wednesday. The 87-year-old former first lady fell last week, spokeswoman Joanne Drake said. She did not seek immediate medical care but decided Monday to get checked out because of persistent pain, Drake said.

BOSTON - The Tampa Bay Rays are giving Scott Kazmir the chance to pitch them into the World Series. The 24-year-old left-hander was moved up in the rotation so he could start in the potential AL pennant clincher against the Boston Red Sox on Thursday night at Fenway Park. The move keeps Kazmir on his regular rest and bumps scheduled starter James Shields to the if-necessary Game 6 at home Saturday.

LOS ANGELES - Gale Harold was in critical condition Wednesday after the "Desperate Housewives" actor crashed his motorcycle the day before, a hospital spokeswoman said. Harold was awaiting further tests at USC Medical Center, spokeswoman Adelaida De La Cerda said. She gave no further details on his injuries.

WASHINGTON - Call it the political revenge of the nerds. For nearly eight years, many mainstream scientists have been frustrated with the Bush administration. They've claimed that science has been censored, ignored and politicized on issues from global warming to stem cells to evolution. Even the presidential science adviser was booted from the White House, forced to set up office down the street.

NEW YORK - Investors agonizing over a faltering economy sent the stock market plunging all over again Wednesday after a stream of disheartening data convinced Wall Street that a recession, if not already here, is inevitable. The market's despair propelled the Dow Jones industrials down 733 points to their second-largest point loss ever, and the major indexes all lost at least 7 percent.

WASHINGTON - Vice President Dick Cheney was treated "without complication" Wednesday for an abnormal heartbeat, his office said, making a short visit to a hospital to restore his normal rhythm with an electric shock.

LANCASTER, Ohio - Democratic vice presidential candidate Joe Biden said Wednesday that Barack Obama's plan to rebuild the nation's crumbing roads and bridges would help reverse the loss of 240,000 jobs in Ohio during the Bush years.

DOVER, N.H. - Republican vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin said Wednesday she feels a kinship with the moose-hunting, tax-hating voters of New Hampshire who gave John McCain his first primary victory.

LINCOLN, Neb. - A judge has thrown out a Nebraska legislator's lawsuit against God, saying the Almighty wasn't properly served due to his unlisted home address. State Sen. Ernie Chambers filed the lawsuit last year seeking a permanent injunction against God.