By Estelle Shirbon LONDON (Reuters) - Britain expressed regret on Thursday about the abuse of Kenyans by colonial forces during the Mau Mau insurgency in the 1950s and announced a compensation package for more than 5,200 survivors worth a total of 20 million pounds. The deal, settled out of court after three elderly Kenyan torture victims won the right in October to sue the British government, could encourage people in other former colonies to press claims over grievances dating back to the days of Empire. ...

LONDON (AP) — The failure of European Central Bank President Mario Draghi to hint at any further easing in monetary policy weighed on stock markets Thursday but shored up the euro.

PARIS (AP) — Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic will face each other in a French Open semifinal that feels like a final.

FRANKFURT, Germany (AP) — European Central Bank President Mario Draghi has announced a cut in the bank's growth outlook for the 17 countries that use the euro currency.

KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — The governor of an eastern province in Afghanistan alleged on Thursday that an overnight NATO airstrike killed three civilians and wounded seven there, a claim the US-led coalition flatly denied.

NEW YORK (AP) — U.S. futures rose on upbeat jobs numbers Thursday, though trading remains light ahead of a crucial report from the Labor Department at the end of the week.

The price of oil rose above $94 per barrel Thursday following news of a big drop in U.S. oil supplies.

BEIRUT (AP) — Syrian rebels on Thursday captured a crossing point along a cease-fire line with Israel in the contested Golan Heights, a development that could deepen Israeli concerns over the growing role of Islamic radicals in the civil war near its northern frontier.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The number of Americans seeking unemployment benefits fell 11,000 last week to a seasonally adjusted 346,000, a level consistent with steady job growth.

RANCHO MIRAGE, Calif. (AP) — A sprawling California desert estate built by billionaire philanthropists Walter and Leonore Annenberg is a place where political powerbrokers once discussed critical issues of the day and where royalty — real and Hollywood — soaked up sun and golfed on a private, nine-hole course.

BAGHDAD (AP) — Iraqi officials say two car bomb explosions in Baghdad have killed at least six people and wounded more than two dozen.

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — After a slow but steady overnight search buoyed by the discovery of a woman in the rubble, rescue workers at the scene of a building collapse that killed six people took a temporary break Thursday in what had been a round-the-clock dig for additional victims.

By Catherine Bremer and Nicholas Vinocur PARIS (Reuters) - While French President Francois Hollande is at pains to repair his fraught relations with business, his industry minister has other ideas - or so many entrepreneurs and even some government colleagues believe. Proudly protectionist Arnaud Montebourg, who is also Minister for Industrial Renewal, is showing a heavy-handed hostility to foreign and domestic firms just when France needs investment, his critics say. ...

TUNIS (Reuters) - Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan said on Thursday his government would go ahead with controversial plans to overhaul a small park in central Istanbul, despite mass protests against the redevelopment of the square. Speaking to reporters in Tunis after a meeting with his Tunisian counterpart, Erdogan said groups accused of responsibility for previous violent attacks were manipulating what had started as an environmental protest and that a number of foreigners had been arrested. (Reporting by Ayla Jean Yackley; Editing by Nick Tattersall)

LONDON (AP) — Stock markets in Europe recovered their poise Thursday from a big retreat earlier in Asia as investors awaited comments from the European Central Bank president Mario Draghi.

DULUTH, Minn. (AP) — An aspiring half-marathon runner in Minnesota attributed her unbearable back pain to a two-hour training session. A day later, she was cradling a newborn.

By David Milliken LONDON (Reuters) - Bank of England Governor Mervyn King's final rate-setting meeting ended in a subdued fashion on Thursday with no change to policy despite the governor's calls for more stimulus. The bank's decision to leave policy steady before the arrival next month of King's successor - former Canadian central bank chief Mark Carney - was widely expected by economists, as recent data suggests Britain's recovery is gathering strength. ...

NEW YORK (AP) — U.S. futures are rising ahead of a weekly jobs report that could determine whether the Dow index has its first three-day losing streak of the year.

FRANKFURT, Germany (AP) — The European Central Bank has left its benchmark interest rate unchanged at a record low of 0.5 percent as it searches for new ways to lift the euro area's economy out of recession.

DETROIT (AP) — Just two days after refusing a government request to recall 2.7 million older-model Jeeps, Chrysler has decided to do two other recalls totaling 630,000 vehicles worldwide.