World/Nation
• Hurricane Arthur threatens East Coast
KILL DEVIL HILLS, N.C. - A strengthening Hurricane Arthur forced thousands of vacationers on the North Carolina coast to abandon Fourth of July plans while cities farther up the East Coast rescheduled fireworks displays threatened by rain from the storm.
Arthur strengthened to a Category 2 hurricane Thursday night, its winds strengthening to 100 mph before it made landfall near the southern end of the Outer Banks. Little change was expected in the storm's strength Thursday night and Friday, though Arthur was expected to weaken as it travels northward and slings rain along the East Coast.
The annual Boston Pops Fourth of July concert and fireworks show were held Thursday night because of potential heavy rain from Arthur, while fireworks displays in New Jersey, Maine and New Hampshire were postponed until later in the weekend.
Arthur reached land late Thursday between Cape Lookout and Beaufort, N.C., near the southern end of the Outer Banks, a 200-mile string of narrow barrier islands with about 57,000 permanent residents.
The islands are susceptible to high winds, rough seas and road-clogging sands, prompting an exodus that began Wednesday night.
• June jobs report shows recovery is accelerating
WASHINGTON - A surprisingly robust job market is energizing the 5-year-old U.S. recovery and driving the economy closer to full health.
Employers added 288,000 jobs in June and helped cut the unemployment rate to 6.1 percent, the lowest since 2008. It was the fifth straight gain above 200,000 - the best such stretch since the late 1990s tech boom.
The Dow Jones industrial average surged 92 points to top 17,000 for the first time.
The breadth and consistency of the job growth are striking in part because of how poorly the year began. The economy shrank at a steep 2.9 percent annual rate in the January-March quarter as a harsh winter contributed to the sharpest contraction since the depths of the recession.
• Leader of Kurds wants a vote on independence
BAGHDAD - With large parts of Iraq in militant hands, a top Kurdish leader called on regional lawmakers Thursday to lay the groundwork for a referendum on independence, a vote that would likely spell the end of a unified Iraq.
The recent blitz by Sunni militants across much of northern and western Iraq has given the country's 5 million Kurds - who have long agitated for independence - their best chance ever to seize disputed territory and move closer to a decades-old dream of their own state.
But the Kurds still face considerable opposition from many in the international community, including the United States.
- The Associated Press