Oil prices headed higher Thursday after an initial retreat as reports on jobs, manufacturing and home sales gave mixed signs about the economy.   Full Story

(AP Photo/Christophe Ena)

PARIS—Note to big companies hoping to tap into France's lucrative but long-neglected Muslim consumer market: Pitfalls may await, and not only in the form of complaints from the far-right.   Full Story

GRAND ISLE, La.—An offshore petroleum platform exploded and was burning Thursday in the Gulf of Mexico about 80 miles off the Louisiana coast, west of the site where BP's undersea well spilled after a rig explosion.   Full Story

DETROIT—Ford is introducing its first SUV specially designed for police use, a model based on the new Ford Explorer.   Full Story

(AP Photo/Gero Breloer)

BERLIN—Germany's central bank said Thursday that it will request the dismissal of a board member whose comments stereotyping Muslims and Jews drew outrage at home and abroad.   Full Story

ST. PAUL, Minn.—The woman who blew the whistle on Tom Petters' $3.7 billion Ponzi scheme, even as she was implicated herself, has been sentenced to one year in prison.   Full Story

WASHINGTON—Kia Motors is recalling about 35,000 Soul and Sorento vehicles to fix wiring in the interior lighting panels that could lead to fires.   Full Story

CHICAGO—Grains futures traded mixed Thursday on the Chicago Board of Trade. Wheat for December delivery jumped 13.   Full Story

SAN FRANCISCO—Del Monte Foods Co. said Thursday that its fiscal first-quarter profit edged up 1.   Full Story

(AP Photo/Ted S. Warren, file)

WASHINGTON—Orders to U.S. factories managed a slight gain in July as a surge in demand for commercial aircraft helped offset widespread weakness in other areas.   Full Story