WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The number of Americans filing new claims for unemployment benefits fell more than expected last week, suggesting some traction in the labor market recovery. Initial claims for state unemployment benefits dropped 22,000 to a seasonally adjusted 344,000, the Labor Department said on Thursday. The prior week's claims figure was revised to show 4,000 more applications received than previously reported. Economists polled by Reuters had expected first-time applications to fall to 360,000. ...

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. economy barely grew in the fourth quarter although a slightly better performance in exports and fewer imports led the government to scratch an earlier estimate that showed an economic contraction. Gross domestic product expanded at a 0.1 percent annual rate, the Commerce Department said on Thursday, missing the 0.5 percent gain forecast by analysts in a Reuters poll. The growth rate was the slowest since the first quarter of 2011 and far from what is needed to fuel a faster drop in the unemployment rate. ...

PARIS (Reuters) - Ten months into his mandate, President Francois Hollande scored the worst of any French president since 1981 in the TNS Sofres poll for Le Figaro magazine released on Thursday as he struggles to spur economic growth and create jobs. Socialist voters who propelled Hollande to the presidency in May 2012 are now questioning his government's handling of an economy teetering near recession, a series of industrial layoffs and joblessness at a 15-year high. ...

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama intends to name Edith Ramirez the chairwoman of the Federal Trade Commission, a White House official said on Thursday. Ramirez has been an FTC commissioner since April 2010. She was a Los Angeles lawyer specializing in business litigation before joining the commission. The FTC works to protect consumers from unfair business practices and maintain competition in the marketplace. Ramirez would replace outgoing Chairman Jon Leibowitz, who handled high-profile, anti-trust cases against Intel Corp and Google Inc during his tenure. ...

CONAKRY (Reuters) - Authorities in Guinea called for calm on Thursday after more than 100 people were injured in clashes between anti-government protesters and security forces in the capital Conakry. The government is preparing for a long-delayed parliamentary election the opposition fears will be rigged. "We call on the population to remain calm," said government spokesman Damantang Albert Camara. "The street is not the place to resolve political disagreements. ...

ROME (Reuters) - The United States will send non-lethal aid directly to Syrian rebels for the first time, Secretary of State John Kerry said on Thursday, disappointing opponents of President Bashar al-Assad who are demanding Western weapons. More than 70,000 Syrians have been killed in a devastating conflict that began with peaceful anti-Assad protests nearly two years ago. Some 860,000 have fled abroad and several million are displaced within the country or need humanitarian assistance. ...

LONDON (Reuters) - Royal Bank of Scotland has reported its strongest underlying profit since the financial crisis, potentially paving the way for Britain to sell its 82 percent stake if some big hurdles are overcome. The bank had to be rescued in a 45.5 billion pound ($68.9 billion) state bailout during 2008 but the government has begun looking at ways to sell off its holding as RBS starts to return to financial health. "The light at the end of the tunnel is coming closer," Chief Executive Stephen Hester said on Thursday. ...

From ABC’s Chris Good, Pierre Thomas, Jason Ryan, Jack Cloherty, and Jack Date: President Obama has “evolved” on gay marriage, his administration opposes the federal law against it, and now Attorney General Eric Holder says it’s the next big civil-rights issue. In an exclusive, wide-ranging...

From ABC’s Chris Good, Pierre Thomas, Jason Ryan, Jack Cloherty, and Jack Date: Eric Holder worries about the president. “He’s the same guy that I think he was four years ago,” the U.S. attorney general told ABC’s Pierre Thomas in a wide-ranging, exclusive interview on...

MADRID (Reuters) - Rescued Spanish lender Bankia reported tentative signs of recovery on Thursday, even as huge writedowns on bad property assets led it to post the country's biggest ever corporate loss of 19.2 billion euros ($25.2 billion). Bankia, the focal point of Spain's banking crisis since it requested a state bailout in mid-2012, said deposits were rising, non-performing loans falling and costs being cut, and kept its forecast to return to profit this year. However, the bank faces a big challenge in a country gripped by recession and battling to reduce its government deficit. ...

From ABC’s Chris Good, Pierre Thomas, Jason Ryan, Jack Cloherty, and Jack Date: Attorney General Eric Holder shrugged off the House’s move to hold him in contempt last year because he didn’t respect the votes by those who chose to do so. In a wide-ranging,...