Judge rules for cheerleaders in Bible banner suit

Man held in NYC plot to blow up Federal Reserve

No suspects in 5 deaths at Denver bar

Meningitis outbreak deaths rise to 19

Violent crimes rose 18%t in 2011

Face to face: Obama, Romney in crackling debate for votes

HEMPSTEAD, N.Y. (AP) - An aggressive President Barack Obama accused challenger Mitt Romney of peddling a "sketchy deal" to fix the U.S. economy and playing politics with the deadly terrorist attack in Libya in a Tuesday night debate crackling with energy and emotion just three weeks before the election.

Obama rebounds in debate while Romney holds his own

WASHINGTON (AP) - Fighting for his political life, President Barack Obama re-emerged in blistering form in an interruption-filled debate rematch, trying to diminish Mitt Romney's rising stature by accusing him of dishonesty and extremism.

What they said in 2nd debate

An aggressive President Barack Obama scrapped with Republican Mitt Romney over terrorism, jobs, immigration and women's issues in a feisty second presidential debate. A look at what they said:

Binders of women: How the 2nd presidential debate played online

Move over Big Bird, these binders are full of women. The offhand phrase from former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney on Tuesday night was one of many topics that pinballed across social networks, as users instantly weighed in on moments from his debate with President Barack Obama. As with their first debate, for many users it was less about picking an instant winner and a loser and more about dissecting how the candidates relate to everyday ...

Earth-sized planet found just outside solar system

NY school's blackface assault skit criticized

Aerialist plans tightrope walk near Grand Canyon

SARASOTA, Florida (AP) - Aerialist Nik Wallenda says he's planning a tightrope walk near the Grand Canyon, but he won't be wearing a safety harness like he used at Niagara Falls. Wallenda told Sarasota Herald-Tribune Tuesday that he has signed a contract with an unnamed cable network to broadcast the roughly half-mile (0.8-kilometer) walk. In June, the 33-year-old ...

Social Security benefits get a 1.7 percent bump

Odd News

MICHIGAN 'BATMAN' SAYS HE HAS GOOD INTENTIONS: PETOSKEY, Mich. (AP) - A Michigan man whose efforts to keep an eye on his community while wearing a Batman outfit landed him in court said he has good intentions with his crime-fighting work. State troopers arrested Mark Wayne Williams, 33, on Sept. 29 because they said he refused to leave them alone while they searched for a driver ...

Clinton trying to take heat off White House over criticism over security after fatal attack

LIMA, Peru (AP) - U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton is answering Republican criticism of the Obama administration's handling of last month's attack at the U.S. consulate in Benghazi, Libya, saying she - not the White House - is responsible for security at all of America's diplomatic missions.

Rare Superman comic book sells for $175,000

Committee rejects overhaul of military justice

Prosecutor says man endangered teen's life in hoax

Boy admits killing mom in fight over chores

MILLERSBURG, Ohio (AP) - An Ohio boy admitted he fatally shot his mother in the head with a rifle when he was 10 after what a relative described as an argument over chores. The boy, now 13, entered the equivalent of a guilty plea Monday in juvenile court. In January 2011, the boy went to a neighbor's house, called 911 and told the dispatcher he had shot his mother at their home in rural Holmes ...

Southern Baptists oppose gay Scout rule

Wildfires burn out of control in Colorado

Transgender suit goes to Maine high court

Nation news briefs

10-YEAR-OLD BEHIND WHEEL OF SUV: KENNER, La. (AP) - Police in Louisiana say a call about an SUV being driven recklessly on Interstate 10 led them to pull over a 10-year-old boy who was driving.

Levees, removable walls proposed

Levees, removable walls proposed

Woman accused of fatally pinning ex with car

BRIDGEPORT, Conn. (AP) - A Connecticut woman has been charged with murder after police said she ran down her ex-boyfriend with her car and crushed him against a cinder-block garage wall. Cherelle Baldwin of Bridgeport was arraigned on a murder charge in state court in the death of 24-year-old Jeffrey Brown, the father of her toddler son. Baldwin, 21, was detained on $1 million bail. She was arrested Monday after a three-week investigation. Baldwin's relatives ...

27-car I-80 sandstorm pileup kills 1

NC health dept.: Poison gas not in pool inspection

BOONE, N.C. (AP) - Inspectors checked a motel where three people were presumed killed by carbon monoxide fumes six weeks before anyone died, but their review didn't include investigating for the poisonous gas, the local health agency said Tuesday. The Appalachian District Health Department said it inspected the swimming pool at the Best Western Blue Ridge Plaza in Boone six weeks before a Longview, Wash., couple were found dead of carbon monoxide poisoning in their ...

Woman ordered to get help after 396 arrests

NYC bomb plot details settle little in NSA debate

ACLU sues over NSA phone records

NEW YORK (AP) - The American Civil Liberties Union sued the Obama administration Tuesday, asking the government to halt a phone-tracking program that collects the telephone records of millions of Americans and that it says is unconstitutional. The lawsuit was filed in federal court in New York by the American Civil Liberties Union, along with the New York Civil Liberties Union. "The practice is akin to snatching every American's address book - with annotations detailing ...