Barack Obama says John McCain is not paying enough attention to the economic crisis gripping the country. Obama has told reporters in North Carolina on Monday that he "cannot imagine anything more important to talk...

Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin expanded her attack on Democrat Barack Obama's character Monday to include his relationship with an incendiary former pastor as well as his ties to 1960s-era radical...

Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin has continued but toned down her criticism Barack Obama's association with 1960s-era radical Bill Ayers and questioned the Democratic presidential candidates'...

IN THE HEADLINES Palin, Democrats cite old events to hurl new campaign attacks ... Palin expands criticism of Obama to include Rev. Wright; tones down description of Ayers ... McCain, Obama campaigns woo new Hispanic...

A look at where Democrat Barack Obama and Republican John McCain stand on a selection of issues: ABORTION McCain: Opposes abortion rights. Has voted for abortion restrictions permissible under Roe v. Wade, and now...

A man went on trial for murder Monday in the death of a 3-year-old girl whose headless body was found in the woods and nicknamed "Precious Doe." Special prosecutor Tim Dollar told jurors Monday that the man, Harrell...

Fairgoers at a central Florida carnival caught a 2-year-old girl whose mother was forced to drop her after they were both stranded 30 feet off the ground on a ride. Paramedics also rescued the woman. No injuries were...

The Rev. Al Sharpton is on trial for the traffic-choking protests over the deadly police shooting of an unarmed New York City man. A criminal court judge began the non-jury trial Monday for Sharpton and seven others. ...

The U.S. Supreme Court has refused to hear an appeal from a former Florida professor once accused of being a top Palestinian terrorist. The high court's decision Monday means that Sami Al-Arian, who once taught at the...

Days from becoming the largest bankruptcy in U.S. history, Lehman Brothers steered millions to departing executives even while pleading for a federal rescue, Congress was told Monday. As well, executives who feared for...

Former Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadzic wants U.N. war crimes prosecutors to turn over any evidence they have about an alleged deal he cut to avoid prosecution, saying he wants to use it in a motion to have his...

A suspected rebel suicide bomber blew himself up Monday inside a crowded opposition party office in northern Sri Lanka, killing a former army general and 26 others. Retired Maj. Gen. Janaka Perera and his wife were...

Switzerland's top prosecutor charged 10 people with laundering more than $1 billion dollars during a decade-long mafia cigarette smuggling operation, Swiss authorities said Monday. The defendants _ five Swiss, three...

Two earthquakes jolted the capital of Tibet and surrounding areas Monday, killing more than 30 people and collapsing hundreds of houses, China's state news agency said. Rescuers rushed in to try to save people buried in...

A U.S. Navy spokeswoman says the crew on a hijacked Ukrainian cargo ship laden with tanks and heavy weaponry are, by all indications, in good health. Lt. Stephanie Murdock, a 5th Fleet spokeswoman in Bahrain, said...

Commodities prices tumbled broadly Monday on growing expectations that the financial crisis pummeling world markets will dramatically reduce global demand for energy and raw materials. Gold prices shot up as investors'...

The Treasury Department moved swiftly Monday to implement the financial rescue package, edging closer to naming who will oversee spending the $700 billion earmarked for the plan and pledging to work with other countries...

Oil prices sunk below $90 a barrel Monday for the first time in eight months, a key price support level, on expectations that a widening financial maelstrom will drastically reduce global demand for energy. Crude's...

Eli Lilly & Co. has agreed to spend more than $6 billion to fortify its cancer treatment portfolio by acquiring the biotechnology firm ImClone Systems Inc. in a deal that tops earlier offers from competitor...

Financial markets took a bleak view of the future Monday, seeing contagion in a credit crisis that threatens to cascade through economies globally despite government efforts to provide relief. The Dow Jones industrials...

Michael Lohan isn't the type to back down from a fight. The estranged father of Lindsay Lohan has publicly feuded with the actress, her girlfriend Samantha Ronson and her mother Dina Lohan. For his next battle, Lohan...

The Supreme Court refused Monday to disturb a $74 million judgment against Dish Network Corp. for violating a patent held by TiVo Inc. involving digital video recorders. Without comment, the justices declined to...

"Beverly Hills Chihuahua" was barking up the right tree with movie-goers, who put the Disney comedy at No. 1 for the weekend with a $29 million debut, according to studio estimates Sunday. Featuring a talking Chihuahua...

Former "American Idol" contestant LaKisha Jones has tied the knot. The Flint, Mich.-native married financial adviser Larry Davis at the Beverly Wilshire Hotel on Sunday. Some fellow "Idol" alums attended the wedding,...

Miley Cyrus' 16th birthday party was more boisterous than sweet. Cyrus celebrated the hallmark birthday at an over-the-top Disneyland celebration Sunday _ even though she doesn't actually turn 16 until Nov. 23. The...

He may not be able to walk on water, but when the mood strikes, Father Matthew Munoz can ride one gnarly wave all the way into the beach. So Sunday at dawn, on the white sands of the town where the U.S. Surfing...

Clergy and lay members of the theologically conservative Pittsburgh diocese voted overwhelmingly Saturday to break from the liberal Episcopal Church, with which it differs on issues ranging from homosexuality to...

Episcopal leaders gathered in Philadelphia expect to formally apologize Saturday for their ancestors' slave ownership _ and to discuss the "white privilege" they say endures. In a solemn repentance service,...

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (BP)--Now that the economic "bailout" plan has been passed by Congress, expect all parties involved to claim credit if it appears to work and deny blame if the crisis worsens. Though the primary problem...

ALEXANDRIA, La. (BP)--On Sunday, Sept. 28, a few dozen pastors across the United States endorsed or opposed political candidates from pulpits during their churches' worship services. The coordinated effort apparently...

Warning: young children should not keep hedgehogs as pets _ or hamsters, baby chicks, lizards and turtles, for that matter _ because of risks for disease. That's according to the nation's leading pediatricians' group...

More children have died from flu because they also had staph infections, according to a new government report that urges parents to have their kids get the flu shot. The number of deaths wasn't high _ 73 during the...

Recent winners of the Nobel Prize in physiology or medicine, and their research, according to the Nobel Foundation: _ 2007: Mario R. Capecchi and Oliver Smithies of the United States and Martin J. Evans of the United...

Two scientists who have won acclaim for research into the growth of cancer cells could be candidates for the Nobel Prize in medicine when the 2008 winners are presented on Monday, kicking off six days of Nobel...

The government is urging consumers to thoroughly cook frozen chicken dinners after 32 people in 12 states were sickened with salmonella poisoning. The health warning by the U.S. Department of Agriculture cited frozen...

Business software company SAP AG said Monday that it saw a sudden drop in business at the end of September as global market turmoil escalated. Its shares plunged. "The market developments of the past several weeks have...

Assuming your company's name isn't a verb synonymous with looking things up online, how do you get Web surfers to not just try your search engine, but also frequent it? For Oakland, Calif.-based Ask.com, part of the...

EBay Inc. did a little shopping of its own on Monday, saying it would pay $1.34 billion for online payments site Bill Me Later and two Danish classified ad Web sites. Separately, eBay said it would cut 10 percent of...

Conservationists have taken the first detailed look at the world's mammals in more than a decade, and the news isn't good. "Our results paint a bleak picture of the global status of mammals worldwide," the team led by...

Rattlesnakes aren't to be trifled with, but if you're trying to collect the sound of every creature in the West that slithers, hops, flies or flops, distance isn't a luxury you can afford. "You get yourself in some...

Rain clouds stretched from North Dakota to Texas early Monday, while storms also made for a wet commute in the Northwest. The Northeast was to stay cool. Low pressure will sweep through the central portion of the...

Most of the East was expected to remain dry Sunday, while showers and thunderstorms were forecast for the northern Rockies, the Great Basin, the Southwest and the central and southern Plains. Snow and rain were...

Light rain and clouds covered parts of the West on Saturday as low pressure moved across the region, also generating periods of heavy rainfall with isolated thunderstorms. It was cooler than usual in Southern...

Showers were forecast across the Pacific Northwest and Northern California on Saturday and a winter storm warning was issued for parts of Northern California, Utah and Colorado. Mostly sunny skies and cool conditions...

Scattered rain showers were forecast for the Pacific Northwest and northern California on Friday, while southern California was to get cooler air. The mid-regions of the country were to remain dry with fair conditions....