Murder charges dropped in girl's snowy death

An Idaho prosecutor dropped murder counts against two men and instead charged them with involuntary manslaughter in the death of an 11-year-old girl who was trying to walk 10 miles in the snow on Christmas Day.

6

19

Atheists want God stricken from inaugural oath

President-elect Barack Obama wants to conclude his inaugural oath with the words "so help me God," but a group of atheists is asking a federal judge to stop him.

70

651

Parents lose custody of Nazi-named children

Three siblings whose names have Nazi connotations have been placed in the custody of the state, police said Wednesday.

50

315

Court OKs sex between teachers, 18-year-olds

Washington state law does not bar teachers from having consensual sex with 18-year-old students, an appeals court ruled Tuesday in dismissing a case against a former high school choir teacher.

14

198

Prosecutors to try once again to jail Madoff

Federal prosecutors are going to try once more to jail besieged financier Bernard Madoff by taking their case before a federal judge.

22

138

Bin Laden purportedly calls for jihad over Gaza

Al-Qaida chief Osama bin Laden purportedly issued a new audiotape urging Muslims to launch a jihad, or holy war, to stop the Israeli offensive in Gaza.

26

199

Ukraine plays blame game over Russian gas

The head of Ukraine's gas company said it will not resume deliveries of Russian gas to Europe on Wednesday, blaming conditions set by Russia's Gazprom.

4

14

Treasury to measure how banks use bailout

Under criticism for its oversight of the federal bailout program, the Treasury Department plans to examine more closely whether institutions that receive money use it to boost lending.

7

34

Italy rabbis protest pope's decisions

Italy's rabbis said Tuesday they were pulling out of the Italian Catholic Church's annual celebration of Judaism, saying recent decisions by Pope Benedict XVI were negating 50 years of interfaith progress.

2

2

Pentagon: Gitmo detainees returning to fight

Terror suspects who have been held but released from Guantanamo Bay are increasingly returning to the fight against the United States and its allies, the Pentagon said Tuesday.

15

138

Ahead of the Bell: HUD Secretary

President-elect Barack Obama's nominee for housing secretary is likely to face tough questions Tuesday about how the government can help revive the U.S housing market.

2

2

Bernanke: Obama stimulus would lift economy

Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke says a stimulus package being crafted by President-elect Barack Obama and Congress could provide a "significant boost" to the sinking economy.

13

96

Once-invincible hedge funds brace for bad 2009

Blind-sided by a colossal market collapse and the widening Bernard Madoff scandal, hedge funds suffered their worst showing on record last year.

8

23

Israel, Hamas battle near central Gaza City

Israeli troops battled Palestinian militants in the streets of a densely populated Gaza City neighborhood early Tuesday, destroying dozens of homes and sending terrified residents running for cover.

56

1037

Iraqi cleric ascends from al-Qaida to U.S. ally

Nadhim Khalil has power, the fruits of an Iraqi odyssey that has taken him from the leadership of the local branch of al-Qaeda in Iraq into the generous arms of the U.S. military.

7

77

China's December exports, imports fall sharply

China's trade slump worsened in December as exports fell at their fastest rate in a decade, the government said Tuesday, aggravating a decline that has fueled a wave of layoffs and fears of unrest.

1

10

Murder-spree suspect is deemed unfit for trial

A man accused in the deaths of six people in a cross-country killing spree is being sent to a maximum-security psychiatric hospital after being found mentally incompetent to stand trial.

2

14

Man accused of selling daughter for cash, beer

Police have arrested a Greenfield man for allegedly arranging to sell his 14-year-old daughter into marriage in exchange for $16,000, 100 cases of beer and several cases of meat.

18

146

Israel weighs toll of escalation in Gaza

Israel is fast approaching the moment when it needs to decide between escalating its Gaza offensive, putting its soldiers at greater risk, or quieting its guns perhaps without achieving its top aim of ending Hamas' weapons smuggling across the Gaza-Egypt border.

2

13

Helicopter crashes on Texas A&M campus

6

56

Gold mine to court: Let us dump waste in lake

A lawyer for a proposed Alaska gold mine told the Supreme Court on Monday that the mine should be allowed to dump metal waste into a nearby lake.

11

81

ACLU: Catholic bishops misusing grant money

A lawsuit says Catholic bishops are imposing their beliefs on victims of human trafficking by not letting federal grant money be used for emergency contraception, condoms or abortions.

7

52

Vice president-elect Biden visits Iraq

Vice President-elect Joe Biden arrived in Baghdad on Monday for talks with leaders of Iraq.

2

19

Chavez: Castro unlikely to return to public stage

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez said Sunday it is unlikely that ailing former Cuban leader Fidel Castro will ever appear in public again.

2

14

Would-be bride, 107, seeks her first husband

A 107-year-old Chinese woman who was afraid to marry when she was young has decided to look for her first husband and hopes to find a fellow centenarian so they will have something to talk about, a paper reported.

0

5