Nation News

Police believe the fatal shootings of a mother and her young daughter in Madison were connected to the slayings of another woman and young girl in a nearby suburb, and authorities were searching Friday for a "person of interest" in all four deaths. Read More

WASHINGTON _ A young giant panda who became a major draw after his birth at Washington's National Zoo will return to China soon. Read More

A sports reporter accused of running a prostitution business in Massachusetts is facing seven new charges, including a witness-intimidation count. Read More

Lynn Giese calls Sarah Palin the best thing that's happened to the U.S. in a long time, and the 57-year-old housewife says she'd work tirelessly for the former Alaska governor were she to run for president in 2012. Read More

A Philadelphia teenager who authorities say used a stolen cell phone to snap a photo of himself that automatically got sent to the victim has turned himself in. Read More

An illegal immigrant accused of kidnapping and raping a Pennsylvania woman must use his real name at trial. Read More

Police in central Pennsylvania say a prankster who scaled a 400-foot radio tower to hang a bedsheet from an antenna needs to see a doctor right away. Read More

The day after arriving at Fort Hood, Army reservists dedicated to counseling troubled soldiers in war zones were overcome with their own grief. Read More

Maine police are searching for a maximum-security inmate who was mistakenly released from the county jail. Read More

Clergy and laypeople voting to replace two retiring assistant bishops in the Episcopal Diocese of Los Angeles will choose Friday from a pool that includes two openly gay candidates. Read More

The search for the perfect Christmas tree has led Keith and Jennifer Lee on some unexpected adventures but nothing quite like this week's journey into Oregon's high country. Read More

An Indiana 17-year-old who told authorities he identified with a television serial killer said strangling his 10-year-old brother satisfied a craving like a hungry person eating a hamburger, according to court documents. Read More

Snow flurries and cold nights are in store for much of the country Friday. Cool air continues to pour in over the Central and Eastern as a low pressure system continues spinning in eastern Canada and a trough extends over most of the Eastern half of the United States. That means another day of scattered flurries for the Northern Plains and Upper Midwest with snowfall less than an inch. Read More

John Brown, the 19th-century abolitionist who advocated armed violence, is drawing a diverse crowd this week to study how his fight against slavery continues to play in America. Read More

Authorities have charged four people with aiding the man accused of killing four Washington state police officers and plan on indicting two more in what investigators call a network of friends and relatives that helped Maurice Clemmons avoid capture. Read More

A storm packing blustery winds and driving rain knocked out power to thousands of homes and businesses in the Northeast on Thursday before giving way to sunny skies and record high temperatures _ all in the same morning. Read More

Marine sanctuary officials planned to return to Hawaii waters with modified equipment Friday to try to cut loose a young humpback whale entangled in several hundred yards of heavy plastic rope. Read More

One of two civilian police officers who brought down the Army psychiatrist accused of going on a shooting rampage at Fort Hood said her wounds from the attack will cut short her career as street police officer. Read More

The shopping list includes wind farms, seawalls and even real estate _ new homelands for flooded-out islanders. And poor countries want to present the bill to the rich at next week's climate talks in Copenhagen. Read More

Former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich would claim his 5th Amendment right against self incrimination if asked to testify in a civil lawsuit spurred by his federal corruption indictment, his lawyer says. Read More