Hostages' ordeal: Pirates share food, stories

By the time all 25 hostages were released unharmed last week board a Greek cargo ship, the pirates even made one of the captives a startling offer: Would he like to join them?

Detroit's fate in lame ducks' hands

A defeated and retiring group of Republican senators, one-tenth of the chamber's membership, may be the decisive voting bloc on the proposed automaker bailout loan.

Your happiness could be contagious

New research shows that happiness isn't just an individual phenomenon; we can catch happiness from friends and family members like an emotional virus.

Ship carrying 122 adrift in Antarctic
A cruise ship carrying 122 people is taking on water after running aground in the Antarctic on Thursday but is in no danger of sinking, the Argentine Navy said.

Landmark West Hollywood strip club burns

A fire has erupted at the Body Shop, a landmark strip club in West Hollywood, Calif., included in the Motley Crue song "Girls, Girls, Girls."

Automakers pitch Congress anew

U.S. automakers drew fresh skepticism from lawmakers Thursday in a rocky confrontation over their pleas for an expanded $34 billion rescue package they say they need to survive.

Who runs Kansas City — mayor or his wife?

The people of Kansas City thought they were getting a straight-shooter with financial smarts as their new mayor. What they got, critics say, is a henpecked husband whose wife tells him what to do.

Long-term risk in troop brain injuries
Many of the thousands of troops who suffered traumatic brain injuries in Iraq and Afghanistan are at risk of long-term health problems including depression and Alzheimer's-like symptoms, researchers say.

Soldier acquitted in officers' Iraq deaths
A military jury has acquitted a New York Army National Guard soldier in the 2005 bombing deaths of two superiors in Iraq.