Ice storm in Northeast, floods in South

Storms had people on edge across the U.S. Wednesday, with ice and freezing rain  in the Northeast, flooding and power outages in the South and the Pacific Northwest watching for avalanches.

French motorcyclist found dead at Dakar Rally

49-year-old Terry had gone missing Sunday during second stage of race

Israel welcomes cease-fire proposal

Israel tentatively welcomed a proposal for a Gaza cease-fire and briefly halted its offensive to allow aid to reach civilians, but also gave the military a green light to press ahead with its assault on Hamas.

Obama pledges to curb spending

President-elect Obama says he'll have to juggle the competing interests of economic stimulus and deficit control, but that restoring general business health must come first.

BC fires coach over Jets interview

Boston College fired Jeff Jagodzinski on Wednesday, one day after he interviewed for the New York Jets coaching job.

'God' author faces plagiarism claim

Neale Donald Walsch, best-selling author of "Conversations with God," said that he unwittingly passed off another writer's Christmas anecdote as his own in a recent blog post.

Walters: Oklahoma can silence Big 12 critics with win

Walters: Oklahoma has an opportunity to validate every verbal bouquet tossed the Big 12's direction this season. The Sooners, losers themselves of four consecutive BCS bowls and no strangers to the "Over-rated!" chant, take on a Florida squad that is as fast and deep as anyone in the nation. And that might as well be playing a home game.

Mississippi now has highest teen birth rate
Mississippi now has the nation's highest teen birth rate, displacing Texas and New Mexico for that lamentable title, according to a new federal report.

Bikers strap on fruit to dodge helmet law

Police in Nigeria have arrested scores of motorcycle taxi riders with dried fruit shells, pots or pieces of rubber tire tied to their heads with string to avoid a new law requiring them to wear helmets.