Wall Street turmoil now spans globe

Stock markets around the world cascaded lower Monday, European regulators announced the rescue of four major banks, and U.S. and foreign officials pledged to make hundreds of billions of dollars available to ensure that banks would continue lending to each other.

NYT: Concerns grow about Palin's readiness

Gov. Sarah Palin is heading into the critical vice presidential debate facing challenges about her credentials and signs that her popularity is slipping.

Fire burns Calif.'s Los Padres forest
A wildfire in the Los Padres National Forest has nearly doubled in size and prompted the evacuation of a few homes in the remote region.

Walter: Dems face big opportunity and risk
This year, Democrats have a rare, not to say unprecedented, opportunity to increase their advantage in Congress. But, winning big in November means playing defense in 2010.

NYT: McCain on attack after deal collapse

Besides stockholders whose portfolios were ravaged Monday afternoon, the one person with the most riding on the bailout bill that collapsed in Congress may have been Senator John McCain.

Voting begins in pivotal Ohio

Five weeks before the election, Ohioans started casting their ballots Tuesday in the perennial battleground that tipped the election to President Bush four years ago and may determine his successor.

World reacts to the U.S. crisis
As the United States wallows in the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression, the world looks on with horror, fear and sometimes guilty pleasure.

Car crash risk rises on election days, study says
Could voting for president be hazardous to your health? An analysis of Election Day traffic deaths suggests yes, but the authors say that's no reason not to go to the polls.

Dow closes up more than 450 points

Wall Street snapped back Tuesday after its biggest sell-off in years amid growing expectations that lawmakers will salvage a $700 billion rescue plan for the financial sector.