John McCain launched a heavy assault on Barack Obama’s judgment and experience Wednesday night, making a last-ditch effort in the final presidential debate to change the course of a campaign moving decidedly in his opponent’s favor.

Jimmy Rollins hit a leadoff homer and scored twice as the Philadelphia Phillies won their first pennant in 15 years by beating the Los Angeles Dodgers 5-1 in Game 5 of the NLCS on Wednesday night.

The U.S. has not endured a deep and prolonged recession in more than a quarter century — enough time for many Americans to forget what one feels like.

Investors agonizing over a dismal economy sent the markets plunging after two bleak reports convinced Wall Street that a recession, if not already here, is inevitable.

Prosecutors building a case against a single 22-year-old Florida mother accused of killing her young daughter will have to rely on forensic evidence and persuade a jury that Casey Anthony lacks credibility and had a motive, legal experts say.

American soldiers killed the alleged No. 2 leader of al-Qaida in Iraq, a Moroccan who trained in Afghanistan, recruited foreign fighters and ran operations in northern Iraq where Sunni insurgents remain a potent threat, the U.S. military said Wednesday.

Monkeys taught to play a computer game were able to overcome wrist paralysis with an experimental device that might lead to new treatments for patients with stroke and spinal cord injury.

Nancy Reagan suffered a broken pelvis in a fall at her home and will be hospitalized for several days, her spokeswoman said Wednesday.

Record incentives and declining gas prices are combining to lure buyers back toward big pickup trucks and sport utility vehicles, according to the latest vehicle sales data.

Tony Romo may take Brett Favre's words to heart and tough out a broken pinkie finger.

Flying in the U.S. has been transformed since Sept. 11, with passengers forced to remove their shoes, take out their laptop computers and put liquids and gels in clear plastic bags. Yet it's perfectly legal to take a loaded gun right up to the security checkpoint at some of the nation's biggest airports.

Authorities say relatives of a deceased Tehama County woman cremated her remains on a makeshift barbecue and continued collecting her retirement checks.

Gale Harold was in critical condition Wednesday after the “Desperate Housewives” actor crashed his motorcycle the day before, a hospital spokeswoman said.

Madonna and filmmaker Guy Ritchie will end their marriage after nearly eight years, the couple said in a joint statement Wednesday.

A respite in Santa Ana winds allowed firefighters to beat back flames that continued to whirl dangerously close to homes Wednesday morning along the northwestern suburbs of Los Angeles.

U.S. retail sales fell off a cliff in September, plunging by the largest amount in three years as worried consumers shunned the malls and auto showrooms in the midst of the country's financial meltdown.

Tests on leading brands of bottled water turned up a variety of contaminants, including cancer-linked chemicals, according to a study by an environmental advocacy group.