Most Emailed U.S. News

WASHINGTON - Nearly a year before Maj. Nidal Hasan allegedly went on a shooting rampage at Fort Hood, terrorism investigators conducted an "assessment" of him before deciding he did not pose a threat.

Maclaren's recall of 1 million baby strollers is unnerving parents and setting the blogosphere aflutter. The company is scrambling to save its future

GULF SHORES, Ala. - Tropical Storm Ida blew ashore with rain and gusty but weakening winds before dawn Tuesday as weather-hardened Gulf Coast residents rode out the rare late-season storm.

SAN FRANCISCO - An accident-plagued stretch of the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge saw its first fatality Monday when the driver of a speeding big rig lost control and the truck plummeted 200 feet from the span, authorities said.

RICHMOND, Va. - Gov. Tim Kaine denied clemency Tuesday for sniper John Allen Muhammad, clearing the way for him to be executed for the attacks that terrorized the nation's capital region for three weeks in 2002.

PINE PLAINS, N.Y. - A former student held a school administrator hostage for more than an hour Tuesday morning, then surrendered to police without firing a shot, officials said. No one was injured.

WASHINGTON - Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday called for an immediate resumption of peace talks with Palestinians and pledged more steps to improve economic conditions in Palestinian areas.

WHEATON, Md. - When James D. Martin was shot dead seven years ago in the parking lot of a grocery store in suburban Washington, it got little attention on the nightly news.

DAUPHIN ISLAND, Ala. - Tropical Storm Ida sloshed ashore with rain and gusty winds Tuesday before weakening to a depression, leaving weather-hardened Gulf Coast residents largely unscathed.

SAN ANTONIO - A U.S. Army hospital spokesman says the man suspected in a deadly shooting spree at Fort Hood, Texas, is conscious and able to talk.

CLEVELAND - The search for victims of a suspected serial killer is expanding far beyond his Ohio home and yard, where police have found the remains of at least 11 people.

CHICAGO (Reuters) - Maclaren USA Inc is recalling about one million strollers sold in the United States over the past decade after receiving a dozen reports of children's fingers being amputated when caught in the stroller's hinges.

NEW YORK - The famed Navajo Code Talkers, the elite Marine unit whose unbreakable code stymied the Japanese in World War II, fear their legacy will die with them.

Sgt. Kimberly Munley, 34, a civilian Department of Defense police officer at the base, is credited with stopping the firing rampage of U.S. Army Major Nidal Hasan at the Soldier Readiness Center within a few minutes after he launched his attack

BERKELEY, Calif. - It was the roll of a lifetime.

PHILADELPHIA - Life began returning to normal Monday for commuters who spent the previous work week frazzled from a public transit strike, and many expressed relief that buses and trains were running again but remained angry about the transit workers' walkout.

WICHITA, Kan. - Defiant and unapologetic, a man accused of shooting a Kansas abortion provider confessed to the slaying Monday, telling The Associated Press that he killed the doctor to protect unborn children.

WALTERBORO, S.C. - A young girl and two adults were killed and at least five people were hurt in a drive-by shooting in a small town, the county coroner said Tuesday.

CHICAGO - Ever since he was laid off in March, Frank Beil has been on the lookout.

LINCOLN CITY, Ore. - The National Weather Service has confirmed it was a tornado that tore through a coastal area of Lincoln City in northwestern Oregon, damaging about a dozen homes.

AVELLA, Pennsylvania (Reuters) - A Pennsylvania landowner is suing an energy company for polluting his soil and water in an attempt to link a natural gas drilling technique with environmental contamination.

CHICAGO (AFP) - A woman who lived for years with an alleged serial killer said she never suspected the putrid smell at their Cleveland, Ohio home came from decomposing bodies, after being told the stench came from a sausage factory.

The 13 people killed when an Army psychiatrist allegedly opened fire on fellow soldiers at Fort Hood, Texas, included several people who shared the same profession as the alleged shooter, a father of three with ties to Laos whose family had a history of military service, a civilian who had returned to work a week after suffering a heart attack, and a psychiatric nurse who arrived at Fort Hood a day before the shooting.

Less than 1% of America's 1.4 million troops are Muslim -- and that number is the military's best guess, since just 4,000 troops have declared their faith in service records

CHICAGO - Two videos produced by Osama bin Laden's al Qaida terrorist network have been found in the home of a Chicago man accused of plotting an armed attack on a Danish newspaper, federal prosecutors said.

CLEVELAND, Texas - Authorities called several times to check on a family's well-being in a rural Texas home eventually found the bodies of four people.

CHICAGO - A Northwestern University professor and journalism students who spent three years investigating the case of a man convicted in the 1978 killing of a security guard believe they have evidence that shows prosecutors put the wrong man behind bars. But in the quest to prove his innocence, they may have to defend themselves, too.

BOSTON - The driver of Boston subway train that came to a screeching halt just before hitting a woman who had fallen onto the tracks has been hailed as a hero.

NEW YORK - Envelopes containing suspicious powder were sent to three foreign consulates in Manhattan on Monday, but initial tests suggested the mailings were a hoax, police officials said.

NEW YORK - Based on the rhetoric, America's war on drugs seems poised to shift into a more enlightened phase where treatment of addicts gains favor over imprisonment of low-level offenders. Questions abound, however, about the nation's readiness to turn the talk into reality.