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WASHINGTON - Inch by inch, Americans are recovering some of their vast loss of wealth from the recession, thanks to gains in stock investments and home values. It's likely to be a long trek. Net worth — the value of assets such as homes, bank accounts and investments, minus debts like mortgages and credit cards — rose 5 percent last quarter, to $53.4 trillion, the Federal Reserve said Thursday. That was the second straight quarterly increase. Full Story »

NEW YORK - Facebook is changing its privacy settings to give users more control over who sees the information they post on their personal pages. Full Story »

SHELBYVILLE, Tenn. - A woman has posted $500 bond on a charge of public intoxication after police said she passed out on a horse she rode in the Shelbyville Christmas parade. According to the Shelbyville Times-Gazette, a 46-year-old woman was found slumped over on her horse outside a motel. Full Story »

After last year’s historic presidential campaign, a new season of opportunity seemed at hand for African-American candidates in the South. Not only had a black man been elected president, he had carried Virginia and North Carolina along the way. Full Story »

AMSTERDAM (Reuters) - European police agency Europol said on Thursday it had arrested 115 alleged child sex offenders, some of them teachers or caretakers, in raids across 19 countries in an operation against child pornography. Full Story »

PARIS - France's biggest rock star, Johnny Hallyday, has undergone surgery in Los Angeles to repair lingering trouble from a previous operation on his back. Full Story »

SALT LAKE CITY - A federal prison psychologist says that the suspect in the abduction of Elizabeth Smart understands the accusations against him but isn't competent to stand trial. Full Story »

OSLO - President Barack Obama said Thursday that the withdrawal of U.S. troops from Afghanistan, set to start in 19 months, will be gradual and U.S. aid to that nation will last for years. Full Story »