AP - The ex-spouses who died in a murder-suicide in a suburban St. Louis mall still lived together two years after their divorce, but their violent relationship led to at least four police visits and both sought court orders of protection, records show.

AP - Another defendant has pleaded guilty to charges stemming from the suspected torture of a young woman held captive in West Virginia last summer.

AP - A Methodist leadership group on Thursday endorsed building George W. Bush's presidential library center at Southern Methodist University, essentially ending nearly two years of opposition.

AP - New York Gov. David Paterson and the NAACP on Thursday condemned the New Yorker magazine's satirical cover depicting Democrat Barack Obama and his wife as flag-burning radicals.

AP - The South tips the scales again as the nation's fattest region, according to a new government survey.

AP - A man was convicted of murder Thursday for a shooting rampage that killed a teacher in an elementary school and his ex-girlfriend's mother.

AP - Texas, headquarters of America's oil industry, is about to stake a fortune on wind power.

AP - President Bush offered federal help and encouragement Thursday to some of the 25,000 firefighters working under a blazing sun to contain wildfires that make up the single largest fire event ever recorded in California.

AP - The Rev. Jesse Jackson used the N-word during a break in a TV interview where he criticized presidential candidate Barack Obama, Fox News confirmed Wednesday.

AP - Three major auto manufacturers are promising to reserve 300 new hybrid vehicles each month exclusively for the city as it replaces its entire fleet of yellow cabs.

AP - The plaintiff in the Supreme Court case that overturned Washington's strict 32-year-old handgun ban was among the first to arrive as the city started registering firearms.