Posted: 4:24 PM The military judge overseeing the trial of an Army psychiatrist charged in the 2009 Fort Hood shooting rampage may not allow him to claim that he killed to defend Taliban leaders, military experts said Wednesday. And such a decision could lead to even more delays in a case that's already dragged on for years.

Posted: 3:51 PM Susan G. Komen for the Cure says it is canceling half of its 3-day charity races next year because of a drop in participation levels.

Posted: 2:55 PM Shaking up his national security team, President Barack Obama tapped diplomat Susan Rice as his national security adviser, defying Republicans who have vigorously criticized her faulty explanation about the attack on Americans in Benghazi, Libya.

Updated: 5:32 PM Equipped with search cameras, microphones and motion detectors, and bathed in harsh LED lights that illuminated the darkness, rescue workers combed through piles of bricks and rubble early Thursday, listening for the faint tap-tap-tapping of life buried in the ruins of a collapsed building.

Updated: 8:39 AM One hundred students and eight chaperones from a Brooklyn high school were thrown off an AirTran flight from New York to Atlanta early Monday morning after the students reportedly failed to listen to warnings to sit down and turn off their cell phones.

Posted: 9:21 PM The U.S. Geological Survey says a magnitude-5.6 earthquake struck off the southeast coast of Hawaii.

Updated: 9:02 PM The House on Tuesday passed the first of 12 spending bills for the budget year beginning Oct. 1, a popular measure providing more money for veterans' programs like health care.

Updated: 10:13 AM U.S. senators dressed down senior military leaders Tuesday, led by female lawmakers, combat veterans and former prosecutors who insisted that sexual assault in the ranks has cost the services the trust and respect of the American people as well as the nation's men and women in uniform.

Updated: 7:52 PM The proposed merger of American Airlines and US Airways Group Inc. faces another court review.

Updated: 5:46 PM President Barack Obama has visited wounded service members at a military hospital just outside of the nation's capital.

Updated: 2:50 PM Ohio State University President Gordon Gee is retiring following the revelation of recorded remarks in which he criticized Notre Dame, Roman Catholics and the Southeastern Conference.

Updated: 4:30 PM Samples taken from Syria and tested in France have confirmed that sarin gas has been used there multiple times, at least once by Syrian President Bashar Assad's regime and its accomplices, France's foreign minister said Tuesday.

Updated: 10:04 AM The National Weather Service says the deadly tornado that struck near Oklahoma City late last week was another top-of-the-scale EF5 that packed winds reaching 295 mph. The weather service also says the twister's 2.6-mile width is the widest ever recorded.

Updated: 5:05 PM A judge has accepted James' Holmes plea of not guilty by reason of insanity in the Colorado theater shootings.

Posted: 10:18 AM David "Deacon" Jones, one of the giants of the NFL in the 1960's, has died at the age of 74 from natural causes. The Hall of Fame defensive end is credited with coining the term "sack" for how he knocked down quarterbacks. His death was reported by the Washington Redskins, the last team he played for.

Posted: 9:12 AM U.S. safety regulators are checking to see if more General Motors cars should be recalled because the air bags won't inflate.

Updated: 9:16 AM The FBI is investigating the kidnapping of a U.S. Marine reservist in Mexico last month.

Updated: 9:17 AM A U.S. Army general facing sexual assault charges is due back in court for a hearing on pre-trial motions.

Updated: 9:10 AM Prosecutors said Monday that Pfc. Bradley Manning put U.S. military secrets into the hands of Osama bin Laden himself, as the Army intelligence analyst went on trial over leaking hundreds of thousands of classified documents.

Posted: 9:38 PM Firefighters doubled containment of a massive wildfire north of Los Angeles to 40 percent overnight, as cool, moist air moved in to replace torrid weather.

Updated: 10:46 PM A federal grand jury has indicted a Mississippi man suspected of sending poison-laced letters to President Barack Obama and other officials.

Updated: 8:34 PM A public memorial service has been set for four Houston firefighters who died while battling a fire at a Houston motel last week.

Updated: 5:32 PM More than 900 firefighters are racing against increasing winds and dropping humidity levels as they fight to contain two wildfires raging in the northern New Mexico mountains.

Updated: 8:18 PM Boston's fire chief is resigning and is citing criticism from deputies for his response to the marathon bombings.

Updated: 10:43 AM A divided Supreme Court says police can legally take DNA without a warrant from those arrested in hopes of using it to solve old cases.