Posted: 3:52 PM Up and down the Atlantic coast, people are telling horror stories about how long it has taken to get an insurance check for flood damage caused by Hurricane Sandy.

Updated: 2:29 PM Republicans have, for now, blocked Chuck Hagel's nomination to become defense secretary.

Posted: 9:47 AM The number of people seeking unemployment benefits fell by 27,000 last week, an indication that hiring could improve.

Posted: 4:33 AM Attorneys in the 2001 Chandra Levy murder case will be back in court for another hearing, the substance of which will be kept from the public and the news media.

Posted: 3:50 AM American Airlines and US Airways say they're merging in a deal they value at $11 billion, creating the world's biggest airline.

Updated: 7:32 AM The Coast Guard says a second tug boat has reached a disabled cruise ship in the Gulf of Mexico and is helping tow it to Mobile, Ala.

Posted: 5:19 PM Officials say they still don't know what sickened people at a Villanova University chemistry lab, prompting evacuation of the building and sending 29 people to the hospital.

Updated: 5:07 PM American Airlines and US Airways will merge and create the world's biggest airline. The boards of both companies approved the merger late Wednesday, according to three people close to the situation.

Updated: 5:30 PM The mother of an Alabama boy held hostage for days in an underground bunker by a man says she forgave her son's captor early in the standoff and asked authorities not to harm him.

Posted: 2:05 PM Three people have been charged with participating in an international smuggling ring that traffics in the horns of endangered black rhinos.

Posted: 1:21 PM Stocks are ending mixed on Wall Street, sending the Dow back below 14,000 points. McDonald's slumped as investors worried that spending on restaurants would fall.

Updated: 4:01 PM Police say a man involved in paternity dispute opened fire in front of a South Carolina courthouse, wounding a woman and her stepfather, then led police on a 12-mile chase.

Updated: 4:37 AM Officials at the U.S. Coast Guard Academy say a service member and five civilian employees were disciplined for misusing the school's computers and engaging in sex acts during the workday.

Posted: 3:44 AM Scientists at the University of Wisconsin-Madison are helping search for alien life forms. But they aren't looking into space. They're studying rocks here on Earth.

Posted: 3:39 AM Barry Bonds is asking a federal court to toss out his felony obstruction of conviction.

Posted: 12:56 AM Pope Benedict XVI is making his first public appearance since his bombshell announcement of his resignation, presiding over his weekly general audience and Ash Wednesday services.

Updated: 11:46 PM Oprah Winfrey made a surprise appearance Tuesday night at the premiere of Beyonce's HBO documentary, 'Life is But a Dream,' posing with the star and speaking of the candor she showed in making it.

Posted: 10:19 PM The text of President Barack Obama's State of the Union address, released by the White House as prepared for delivery:

Updated: 7:28 PM President Barack Obama is pledging to create "good, middle-class jobs" without adding to the nation's deficit.

Posted: 1:19 PM The Dow is closing at its highest level of the year, coming within one percent of its record reached in October 2007.

Posted: 6:35 AM Police in Connecticut say a city man bit off his cousin's ear lobe and swallowed it during a fight over loud music.

Posted: 6:24 AM Police say a University of Maryland student shot two housemates, one fatally, in an off-campus residence and then killed himself.

Posted: 10:28 AM A person familiar with President Barack Obama's State of the Union address says he will announce that 34,000 U.S. troops will be home from Afghanistan one year from Tuesday.

Updated: 4:49 AM Those flocking to New Orleans can expect a wet Mardi Gras, but the city's biggest free show might not be the washout that once was predicted.

Posted: 12:13 PM Penn State is considering offers from most of the people who have told the school they suffered damages related to the Jerry Sandusky child molestation scandal.