A Christmas Day twister outbreak has left damage across the Deep South while holiday travelers in the nation's much colder midsection are battling sometimes treacherous driving conditions from freezing rain and blizzard conditions.

Police have found human remains in the burned-out home of the Webster, N.Y., ex-con who killed two firefighters and believe the victim is the gunman's sister.

Police in New York state say a man who ambushed firefighters had served 17 years for manslaughter in the death of his grandmother.

Owners of electric cars in Washington state don't pay gasoline or gas taxes, but they're soon going to be hit with a $100 fee to own the battery-operated cars.

Newtown observed Christmas amid snow-covered teddy bears, stockings, flowers and candles left in memorial to the 20 children and six educators gunned down at an elementary school just 11 days before the holiday.

Freezing rain and sleet made for a sloppy Christmas morning trek in parts of the nation's midsection on Tuesday, while residents along the Gulf Coast braced for thunderstorms, high winds and the possibility of tornadoes.

Shoppers who waited until the final days before Christmas were rewarded with big bargains and lighter crowds. But their last-minute deal hunting may hurt stores.

Most of the thousands of children who call the annual Santa-tracking operation at a Colorado Air Force Base on Christmas Eve ask the usual questions: "Where's Santa, and when will he get here?"

New taxes are coming Jan. 1 to help finance President Barack Obama's health care overhaul. Most people may not notice. But they will pay attention if Congress decides to start taxing employer-sponsored health insurance, one of the options in play if lawmakers can ever agree on a budget deal to reduce federal deficits.

Former President George H.W. Bush will spend Christmas in a Houston hospital after developing a fever and weakness following a monthlong, bronchitis-like cough.

Six children in Texas have been injured by an explosion that happened after gas was poured from a can onto an open fire pit.

A federal judge has delayed sentencing until late January for a pair of Iraqi nationals who pleaded guilty to conspiring to send weapons, cash and explosives to al-Qaida in Iraq.

A British newspaper is suing Lance Armstrong for more than $1.5 million after it settled a libel case over doping allegations, saying that revelations of the cycling star's use of performance-enhancing drugs show the case was baseless.

An Afghan policewoman shot and killed an American adviser outside the police headquarters in Kabul on Monday, the latest in a rising tide of insider attacks by Afghans against their foreign allies, senior Afghan officials said.

With anxiety rising as the country lurches towards a "fiscal cliff," lawmakers are increasingly skeptical about a possible deal and some predict the best possibility would be a small-scale patch because time is running out before the yearend deadline.

A spray-painted sign with the words "Hug a teacher today" hangs on a building in the Connecticut town where 20 children and six adults were killed at an elementary school.

Federal regulators have warned more than 350 medical practices that Botox they may have received from a Canadian supplier is unapproved and could be counterfeit or unsafe.

New York City "Housewives" star Bethenny Frankel and husband Jason Hoppy are separating.

Volunteers are pulling on their Santa hats, phone lines are set, and tracking screens are ready - NORAD Tracks Santa is primed for its 57th annual goodwill mission

Former Penn State assistant football coach Jerry Sandusky maintains his innocence and tells a Pennsylvania newspaper he is "trying to learn from ... the struggle and circumstances."

A teen who survived the Dec. 11 shooting at an Oregon shopping mall says she didn't realize the gun that shot her was real until bullets started whizzing past.

For more than a month, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has said that the recent superstorm didn't cause significant problems. But in many cases, no actual tests of soil or water are being conducted, just visual inspections.

Police say four people were killed when a minivan carrying a family leaving a Christmas party went the wrong way on a southwestern Ohio highway and hit another minivan whose driver and family were going to see grandparents for the holidays.

An Iowa dentist was within his legal rights when he fired a longtime employee he found to be “irresistible” and a threat to his marriage, the State Supreme Court unanimously ruled.

The leader of the world's 80 million-strong Anglican Communion has thrown his support behind stricter gun control in the U.S., saying the easy availability of powerful weapons drew vulnerable people toward violence.