AP - Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said Tuesday a North Korean nuclear test would be "a very provocative act" and the United States would have to assess its options should it be carried out. Read more…
AP - Supreme Court justices wrestled Tuesday with the question of whether convictions for minor crimes should force immigrants' deportation, the first case in a term expected to make clearer the court's direction under Chief Justice John Roberts. Read more…
AP - The federal government spent nearly $11 million to salvage timber from an Oregon wildfire in 2002, yet it stands to get less than $9 million from selling the wood, congressional investigators say. Read more…
Rasmussen Reports - Though his lead has slipped a few points over the past month, incumbent Democratic Sen. Bill Nelson still enjoys a comfortable lead over Republican challenger Katherine Harris. Nelson now leads Harris 54% to 37%. His lead was 23 in the previous poll. Read more…
AP - President Bush is turning up the volume on his charge that Democrats are soft on terror, but his campaign message is competing against a noisy Capitol Hill scandal tailing Republicans as the election nears. Read more…
AP - One of the closest races for the U.S. Senate is being waged by two men whose fathers were lifelong friends. Read more…
AP - A state senator said he is evaluating whether to continue his bid for a second term after a Charleston television station aired revealing pictures of him last week. Read more…
AP - A third figure in the page scandal threatening to the envelop House Speaker Dennis Hastert suggested Wednesday the speaker knew of an inappropriate e-mail that Rep. Mark Foley sent to a Louisiana boy before the matter became public. Read more…
AP - Former Rep. Mark Foley, under investigation for sending lurid Internet messages to young male Capitol Hill pages, issued a series of revelations from rehab, including a claim that he had been sexually abused as a teen. Read more…
AP - Financial barons and wealthy socialites once traveled the country on luxurious private railroad cars, dining on fine china and crystal and pampered by stewards. Today's travelers can recapture that romantic era with journeys on some of the same cars. Read more…
AP - Wild tigers, the oldest rain forest, the fastest train and the tallest building are just some of the 20 Asian wonders described in Conde Nast Traveler. Here is the complete list from the magazine's October issue, which is devoted to exploring Asia: Read more…
Richard Bangs Adventures - For those who enjoy the dispatches of Richard Bangs Adventures, now you can listen via podcasting. Read more…
Rolf Potts - As a traveler, what's the best response when people ask you for money? Read more…
AP - On a postcard-perfect Saturday at the Heffner Gap Overlook, Anne Mitchell Whisnant reads from one of the scores of informational signs — known as "gun boards" for their frontier rifle logos — posted along the 470 miles of the Blue Ridge Parkway. Read more…
AP - Hotel guests leave behind more than just socks and old paperbacks: A new study found viruses on TV remotes, light switches and even hotel pens after cold sufferers checked out. Read more…
Barbara Correa - Starwood Hotels and Resorts' ultra-hip W chain lays the groundwork for a new hotel brand by creating its first "property" online in a virtual community. Read more…
AP - A Turkish army deserter who hijacked a Turkish airliner to Italy is seeking asylum because he fears persecution in his Muslim homeland after his conversion to Christianity and wanted Pope Benedict XVI's protection, an Italian prosecutor said Wednesday. Read more…
Barbara Correa - Read more…
AP - Two American bald eagles perch on the high branches of a dead tree, their yellow eyes trained on muskrats nibbling cattail shoots in shallow Tschache Pool. Read more…
Rolf Potts - Enjoying wildlife and wine in this South African destination. Read more…
AP - After retracing their steps several times, using crushed soda cans as markers and scratching directions in the dirt, Kerry Anderson and her group reached another dead end inside the corn maze — or was it the same one they were at a few minutes ago? Read more…
AP - Architect Daniel Libeskind has upstaged the Rockies with his new wing of the Denver Art Museum, as jagged as the nearby peaks that inspired it. Read more…
AP - Anchorage's winter festival will get a $48,000 city donation to keep it alive another year. Read more…
AP - Hiking, biking and driving aren't the only ways to get a glimpse of fall foliage. In northern New England, there's no shortage of off-the-beaten-path opportunities for leaf peepers. Read more…
AP - An earthquake caused rocks to fall onto a road in Acadia National Park and burst some water pipes, but no injuries were reported. Read more…