Because of a trip to Walmart three years ago, Heather Ellis is now fighting for her life. The 24-year-old former college student is facing felony charges that could get her up to 15 years in prison after being arrested for an incident that stemmed from her cutting a line at a Walmart in Kennet, Mo.

Federal authorities on Wednesday arrested several members of a radical Sunni Islam group in the U.S., killing one of its leaders at a shootout in a Michigan warehouse, the U.S. attorney's office said.

NEW YORK (AP) -- Hurricane Katrina gave Ned Sublette a dramatic coda -- and title -- for his memoir. "The Year Before the Flood" documents the last year New Orleans and its thriving music scene were still fully intact before the city was nearly washed off the face of the Earth.

CHICAGO (AP) – Rickets, a vitamin deficiency disorder common in developing countries, is making a comeback in the United States. Almost 90 percent of Black children and 80 percent of Hispanic kids could be vitamin D deficient, the most recent national analysis suggests...

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Time growing short, Democratic leaders in Congress are still grappling with divisive issues as they try to achieve President Barack Obama's ambitious goal of passing legislation to remake the U.S. health care system by year's end. Both House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid are expected to make key decisions this week in hopes the long-delayed health care bills can come to a vote in early November.

An outraged Louisiana couple filed a federal lawsuit Oct. 20 against a local official's decision to deny them a marriage license because they are of different races.

Creating a U.S. agency to regulate home loans, credit cards, savings accounts and dozens of other financial services won the approval of a key House committee on Thursday in spite of loud complaints from banks and businesses.

The controversial debut of Britain's far-right leader on a flagship television debate show has been a ratings bonanza for the BBC, but it's unclear whether British National Party chief Nick Griffin gained from all the attention.

Credit card issuers are desperately trying to rebound after the collapse of the economy and consumer lending, but unemployment, the CARD Act and the possibility of new regulations are restricting traditional areas revenue. Issuers must make changes, even if it angers Congress and their cardholders.

WASHINGTON (AP) -- The level of poverty in America is even worse than first believed. A revised formula for calculating medical costs and geographic variations show that approximately 47.4 million Americans last year lived in poverty, 7 million more than the government's official figure.