A gunman who took a school administrator hostage at a high school in upstate New York has surrendered to police, according to state government official. Pine Plains Town Supervisor Gregg Pulver says the suspect is a former student.

While emphasizing President Barack Obama hasn't made any final decisions yet, administration officials tell The Associated Press that he is moving closer to sending tens of thousands of more forces to Afghanistan. The number would be just under the 40,000 sought by his top general there, Gen. Stanley McChrystal.

South Korean officials say one of their ships exchanged fire with a North Korean vessel along the countries' disputed western coast. Both sides blame the other for violating the sea border. The skirmish comes as the U.S. said a special envoy was going to Pyongyang for rare talks on the communist nation's nuclear activities.

The storm Ida weakens to a tropical depression after it makes landfall on the U.S. Gulf Coast. Many residents there, long used to the fury of Mother Nature, refuse to leave the area.

As if Democrats didn't have enough to worry about in overhauling health care, the weighty issue of abortion has suddenly rocketed to the forefront of the debate, dividing lawmakers and threatening the party's ability to pass reform legislation. So, will the Senate pass a measure with abortion restrictions like the House just did?
Also: Bill Clinton to Jump Into Fray

The operator of a Boston subway train is hailed as a hero for hitting her emergency brake just in time to avoid running over a woman who had fallen into the train's path.

John Allen Muhammad, the mastermind in the sniper attacks that gripped the nation's capital with fear for three weeks in 2002, is set to die by lethal injection in Virginia tonight -- unless the state's governor, Tim Kaine, steps in.

The three Florida teens accused of pouring rubbing alcohol on a 15-year-old before setting him on fire are charged as adults with attempted second-degree murder. The victim is in critical condition with burns covering 65 percent of his body.