U.S. National - Reuters

MIAMI (Reuters) - Tropical Storm Fay swept into Florida from the Gulf of Mexico and soaked the state on Tuesday while growing strong enough that forecasters said it could become a hurricane before smacking Florida a third time.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Most Americans think that the worst of the fuel price spike that pushed gasoline above $4 per gallon has passed, but they have little hope that the housing market will stage a swift recovery, according to a Reuters/Zogby poll released on Wednesday.

DALLAS (Reuters) - More than 200,000 children were hit as punishment in U.S. schools last year and in the South more blacks than whites are struck, two human rights groups said in a report released on Wednesday.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. government has been using its border checkpoints to collect information on citizens that will be stored for 15 years, raising concern among privacy advocates, the Washington Post reported on Wednesday.

BALTIMORE (Reuters) - The medical imaging industry called for the Medicare government health plan to broaden its coverage of PET scans to additional cancer types, asking an advisory panel on Wednesday to recommend wider payments.

BURBANK, Calif (Reuters) - Electrically charged knives hum and crackle as two fighters circle each other on the gym floor, slashing and kicking out.

CHICAGO (Reuters) - AMR Corp's American Airlines began offering Internet access on long-haul domestic flights on Wednesday, making American the first U.S. airline to offer full in-flight broadband.

BEIJING (Reuters) - Five American blogger-activists and a foreign artist have been detained in Beijing as the government intensifies a crackdown on pro-Tibetan protests in the home stretch of the Olympics, rights groups said on Wednesday.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A growing number of U.S. adults are struggling to pay their medical bills, tapping into savings accounts, home equity and credit cards to cover health care costs, according to a survey released on Wednesday.

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - No wonder Bigfoot failed a DNA test. Researchers said on Tuesday the hairy heap claimed by two men to be the corpse of the mythical half-ape, half-human creature was actually a full-body rubber gorilla costume.

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Saxophonist LeRoi Moore, a founding member of the Dave Matthews Band, died on Tuesday of complications from a vehicle accident in June.

NEW YORK (Reuters) - A group of September 11 victims' families appealed to White House hopefuls John McCain and Barack Obama on Wednesday to suspend all campaigning on the anniversary of the 2001 attacks as a show of respect.

NEW YORK (Reuters) - New York City has agreed to pay a $2 million settlement to protesters arrested during a 2003 rally against the Iraq war who said their civil rights had been violated, lawyers for both sides said on Tuesday.

BOSTON (Reuters) - Three students from the elite Massachusetts Institute of Technology who found a way to hack into Boston's transit system to get free rides can talk publicly about the security flaw, a court ruled on Tuesday in a decision hailed as a victory for academic freedom.

DETROIT (Reuters) - Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co said it would close 12 percent, or 92, of its company-owned U.S. stores and cut 600 full- and part-time jobs as the U.S. economic downturn put more pressure on the company.

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - "Samantha Who?" star Christina Applegate, 36, is free of cancer after having both breasts removed to combat the disease, the actress told a U.S. television news show on Tuesday.

BEIJING (Reuters) - U.S. favorites Todd Rogers and Phil Dalhausser put a swift end to Georgia's Olympic beach volleyball dream on Wednesday, beating the surprise semi-finalists 21-11 21-13 for their place in the final.

DETROIT (Reuters) - General Motors Corp on Tuesday said it was extending a warranty offer on certified used cars and trucks, citing gains in quality and a drop in warranty-funded repairs.

HOUSTON (Reuters) - Chevron Corp said on Tuesday it would drop its Texaco NASCAR sponsorship after the 2008 season, ending a 20-year relationship between the oil major and the U.S. auto racing league.

NEW YORK (Reuters) - A Taiwanese man accused of smuggling military equipment including a fighter pilot's helmet bought the items because he is a personal collector of military gear who liked the "Top Gun" look, his lawyer said on Tuesday.

NEW YORK (Reuters) - U.S. and UK shoppers in the market for a television, dishwasher or other big ticket purchases now have a website that will alert them when the cost of an item they want drops to a target price they have set.

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - The largest U.S. apparel trade show is still a week away, but the anxiety pervading the clothing industry is already making itself felt.

BEIJING (Reuters) - American Dawn Harper sprung a huge surprise when a dramatic mistake by compatriot Lolo Jones let her through to win Olympic gold in the women's 100 meters hurdles on Tuesday.

NEW YORK (Reuters) - U.S. retail gasoline demand dropped 7.8 percent from the same period last year despite a dip in gasoline prices, MasterCard Advisors said Tuesday.

ALBANY (Reuters) - New York Gov. David Paterson on Tuesday gave a more dire outlook on the state's economy, saying that Wall Street bonuses could be slashed by 30 percent to 40 percent this year and tax revenues on capital gains could also fall much more than he previously estimated.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The agency which brought you the "do not call" registry -- thus bringing a measure of peace to American dinner tables -- has now decided to tighten rules restricting prerecorded telephone sales calls.

BEIJING (Reuters) - Shawn Johnson's megawatt smile lit up the National Indoor Stadium on Tuesday after the American gymnast finally got her hands on an Olympic gold medal.

KENAI NATIONAL WILDLIFE REFUGE, Alaska (Reuters) - Here in a 13,700-year-old peat bog, ecologist Ed Berg reaches into the moss and pulls out more evidence of the drastic changes afoot due to the Earth's warming climate.