Suddenly the Federal Reserve is everybody's punching bag.

Local governments and public entities, already reeling from the recession, face another fiscal crisis: billions of dollars in fees owed to Wall Street firms on investment deals gone bad.

The five men facing trial in the Sept. 11 attacks will plead not guilty so that they can air their criticisms of U.S. foreign policy, the lawyer for one of the defendants said Sunday.

The decision by family members not to seek the seat held by Sen. Edward M. Kennedy for nearly five decades has prompted predictions that the family's political dynasty is over.

Tens of thousands have fled Michigan's troubled economy in recent years, yet Iraqi refugees continue to move there despite a U.S. government policy trying to limit refugee resettlement in the Detroit area.