• Gates: Extremist threat requires new US approaches 10/15/2008, 8:54 p.m. EDT
WASHINGTON (AP) — The United States and its allies must find new approaches — and create new institutions — to deal with the long-term threats posed by violent extremism, Defense Secretary Robert Gates said Wednesday.

• Kennedy changes approach in Senate debate 10/15/2008, 8:51 p.m. EDT
NEW ORLEANS (AP) — Republican U.S. Senate candidate John Kennedy changed his approach Wednesday, focusing on the country's economic crisis rather than presidential politics as he faced off with Democratic incumbent U.S. Sen. Mary Landrieu in the third debate of the Senate race.

• Biden says Obama would create 2 million jobs 10/15/2008, 8:45 p.m. EDT
LANCASTER, Ohio (AP) — Democratic vice presidential candidate Joe Biden said Wednesday that Barack Obama's plan to rebuild the nation's crumbling roads and bridges would help reverse the loss of 240,000 jobs in Ohio during the Bush years.

• California releases plan to cut greenhouse gases 10/15/2008, 8:39 p.m. EDT
SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — To reach its global warming goals, California must cut greenhouse gas emissions by about four tons per person, which would require cleaner cars, more renewable energy and a cap on major polluters, according to a state plan released Wednesday.

• Panel rules NYC council can vote on term limits 10/15/2008, 8:35 p.m. EDT
NEW YORK (AP) — A New York City panel says it is not a conflict of interest for council members to vote on changing a term-limits law.

• Omar grows into Category 2 hurricane in Caribbean 10/15/2008, 8:34 p.m. EDT
CHRISTIANSTED, U.S. Virgin Islands (AP) — Heavy rains and winds pummeled St. Croix on Wednesday as the outer edge of powerful Hurricane Omar drenched the island, stranding motorists on flooded roads and forcing workers to shut down a giant oil refinery.

• GOP leader in La. to help reclaim US House seat 10/15/2008, 8:32 p.m. EDT
DENHAM SPRINGS, La. (AP) — A top national Republican leader was in Louisiana on Wednesday to support GOP congressional candidate Bill Cassidy, as the party pushes to retake a seat that went Democratic this year for the first time in decades.

• About 200K Ohio voters have records discrepancies 10/15/2008, 8:18 p.m. EDT
CINCINNATI (AP) — Close to one in every three newly registered Ohio voters will end up on court-ordered lists being sent to county election boards because they have some discrepancy in their records, an elections spokesman said Wednesday.

• Georgia-Russia talks off to shaky start in Geneva 10/15/2008, 8:15 p.m. EDT
GENEVA (AP) — The first high-level talks between Russia and Georgia since their war broke down Wednesday, but international sponsors said the negotiations had only hit a procedural snag and will resume next month.

• Mexican workers in US during WWII can get back pay 10/15/2008, 8:13 p.m. EDT
CHICAGO (AP) — Ramon Ibarra remembers his backbreaking days repairing railroads in the Southwest, a contract job for which he left Mexico in 1942 as part of a guest worker program. More than 60 years later, he's looking forward to the rest of his paycheck.

• Hurricane Omar reaches Cat. 2; 105 mph winds 10/15/2008, 8:08 p.m. EDT
CHRISTIANSTED, U.S. Virgin Islands (AP) — Forecasters say Omar has grown to a fierce Category 2 hurricane with top winds of 105 mph as it barrels toward the U.S. and British Virgin Islands.

• Ex-NY lawmaker quits parole board after sex sting 10/15/2008, 8:06 p.m. EDT
ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) — A member of the state parole board accused of using the Internet to set up a meeting for sex with underage girls has resigned, the board's chairman said Wednesday.

• Palin sees similarities between NH and Alaska 10/15/2008, 8:02 p.m. EDT
DOVER, N.H. (AP) — Republican vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin said Wednesday she feels a kinship with the moose-hunting, tax-hating voters of New Hampshire who gave John McCain his first primary victory.

• APNewsAlert 10/15/2008, 7:58 p.m. EDT
MIAMI (AP) — Forecasters: Omar grows to Category 2 hurricane with winds near 105 mph in Caribbean .

• Gov't offices close, shelters open in Caribbean 10/15/2008, 7:53 p.m. EDT
CHRISTIANSTED, U.S. Virgin Islands (AP) — Heavy rains and gusty winds pummeled St. Croix on Wednesday as the outer edge of Hurricane Omar drenched the island, stranding motorists on flooded roads. Hours earlier, workers shut down a giant oil refinery.

• Iraq: US agrees to limited Iraqi jurisdiction 10/15/2008, 7:53 p.m. EDT
BAGHDAD (AP) — American troops could face trial before Iraqi courts for major crimes committed off base and when not on missions, under a draft security pact hammered out in months of tortuous negotiations, Iraqi officials familiar with the accord said Wednesday.

• Missing American's husband arrested in St. Maarten 10/15/2008, 7:52 p.m. EDT
PHILIPSBURG, St. Maarten (AP) — Police in St. Maarten have arrested the husband of a missing Southern California woman on suspicion of involvement in her disappearance.

• McCain seeks to recharge candidacy at final debate 10/15/2008, 7:41 p.m. EDT
HEMPSTEAD, N.Y. (AP) — John McCain sought to change the course of a campaign moving decidedly in Barack Obama's direction Wednesday night in the third and final presidential debate.With less than three weeks until the Nov. 4 election, the 90-minute debate focusing on the economic crisis offered the Republican senator from Arizona what could be one of his last big chances to persuade voters to give the race another look.

• Cindy McCain asked and got cell phone coverage 10/15/2008, 7:40 p.m. EDT
WASHINGTON (AP) — John McCain, a senior member of the Senate committee that oversees the telecom industry, now has cell phone coverage at the family's ranch near Sedona, Ariz., following a request from his wife, Cindy, early in 2007.

• Murtha: Western Pa. 'racist' but Obama should win 10/15/2008, 7:39 p.m. EDT
WASHINGTON (AP) — Democratic Rep. John Murtha said Wednesday his home base of western Pennsylvania is racist and that could reduce Barack Obama's victory margin in the state by 4 percentage points.

• US military: No. 2 al-Qaida in Iraq leader killed 10/15/2008, 7:39 p.m. EDT
BAGHDAD (AP) — American soldiers killed the alleged No. 2 leader of al-Qaida in Iraq, a Moroccan who trained in Afghanistan, recruited foreign fighters and ran operations in northern Iraq where Sunni insurgents remain a potent threat, the U.S. military said Wednesday.

• Law experts: Fla. conviction possible without body 10/15/2008, 7:38 p.m. EDT
ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) — Prosecutors have DNA tests and hair samples. They have testimony about "the smell of death" in the trunk of the suspect's car. What they do not have is a body. Prosecutors building a case against a single 22-year-old Florida mother accused of killing her young daughter will have to rely on forensic evidence and persuade a jury that Casey Anthony lacks credibility and had a motive, legal experts say.

• Nancy Reagan hospitalized with broken pelvis 10/15/2008, 7:38 p.m. EDT
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Nancy Reagan suffered a broken pelvis in a fall at her home and will be hospitalized for several days, her spokeswoman said Wednesday. The 87-year-old former first lady fell last week, spokeswoman Joanne Drake said. She did not seek immediate medical care but decided Monday to get checked out because of persistent pain, Drake said.

• One-time MLK lieutenant gets 15 years for incest 10/15/2008, 7:38 p.m. EDT
LEESBURG, Va. (AP) — A one-time top lieutenant to Martin Luther King Jr. was sentenced Wednesday to 15 years in prison for having sex more than a decade ago with his then-teenage daughter.

• NYC prosecutors: Man said boredom led him to kill 10/15/2008, 7:31 p.m. EDT
NEW YORK (AP) — Prosecutors say a homeless man told them he killed a New York City college student because he was bored.