Ken Stanford

Same-sex marriages will begin within days in New Jersey after the state's highest court ruled unanimously Friday to uphold a lower-court order that gay weddings must start Monday and to deny a delay that was sought by Gov. Chris Christie's administration.

Utah authorities are mulling whether to press charges against a Boy Scouts leader who purposely knocked over an ancient Utah desert rock formation and the two men who cheered him on after they posted video of the incident online.

Six children have been hospitalized after an inflatable slide collapsed at their Georgia elementary school.

The Standard & Poor's 500 index is rising further into record territory as investors turn their attention from politics to profits.

The Republicans' clear defeat in the budget-debt brawl has widened the rift between the Grand Old Party and the blossoming tea party movement that helped revive it.

Retailers hope that short-term uncertainty about the state of the economy following this week's debt ceiling deal won't stop Americans from spending during the busiest shopping period of the year, but they're fearful that it will.

The Standard & Poor's 500 index is rising further into record territory, driven by strong earnings from big U.S. companies.