Reuters - Virginia's Republican Gov. Bob McDonnell on Wednesday abruptly shifted his stance on a hotly-contested bill requiring women seeking abortions to have an ultrasound, asking lawmakers to revise the legislation just before a scheduled vote.

Reuters - BP Plc and Anadarko Petroleum Corp are liable for civil damages under federal pollution laws over the 2010 Gulf of Mexico oil spill, a U.S. judge ruled, exposing them to billions of dollars in potential fines.

Reuters - Years of economic setbacks have taken their toll on the nation's youngest residents, with another 1.6 million children living in high-poverty neighborhoods, according to one study that shows nearly 8 million children residing in poor areas in 2010.

Time.com - The nationalization of our politics was one of the major stories of the 2010 midterms, when political experience became a liability and races boiled down to which candidate could claim the outsider's mantle. So it is again this year

Time.com - The greatest threat to any long-term investor is inflation. It not only erodes the value of stocks and bonds, but also depresses economic growth and misleads policymakers

Reuters - Nearly 1,200 people lined up at a downtown Miami conference center on Wednesday, holding onto mortgage documents and income statements in the hope of saving the homes they are struggling to pay for.

AP - West Virginia mine safety officials were to release the final report on a 2010 explosion that killed 29 miners Thursday just as federal prosecutors turn up the heat on managers they say contributed to the tragedy.

AP - Police say a gun brought to a Washington state elementary school in a third grader's backpack discharged, apparently by accident, critically wounding an 8-year-old classmate.

AP - A medical examiner who performed an autopsy on an 82-year-old pilot was not able to find any medical conditions that could have contributed to the crash that killed all four people aboard, including Oklahoma State University women's basketball coach Kurt Budke last year in central Arkansas.

AP - Police say a man caught up in a love triangle shot himself to death after killing the treasurer of a remote-controlled airplane club who was allegedly having an affair with his estranged wife.

AP - President Barack Obama is reaping political benefits from the country's brighter economic mood. A new poll shows that Republicans and Democrats alike are increasingly saying the nation is heading in the right direction and most independents now approve the way he's addressing the nation's post-recession period.

AP - The United States, Europe and Arab nations are preparing to challenge Syrian President Bashar Assad to agree to a ceasefire and allow humanitarian aid within days into areas hardest hit by his regime's brutal crackdown on opponents.

AP - Last weekend, 14-year-old Ashley Long told her parents she was going to a slumber party. But instead of spending the night watching videos and eating popcorn two blocks away, she piled into a car with a bunch of her friends and rode to a condo in Medford, Ore., where police say the big sister of one of her friends was throwing a party with booze and marijuana.

AP - The mayor of New Jersey's largest city called for state authorities Wednesday to investigate a widespread spying operation conducted in Newark's Muslim neighborhoods by the New York Police Department that he characterized as "deeply offensive."

AP - Lawmakers under pressure from constituents in the months after the Casey Anthony trial have found it's not easy to toughen penalties for parents who don't immediately report missing children.

AP - Back when he was a self-described friendless recluse, Craig Carey spent hours sitting in a chair doing nothing or driving around in his car, alone. Then a fitness program for people with serious mental illness turned his life around.

AP - Police are looking for the killer who shot a Washington State Patrol trooper early Thursday during a traffic stop about 20 miles west of Seattle.

AP - In a trial that revealed the lives of elite athletes at a top-notch school, a former University of Virginia lacrosse player faces 26 years in prison for the beating death of his former girlfriend amid a swirl of betrayal, distrust, anger and a culture of drinking.

AP - A Saudi Arabian teenager has been indicted on charges of interfering with a flight crew after authorities alleged he tried to hit fellow passengers, took a swing at a flight attendant and referred to Osama bin Laden during a flight to Houston.

AP - A man gunned down along with his wife and other family members at an Atlanta area spa he co-owned was a prominent member of Atlanta's community of roughly 100,000 Korean-Americans, according to friends left confused and concerned about what happened.