President Barack Obama unveiled a multi-trillion-dollar spending plan Thursday that would boost taxes on the wealthy, curtail Medicare, lay the groundwork for universal health care and leave a string of deficits dwarfing any in the nation’s history.

Defense Secretary Robert Gates on Thursday said he was lifting the ban against media photos of soldiers’ coffins returning to the U.S. and will instead leave the decision up to families.

General Motors Corp. posted a $9.6 billion fourth-quarter loss Thursday and said it burned through $6.2 billion of cash in the last three months of 2008.

The ailing economy is fueling some unusual and unprecedented deals at hotels, restaurants and attractions.

A dispute among House Democrats stalled legislation Thursday to let bankruptcy judges reduce the principal and interest rate on mortgages for debt-strapped homeowners.

New jobless claims rose more than expected last week and the number of laid-off Americans continuing to receive unemployment benefits topped 5.1 million.

In what would be the clearest break yet from the Bush administration’s legal strategy in the war on terror, the Justice Department is preparing criminal charges against the only person still held in the U.S. as an enemy combatant.

Health officials are calling for wider awareness of ciguatera, an underreported tropical fish-borne illness that causes odd symptoms, including reversed sensations of hot and cold.

E.W. Scripps says the Rocky Mountain News in Denver will publish its last edition Friday.

Imprisoned NFL star Michael Vick will be allowed to finish his sentence under home confinement because there is no room at a halfway house for him, a government official told The Associated Press Thursday.