DETROIT -- So you think junior is a little too lead-footed when he drives the family car? Starting next year, Ford Motor Co. will give you the power to do something about it.

CHICAGO -- Using a fan to circulate air seemed to lower the risk of sudden infant death syndrome in a study of nearly 500 babies, researchers reported Monday.

OMAHA, Neb. -- Zapping frozen meals in the microwave may be fast and easy, but it also can make you sick if it's not done properly.

WASHINGTON -- The Federal Reserve will provide as much as $900 billion in cash loans to squeezed banks in an urgent effort Monday to break through a dangerous credit clog that threatens the economy and has unhinged financial markets around the globe.

KHAR, Pakistan -- Pakistan ordered the deportation of about 50,000 Afghan refugees in an insurgency-wracked tribal region amid a major military offensive against al-Qaida and Taliban fighters.

WILLIAMS, Calif. -- A bus driver with a string of motor vehicle offenses and a history of substance abuse was arrested on suspicion of driving under the influence Monday after his casino-bound charter bus ran into a ditch, killing eight people.

ASHEVILLE, N.C. -- The two men who supposedly exemplified a different kind of politics are engaged in an increasingly bitter campaign as character attacks are emerging to compete with issues like the troubled economy.

KABUL, Afghanistan -- A former Taliban ambassador said Monday that the hard-line militants sat with Afghan officials and Saudi King Abdullah over an important religious meal in Saudi Arabia late last month as the insurgency raged back home.

WASHINGTON -- China has canceled some military contacts with the Pentagon as a result of America's recent announcement of a planned arms sale to Taiwan, a Pentagon official said Monday.

LONDON -- Individual European governments issued a cascade of deposit guarantees to shore up their banks but fell short of any coordinated action Monday to deal with the crisis sweeping financial markets, even as stock markets crashed and the euro sank to its lowest level for over a year.

CLEARWATER, Fla. -- Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin expanded her attack on Democrat Barack Obama's character Monday to include his relationship with an incendiary former pastor as well as his ties to 1960s-era radical Bill Ayers.

WASHINGTON -- Congress heard Monday that Lehman Brothers, days away from becoming the largest bankruptcy in U.S. history, was pleading for a federal rescue on one hand while steering millions in dollars to departing executives on the other.