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The four, captives of an al-Qaida affiliate, will be on their way home soon, French President Francois Hollande says. They had been held since their capture at a uranium mining operation in Niger.

Social Security accounts for about 20 percent of federal spending. As Congress edges toward having to come up with a new spending plan, one argument in favor of cuts is that Social Security amounts to a huge transfer of wealth from the young to the old.

Anybody who bets on the Philadelphia 76ers to win the NBA title has a chance at a serious payoff. In Las Vegas, odds against them are 9,999 to 1. Asked how they came up with that figure, oddsmakers say it's just the highest number their computers can take.

Police cars in Iowa and Florida are testing a secret weapon: a small cannon embedded in the grill. It shoots "tracking" bullets — containing tiny GPS devices — that can stick to the trunk of a suspect's car. Police could then follow a suspect at a leisurely pace instead of embarking on a dangerous high-speed chase.

When Amazon revamped its publishing wing, a lot of booksellers said enough is enough: They refused to stock Amazon Publishing's books, and Barnes & Noble followed suit. Now, with the departure of a star talent and some book releases that fell flat, many say Amazon Publishing may in trouble.

On the evening of Oct. 30, 1938, Orson Welles and his troupe went on the air to say that Martians had invaded New Jersey. Ever since, stories have made it sound as if the broadcast caused a mass panic. But that might not have been the case.

In these days of dusty, overbooked festivals run rampant, a smooth-sounding, tight bill with the promise of a good-looking, down to party hometown crowd makes that cash register sing.

House and Senate negotiators start a conference on the budget Wednesday, with the goal of coming up with an agreement by Dec. 13. There's not much hope of a grand bargain that would put fiscal policy on a long-term sustainable path. But there could be something small. And in the short term, lawmakers must deal with the sequester and the stopgap spending bill, which runs out Jan. 15.

One of the president's most famous promises — "if you like your health care plan, you can keep your health care plan" — isn't true for everyone now that the Affordable Care Act is going into effect, say nonpartisan truth squads.

The International Security Assistance Force is engaged in an aggressive media campaign to show Afghans that their army and police are capable of providing security, and that the international community will continue to provide support. But the U.S.-NATO-led mission is also trying to reach audiences back home.