NEW YORK – Americans became less optimistic about the economy in February, sending a widely followed barometer of consumer sentiment below analysts’ estimates. The Conference Board, a New York-based private research group, said Tuesday its consumer confidence index fell to 101.7, down from a revised 106.8 in January, stalling a …

CICERO, Ill. – What began dramatically with the midnight breakout of six inmates from the Cook County Jail ended quietly early Monday as the last two of the fugitives surrendered at the end of a long police siege of apartment building in this western Chicago suburb. “These were the worst …

NEW YORK – CBS’ “The Young and the Restless” earned a leading 18 Daytime Emmy nominations on Wednesday, including best soap opera, although no one from its cast was nominated in the lead acting categories. Ellen DeGeneres, whose hit daytime series won best talk show the last two years and …

TIVOLI, Italy – Archaeologists who have been digging for more than a year at the villa of Roman Emperor Hadrian in Tivoli have unearthed a monumental staircase, a statue of an athlete and what appears to be a headless sphinx. The findings were presented Tuesday by government officials who described …

NEW BALTIMORE, Mich. – One of two suspects in three southeastern Michigan slayings should have been behind bars at the time of the deaths, a corrections official says. Now the state is investigating why Patrick Alan Selepak was released from prison last month despite a recommendation from his parole officer …

RENO, Nev. – A freshman pitcher for the Nevada Wolf Pack died Tuesday at a Reno hospital after being rushed there the night before with undisclosed injuries, school officials said. Steve Masten, 18, who starred at Spanish Springs High School in Sparks, was reported in critical condition at Washoe Medical …

FARGO, N.D. – Volunteers filled and stacked sandbags Saturday to protect homes in North Dakota and Minnesota from the rising Red River and its tributaries, swollen by a combination of melting snow and heavy rain. Mayor Bruce Furness said Fargo was preparing for a flood crest next week of 37 …

This is a partial transcript from “The O’Reilly Factor,” April 21, 2006, that has been edited for clarity. Watch “The O’Reilly Factor” weeknights at 8 p.m. and 11 p.m. ET and listen to the “Radio Factor!” BILL O’REILLY, HOST: In the “Unresolved Problem” segment tonight, safe sex versus appropriate viewing. …

WASHINGTON – President Bush’s four-point plan offered Tuesday to help get a grip on rising gas prices opened a fount for Democrats who slammed the president and claim that this could be the election issue of the year — one that favors them. “I think the American public on this …

KANDAHAR, Afghanistan – A roadside bomb killed three policemen Friday in eastern Afghanistan, while a suicide attacker wounded three British soldiers and an Afghan national in the country’s south, officials said. Coalition and Afghan forces also killed two insurgents and detained two recruiters of suicide bombers in central Oruzgan province, …