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It took over five years for Nathaniel Rich to finish his first novel — maybe because he was writing The Mayor's Tongue secretly, first as a college student, and then while writing film criticism during the day.

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Industrial production edged up 0.1 percent in February, beating expectations and marking the eighth straight monthly increase. The manufacturing sector — for months a rare bright spot in the economy — fell 0.2 percent amid winter storms but is expected to rebound in March.

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President Obama's stem cell policy, announced a year ago this month, opened up federal funding for more stem cell lines created from human embryos. But now, scientists are facing a bitter irony — a few popular stem cell lines that could be studied with federal money under President Bush are suddenly off-limits.

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Now, finally, the voting is set to begin on federal health legislation that leading Democrats claim could pass the House as soon as this coming weekend.

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At least eight people died in storm-related accidents over the weekend. Utility crews were making headway in restoring power. The storm, which carried wind gusts of up to 70 mph.

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The 34-year-old midfielder tore his left Achilles' tendon while playing for AC Milan — an injury that may cause him to miss soccer's premier tournament and most if not all of the Los Angeles Galaxy's season — and flew to Finland for surgery.

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Tens of thousands of red-shirted protesters vowed to continue their push to oust the government, threatening to pour more than 2,000 pints of blood drawn from their ranks at Government House, the seat of government, if their renewed dissolution demand is rejected.

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Authorities suspect members of a gang of hit men allied with the Juarez drug cartel separately ambushed two cars carrying families with ties to the U.S. consulate in this violent border city, killing an American couple and a Mexican man.

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The government says it cannot explain a reported incident of sudden, high-speed acceleration in a Toyota Prius on a San Diego, Calif., freeway last week. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration says in a statement that it continues to investigate but may never know exactly what happened with the car.

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Kansas, Kentucky, Syracuse and Duke have earned the No. 1 seeds for the men's NCAA basketball tournament. The Jayhawks were selected as the top seed overall for this year's version of March Madness. The 65-team bracket was announced Sunday and the tourney gets under way Tuesday night.

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The Obama administration wants to completely change the No Child Left Behind Act. Officials are sending Congress a plan Monday that they say will give states and local school districts more flexibility to revitalize primary and secondary schools. A draft released over the weekend would eliminate many of the law's most controversial features, including its name.

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Bad behavior in childhood is associated with chronic pain in adult life, according to the findings of a study following people from birth in 1958 to the present day. In the study, children with severe behavior disturbances had approximately double the risk of chronic widespread pain by the time they reached the age of 45 than children who did not have behavior problems.

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Scientists have gained new insight into how the brain develops. It turns out, relatively short-term hearing deprivation during childhood can lead to persistent changes in the way the brain understands sound, long after hearing is restored to normal.

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The Federal Communications Commission says the plan, set to be unveiled Tuesday, will help make Internet access faster, cheaper and more pervasive. But some critics are already calling it a missed opportunity.

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In the throes of a vicious drug war, Mexico's border city of Juarez — with its endless wave of kidnappings and executions — has become one of the most violent places on earth. The city is shouldering unfathomable sorrow, and its mothers are the most public face of that suffering.

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Researchers set up an experiment to see how prices influence what kinds of food moms buy. They found that lowering the prices on fruits and vegetables did lead to moms buying more. But it didn't stop them from buying junk food, too.

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The number of long-term unemployed women ages 45 to 64 has more than doubled in the past year. As many as 900,000 women in this age group have been without work for at least six months.

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Kristy Stumpf, the HR director for a software firm, works from home two days a week — and greets her daughters at the bus stop after school. It's not just parents pushing for flexible work hours these days; millennials and aging boomers are also helping persuade employers to rethink what it means to be on the clock.

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The actor was best known for his portrayal of Jim Phelps, leader of a gang of special agents who battled evil conspirators in the long-running television series. He also masterfully lampooned his straight-arrow image as bumbling airline pilot Clarence Oveur in the 1980 disaster spoof Airplane!. He was 83.

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For those who think working 9 to 5 is all takin' and no givin' (as Dolly Parton once sang), there are options for a more flexible work arrangement. Don't know your flextime from your job sharing? Here's a quick primer.

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