The number of people applying for unemployment benefits barely rose last week, offering some hope that the job market may be improving. But claims need to fall further to bring down the 9.6 percent unemployment rate.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Ratcheting up U.S. combat power in Afghanistan, the Pentagon is sending Abrams tanks into the battle against insurgents at a time when the U.S. and European publics are anxious to see progress in the 9-year-old war.

CHICAGO (AP) — Illinois and Northwestern agreed Friday to run every offensive play toward the same end zone in their showdown at Wrigley Field this weekend to avoid the possibility of players running into a padded brick wall at the other end of the field.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The head of the Transportation Security Administration says the close-quarter body inspections causing a furor among some passengers and pilots are unavoidable in a time of terrorist threats.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Rep. Charles Rangel of New York is pleading for "fairness and mercy" from a House ethics committee that will recommend punishment for his ethical wrongdoing.

Ambushed in Afghanistan, Staff Sgt. Salvatore Giunta stepped into a "wall of bullets" and chased down two Taliban fighters who were carrying his mortally wounded friend away. Three years after that act of battlefield bravery, Giunta on Tuesday became the first living service member from the Afghanistan and Iraq wars to receive the nation's top military award, the Medal of Honor.

Lloyd Jones, an African-American, is the first child to be diagnosed with a rare cancer called "Hyper Eosiniphilic Syndrome." Jones' best chance at survival is finding a matching bone marrow donor, but his race may hinder his search for a cure.

WASHINGTON (AP) — A House ethics panel has found Democratic Rep. Charles Rangel of New York guilty on 11 counts of breaking House rules.

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — Ohio State University evacuated four buildings, including the main library, Tuesday morning because of bomb threats e-mailed to the FBI. An initial search turned up nothing out of the ordinary, officials said.

WASHINGTON — The White House and Republican lawmakers set the terms for a looming tax debate yesterday, coalescing around a possible temporary extension of existing income tax rates that would protect middle-class and wealthy Americans from sharp tax increases next year.