CHICAGO (AP) -- Among the wildflowers and native grasses in the garden atop Chicago's City Hall stand two beehives where more than 100,000 bees come and go in patterns more graceful, but just as busy, as the traffic on the street 11 stories below.

WASHINGTON (AP) -- The debt ceiling battle could produce an unlikely winner: smartphone users.

Strokes have spiked in the U.S. among pregnant women and new mothers, probably because more of them are obese and suffering from high blood pressure and heart disease, researchers report.

WASHINGTON (AP) -- House Speaker John Boehner hastily rewrote his stalled emergency debt-limit bill again Friday, and former conservative foes began climbing aboard. Senate Democratic leader Harry Reid signaled he's ready to push ahead with his own version, and President Barack Obama declared "we're almost out of time" in a wrenching political standoff that has heightened fears of a market-rattling government default.

MIAMI (AP) -- Sonia Rodriguez whipped up milk-and-espresso drinks at the Latin American Grill as talk turned to a new push in Congress to tighten restrictions on travel to Cuba. Like growing numbers of Cuban-Americans, she's worried about the U.S. reinstating strict limits on how often she can visit relatives and even how much money can be sent to loved ones on the island.

HARBOR BEACH, Mich. (AP) -- A New York pilot who crashed into Lake Huron and survived without a life jacket by swimming and treading water for about 17 hours says he was finally rescued Wednesday when he frantically waved a sock to get the attention of people on a boat.

SEATTLE (AP) -- Nine-year-old Rachel Beckwith had hoped to raise $300 to bring clean water to an African village. She was close to that goal when she died after a car crash.

WASHINGTON (AP) -- The number of people seeking unemployment benefits dropped last week to the lowest level since early April, a sign the job market may be healing after a recent slump.

DETROIT (AP) -- Detroit's mayor unveiled a plan Wednesday that could determine what the city looks like as it fights for vitality, announcing that neighborhoods will receive different kinds of services depending on the conditions of homes, how many people live there and the level of blight.