CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) -- Atlantis and four astronauts returned from the International Space Station in triumph Thursday, bringing an end to NASA's 30-year shuttle journey with one last, rousing touchdown that drew cheers and tears.

PARIS (AP) -- Scientists are closing in on a long-sought goal: A blood test to screen people for Alzheimer's disease.

ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) -- Minnesota Gov. Mark Dayton signed a new budget Wednesday, ending the nation's longest state government shutdown in the past decade.

FORT WORTH, Texas (AP) -- American Airlines is buying at least 460 new planes over the next five years in what it calls the biggest airline order in history. And in a victory for Airbus, it's splitting the work between the European plane maker and Boeing.

CHICAGO (AP) -- For millions of people enduring this week's extreme heat and humidity, it feels like they're living in a pressure cooker. And in a sense, they are.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) -- A space shuttle left the International Space Station for the very last time Tuesday, heading home to end the 30-year run of a vessel that kept U.S. astronauts flying to and from orbit longer than any other rocketship.

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Builders broke ground on more single-family homes and apartments in June, helping the battered construction industry gain a little life after a dismal spring.

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Leaders of a bipartisan "Gang of Six" senators said Tuesday that they're nearing agreement on a major plan to cut the deficit by more than $4 trillion over the coming decade in what could be a bold entry into a debate on the deficit long bogged-down by bitter partisanship.

JACKSON, Miss. (AP) -- A police detective testified Monday that a white teenager wasn't at the scene when a black man was killed by a pickup truck in what authorities have said was a hate crime.

CHICAGO (AP) -- Kids may be safest in cars when grandma or grandpa are driving instead of mom or dad, according to study results that even made the researchers do a double-take.