U.S. National

ATLANTA - Swine flu has caused at least 19 more children's deaths — the largest one-week increase since the pandemic started in April, health officials said Friday. Full Story »

• Slideshow: H1N1 Virus

SAN DIEGO - Investigators were trying Friday to determine why a Coast Guard airplane on a nighttime search for a missing boater collided with one of four Marine Corps helicopters flying in formation to deliver troops to a training exercise on a military island off Southern California. Full Story »

• Video: Military plane, helicopter collide in midair AP

BRECKENRIDGE, Colo. - Voters in this Rocky Mountain resort town will decide next week whether to legalize pot for all adults at a time when the movement to allow medical marijuana is gaining steam around the country. Full Story »

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. - While residents in some Western and Plains states were digging out Friday after an early blast of snow, heavy rain and strong winds that toppled trees, power lines and church steeples lashed parts of the South, leaving one person dead. Full Story »

UNITED NATIONS - The United Nations demanded to know Friday why it took an hour for Afghan police and NATO troops to respond to a terrorist attack on a guest house filled with U.N. election workers in Kabul. Full Story »

PHILADELPHIA - It's that time of year when even cemetery guards are more easily spooked, on alert for signs of one of the oldest, most ghoulish and most persistent of crimes: grave robberies. Full Story »

LAWRENCEVILLE, Ga. - Authorities in Georgia say two people are believed dead after a small plane hit an Atlanta-area house and burst into flames. Full Story »

WHITE PLAINS, N.Y. - Former New York Police Commissioner Bernard Kerik is displaying worrisome, risky behavior in jail, a federal judge said Friday after speaking with the jail's psychiatric director. Full Story »

• Video: Judge jails NYC ex-police commissioner AP
• Slideshow: Former N.Y. Police Commissioner Bernard Kerik

NEW YORK - A devout Muslim woman told police she slashed her husband's neck with a kitchen knife as he slept because he forced her to eat pork, wear short skirts and drink alcohol in violation of her religious beliefs. Full Story »

PHILADELPHIA - Talks aimed at avoiding a Philadelphia transit strike were to resume Friday evening, just hours before a threatened strike could disrupt bus and subway services during the World Series. Full Story »

INDIANAPOLIS - Two sophomore girls have sued their school district after they were punished for posting sexually suggestive photos on MySpace during their summer vacation. Full Story »

GLOUCESTER, Mass. - Hundreds of fishermen from the Northeast rallied in front of the headquarters of federal fishery managers Friday, demanding changes in the "dysfunctional" management that they say is destroying their industry. Full Story »

PHILADELPHIA - Even in these trying financial times, you're not going to see many going-out-of-business sales like this one. Full Story »