As word spread that a gunman had opened fire at Fort Hood leaving a trail of carnage, a chilling realization swept across the U.S.

ST. ANDREWS, Scotland - Rifts among the world's top financial officials are threatening to stymie their attempts to secure future global growth and break a deadlock over who bears the cost of fighting climate change.

LOS ANGELES - A space elevator may not be rocket science but it can be just as complicated - and rewarding. After three years without a winner in a NASA-backed competition to develop the science fiction space elevator concept, a team from Seattle on Friday collected $900,000 after its laser-powered robotic machine raced up more than 2,950 feet of cable dangling from a helicopter.

WASHINGTON - Capping months of struggle, House Democrats cleared an abortion-related impasse blocking a vote on sweeping health care legislation late Friday and officials expressed optimism they had lined up the support needed to pass President Barack Obama's top domestic priority.

KABUL - Afghanistan's Foreign Ministry said Saturday that the top U.N. official in the country overstepped his authority by giving instructions on how to rid the government of corruption and warlords.

FORT HOOD, Texas - A chaplain exhorted hundreds of mourners gathered at a candlelight vigil to not give up hope as Fort Hood and its surrounding community looked to each other for comfort after an Army psychiatrist allegedly went on a deadly shooting spree at the military base.

ORLANDO, Fla. - Employees at an engineering firm recognized their former co-worker when he drew a handgun from under his shirt, police said, and shot his first victim dead in the reception area.

LAS VEGAS - A young woman broke into the homes of Hollywood celebrities she admired, including Lindsay Lohan, Paris Hilton and Audrina Patridge, because she wanted to own their designer clothes and jewelry, an informant told police.

KARACHI, Pakistan - Some women strode the catwalk in vicious spiked bracelets and body armor. Others had their heads covered, burqa-style, but with her shoulders - and tattoos - exposed.

NEW YORK - LeBron James celebrated with the Yankees and toyed with the Knicks. No wonder he's bummed about the NBA schedule: only one Garden party this season.

NEW ORLEANS - State investigators raided ACORN offices on Friday, taking away computer hard drives and documents as part of a probe into alleged embezzlement and tax fraud when the organization's national headquarters was based in New Orleans.

GALVESTON, Texas - Two years after the remains of a toddler who came to be known as "Baby Grace" were dumped in Galveston Bay, the child's stepfather was convicted of capital murder in her beating death.

WASHINGTON - He was by turns caring and contentious, a man quick to say "I am blessed" in casual greeting yet one who seemed to stew in discontent that he could not always keep to himself.

Killing or removing 25 California sea lions over the past two years has not reduced the toll on salmon at the base of Bonneville Dam in the Columbia River.

RUSTON, La. - Just when Boise State looked vulnerable, Kellen Moore and the Broncos quickly reminded a national television audience why they've been unbeatable.

FORT HOOD, Texas - As if going off to war, Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan cleaned out his apartment, gave leftover frozen broccoli to one neighbor and called another to thank him for his friendship - common courtesies and routines of the departing soldier.

WASHINGTON - House Democrats have cleared an impasse over abortion that has been holding up a vote on sweeping health care legislation.

LOS ANGELES - A Seattle team has won $900,000 in a competition aimed at developing technology based on the science fiction concept of a space elevator.

WASHINGTON - Short on votes, House Democratic leaders offered fresh concessions Friday night to anti-abortion lawmakers and worked to ease the concerns of Hispanic holdouts as they struggled to round up the support needed to pass sweeping health care legislation.

NEW YORK - Johnny Damon soaked it all in as he shared a float with first-timers Nick Swisher and Jerry Hairston Jr. for the New York Yankees' championship parade through the Canyon of Heroes on Friday.

VALLEJO, Calif. - The California Highway Patrol say a man stole a car to make a court appearance on a previous auto theft charge.

LOS ANGELES - Michael Jackson's father is seeking an allowance from his son's estate to help cover expenses that exceed $15,000 a month, according to court documents filed Friday.

HACKENSACK, N.J. - A jury convicted a Florida man Friday of murdering his former son-in-law, rejecting the man's defense that he was too fat to have run up and down a flight of stairs to commit the crime and make a quick getaway.

BARCELONA, Spain - After two years of tough U.N. climate talks often pitting the world's rich against the poor, negotiators say a new global agreement now rides on industrial nations pledging profound emissions cuts next month in Copenhagen.