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NEW YORK (AP) -- Thick mud, menacing currents and bone-chilling temperatures stymied investigators Friday as they scoured the Hudson River for the two missing engines from a US Airways jetliner that crash-landed in the water after colliding with birds. The investigation ran into a series of obstacles one day after the pilot ditched the plane carrying 155 people. The collision apparently caused both of the engines to fail, forcing the aircraft to go down just a few hundred yards from the...

WASHINGTON (AP) -- President-elect Barack Obama is preparing to prohibit the use of waterboarding and harsh interrogation techniques by ordering the CIA to follow military rules for questioning prisoners, according to two U.S. officials familiar with drafts of the plans. Still under debate is whether to include a loophole that would allow exceptions in extraordinary cases....

BEDFORD HEIGHTS, Ohio (AP) -- President-elect Barack Obama made a pitch for his massive economic stimulus plan at a Midwestern factory that manufactures wind turbine parts, saying Friday his proposal would make smart investments in the country's future and create solid jobs in up-and-coming industries....

GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip (AP) -- Israel said it was approaching the "endgame" of its three-week offensive against Gaza's Hamas rulers and scheduled a Security Cabinet vote Saturday on a truce proposed by Egypt. Under the cease-fire plan, fighting would stop immediately for 10 days, but Israeli forces would initially remain in Gaza and the border crossings into the territory would remain closed until security arrangements are made to ensure Hamas militants do not rearm....

WASHINGTON (AP) -- The latest national food safety investigation took on new urgency Friday as federal officials confirmed salmonella contamination at a Georgia facility that ships peanut products to 85 food companies. On Capitol Hill, the House Energy and Commerce Committee requested records as it opened its own inquiry....

ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) -- The Florida mother charged in the killing of her toddler daughter described herself as a victim when talking to her parents during a jailhouse visit last August. Casey Anthony, 22, told her parents she was just as much a victim as anyone else in the case during the recorded visit at the Orange County Jail in Orlando. Copies of the visit were released this week....

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (AP) -- Miserable, lung-burning, face-numbing temperatures are one thing in the Midwest and Northeast. But the Deep South? Temperatures plummeted Friday across the Midwest and eastern U.S., and delivered a stinging slap to Southerners unaccustomed to the frigid weather. Schools were closed in a dozen states and homeless shelters were overcrowded. Those that did venture outside bundled up and made quick trips....

LOS ANGELES (AP) -- Johnny Knoxville jokes that he was worried airport security brought out a bomb-sniffing dog because he was carrying one of his movies. It was a prop grenade, not "Daltry Calhoun" or "Walking Tall," that caused the concern and could lead to a misdemeanor charge....

BOYNTON BEACH, Fla. (AP) -- Police said an elderly woman in Palm Beach County crashed into a man on a scooter and then kept driving to make her hair appointment. Boynton Beach police spokeswoman Stephanie Slater said a 77-year-old woman was arrested Thursday for leaving the scene of an injury crash....

TAMPA, Fla. (AP) -- The Tampa Bay Buccaneers fired coach Jon Gruden and general manager Bruce Allen on Friday after the team collapsed following a 9-3 start and failed to make the playoffs. Gruden, who helped lead the Buccaneers to a victory over the Oakland Raiders in the 2003 Super Bowl, was Tampa Bay's coach for seven years. Allen was general manager for the last five seasons....