Reuters – Taliban militants attacked Pakistani forces and recaptured a strategic town on Tuesday while two suicide bomb blasts at an Islamic university in the capital killed four people and wounded at least 20, officials said.

AP – An investigation into possible criminal charges for a Colorado couple who told authorities their son floated off in a balloon shaped like a flying saucer has spread to those who worked with them.

AP – U.S. leaders expect Japan’s new government to stick with already-forged agreements between the two nations, America’s top defense official said Tuesday amid debate over whether to shutter a U.S. military air field on Okinawa.

AP – Prosecutors say a scientist who worked on the cutting edge of moon exploration has been caught trying to sell classified secrets to an FBI agent posing as an Israeli intelligence agent.

Reuters – The U.S. Internal Revenue Service is probing more than 100,000 doubtful claims of a tax credit meant for first-time home buyers, the Wall Street Journal reported on its website on Tuesday.

AP – A new Obama administration policy loosening guidelines on federal prosecution of medical marijuana on Monday signaled to users that they had less to fear from federal agents but still left their suppliers to contend with a tangled mesh of state laws and regulations.

HealthDay – MONDAY, Oct. 19 (HealthDay News) — Surfing the Internet just
might be a way to preserve your mental skills as you age.

Reuters – The Philippines began evacuating thousands of people in northern areas prone to floods and landslides on Tuesday ahead of a powerful typhoon that has gained strength over the Pacific, officials said.

AP – A 50-year-old Reno man has been arrested on suspicion of drunken driving for the third time in less than three weeks. Reno Police Sgt. Tom Robinson said the man was stopped Monday afternoon on a U.S. Highway 395 off-ramp on the south end of town after a concerned citizen alerted police about his erratic driving. He said a check of the man’s police record found he had been arrested on the same charge two other times since Oct. 2.

AP – Despite persistently low demand, prices for gasoline have spiked over the past week along with crude oil, threatening one of the very few points of relief for the recession-striken U.S. consumer: Cheap gas.