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Two-thirds of Americans say the country is headed in the wrong direction, according to a survey conducted by polling firm Penn Schoen Berland. Pollster Mark Penn explains that though Americans are losing confidence in the nation, they have retained a sense of personal optimism.

Many towns, counties and cities are canceling fireworks celebrations or banning personal use of fireworks. But the show is set to go on the National Mall in Washington, D.C. Want to get in a patriotic mood? Check the PBS video from 2007.

The government released a slew of documents in the Glaxo settlement that serve as a one-stop guide to sales practices that allegedly ran rampant for years.

The so called "fiscal cliff" could send the U.S. back into recession, the bank said in its annual report.

Illinois' pension gap is estimated at $83 billion — and it costs $12.6 million more every day the state does nothing to address the crisis. The state can't readily come up with the money, and while politicians say they want to help, they're unlikely to act during an election year.

A new album puts a Serbian band's wild, genre-bending flair on full display.

Long associated with urban decay, Oakland, Calif., has experienced a resurgence in recent years with a revitalized downtown. The New York Times listed the city as No. 5 among its top "places to go" in 2012. But its comeback may be threatened by California's state budget tightening.

Headlines and commentators are zeroing in on part of a South Carolina woman's sentence for drunk driving. That misses the eight years in jail she's set to serve and that it was her choice whether to read the book of Job and write a report about it.

Spokesmen for the rebel Free Syrian Army say the war has reached a crucial stage. Defections of government soldiers are increasing and have weakened the Syrian army. The rebels also say more arms are flowing to their side from other Gulf states. Many of those shipments are intended for Islamist factions within the rebel movement. Deborah Amos talks to Robert Siegel.

Public health officials hope OraQuick, which just won the FDA's approval, will help identify some of the nearly quarter-million Americans who are infected with HIV but don't know it. These unknowingly infected people are one reason why there are something like 50,000 new HIV infections a year in the U.S.