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Harry Houdini famously tried to escape from being buried alive — and famously failed. Recently, escape artist Antony Britton tried to do what Houdini couldn't. He describes the view from down under.

U.S. stock benchmarks took another big hit Monday, in the first day of trading since America's credit was downgraded by Standard and Poor's rating agency late Friday. The Dow Jones Industrial index closed below the 11,000 mark for the first time since late 2010, ending the day at 10,811.

In a new film based on John le Carre's Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy, the veteran actor reinvents an iconic character — and finds a darker George Smiley than the one Alec Guinness created for British TV.

The economy added 195,000 jobs in June, a surprise and a delight to both economists and Wall Street, even though the unemployment rate was stuck at 7.6 percent. NPR's Sonari Glinton reports that the economic recovery continues at a slow but steady pace.

Roughly 6 in 10 college-bound high school students who took the SAT in 2013 performed poorly. The sponsor of the test wants to work with schools to help students do better, but some say the group is really concerned with trying to keep the test relevant.

The Biden administration's COVID booster plan for the general population is supposed to start soon, but the FDA still wants to review its safety — and whether kids under 12 should be vaccinated.

According to a new government report, allegations of wrongdoing by military recruiters rose from 4,400 cases in 2004 to 6,600 cases in 2005 -- and numbers are likely worse than reported. Violations range from falsifying documents to telling a recruit not to reveal a legal or medical problem that could bar enlistment. The rise in recruiter problems could reflect pressure to meet wartime recruiting goals.

Lawmakers are trying to answer how Congress could function if a catastrophe incapacitated members. A 2017 shooting at a GOP baseball practice, the pandemic and Jan. 6 have made the issue more urgent.

Ministries raise millions of dollars with little oversight. One Senate lawmaker wonders whether the lavish lifestyles of the ministers violate the churches' tax-exempt status. Six megachurches have been asked to respond by Dec. 6 to questions about their spending.

A vocal pro-democracy website in Hong Kong shut down Wednesday after police raided its office and arrested six in a continuing crackdown on dissent.