Brianne Leckness stares into the camera, a crooked smile on her face. A young girl with bows in her hair seemingly ready to tackle the world. But then you learn more about the life of the girl photographed by Peter Feldstein in 1984. "My mom left me at a church when I was 3," Leckness says. "She pinned a note to my shirt that said, " 'Please take care of her.' " Brianne's story is one of 100 captured in a new book called "The Oxford Project."

Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke predicted that the global financial markets crisis is likely to restrain the economy well into next year and signaled that the Fed may be getting ready to cut interest rates.

Stock declines accelerated Tuesday afternoon as investor enthusiasm about the Fed's plan to unfreeze credit markets faded amid ongoing fears about the financial markets and the economy.

The Emergency Economic Stabilization Act contains plenty to make lawmakers on the left and right shudder. On the right, it's the apparent abandonment of free-market principles. On the left, it's the absence of punishment for high-flying Wall Street CEO's.

With just four weeks left until Election Day, Barack Obama and John McCain are preparing to face off in Tuesday night's high-stakes presidential debate. The debate comes amid stepped-up attacks from both sides, setting the stage for a potentially more electrifying exchange than in the first presidential debate.

By now you've probably heard about how ugly things have gotten out there on the campaign trail in the last 48 hours.

U.S. military officials disputed Iranian media reports on Tuesday that Iranian fighter jets intercepted a U.S. military plane after it violated Iranian airspace.

Tropical Storm Marco made landfall Tuesday on Mexico's Gulf Coast a day after forming in the Bay of Campeche, the National Hurricane Center said.

An U.S. spacecraft was scheduled to beam hundreds of photos of Mercury back to Earth on Tuesday after a close encounter with the planet closest to the sun.

Margaret Haddican, a volunteer firefighter, Army veteran and mother of three, vanished from her New Jersey home, leaving her 5-month-old daughter alone in her crib. Haddican sometimes walked out on her husband during arguments but never would have left the baby behind, her parents say. Her disappearance reaches the two-year mark this week. CNN.com and Nancy Grace are working together to bring fresh eyes to cold cases.