President-elect Barack Obama could restore the United States' image in the international community, experts say. Obama represents a "clean break" from the past, and his election is the first big step toward change, said Dick Martin, author of "Rebuilding Brand America."

CEOs of the Big Three auto companies were criticized by members of Congress for flying private jets to Washington to request taxpayer bailout money. "It's almost like seeing a guy show up at the soup kitchen in high hat and tuxedo," one lawmaker said.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid reversed plans Wednesday to hold a test vote on an automakers' bailout bill on Thursday. Reid had planned to move on legislation that would have taken $25 billion from the $700 billion already approved for Wall Street and diverted it to the big three automakers.

Right now in the state of Nebraska, the governor is literally begging people not to bring their teenage children there to dump them, so that the state then has to care for them. But it's happening. It's happening a lot.

An 8-year-old suspected of killing his father and another man will be allowed to leave a juvenile jail for 48 hours to spend Thanksgiving with his mother, a judge ruled. Police said the boy confessed to shooting the men, and a tape of the interrogation was released. Legal analysts who spoke with CNN said the questioning was improper and that any incriminating statements shouldn't stand up in court.

Russia will send additional ships to the Horn of Africa in an effort to crack down on the recent wave of hijackings by Somalia-based pirates, its navy chief said Thursday.

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Brand new runways are opening at three major airports Thursday, giving the aviation community something to cheer about in a year of dismal economic and travel news.

Hosted by CNN's Anderson Cooper from the Kodak Theatre in Hollywood, "CNN Heroes: An All-Star Tribute" will honor the Top 10 CNN Heroes of 2008, as selected by our Blue Ribbon Panel.