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WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. - A former cashier for The Home Depot who has been wearing a "One nation under God" button on his work apron for more than a year has been fired, he says because of the religious reference. The company claims that expressing such personal beliefs is simply not allowed.

TORONTO - Two coyotes attacked a promising young musician as she was hiking alone in a national park in eastern Canada, and authorities said she died Wednesday of her injuries.

WEDNESDAY, Oct. 28 (HealthDay News) -- Letting children sleep late on weekends and holidays might help them avoid becoming overweight or obese, a new study suggests.

LONDON (Reuters) - A molecule found in a curry ingredient can kill esophageal cancer cells in the laboratory, suggesting it might be developed as an anti-cancer treatment, scientists said on Wednesday.

WASHINGTON - Trumpeting a victory against careless spending, President Barack Obama on Wednesday signed a defense bill that kills some costly weapons projects and expands war efforts. In a major civil rights change, the law also makes it a federal hate crime to assault people based on sexual orientation.

SAN FRANCISCO - When 5,000 pounds of metal broke off the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge and rained down on traffic during rush hour, the accident resurrected fears about the safety of a span that millions watching the 1989 World Series broadcast learned had failed during an earthquake.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Some of the nation's largest companies pushed back against U.S. Democrats' plans to deliver a government-run insurance option in a healthcare overhaul, decrying it as a step backward that would drive up costs for employers and their workers.

WASHINGTON -- President Barack Obama on Wednesday signed the first major piece of federal gay rights legislation, a milestone that activists compared to the passage of 1960s civil-rights legislation empowering blacks.

In June of 2002, then-14-year-old Elizabeth Smart was abducted from her family's home in Salt Lake City, Utah. In March of 2003 she was found alive, 18 miles away, with presumed kidnappers Brian David Mitchell and Wanda Ileen Barzee. She was returned to her family. In the years that followed, Smart refused to discuss the specifics of her abduction with the press, even though her ordeal captivated the nation. However, in recent weeks she has begun to open up publicly, notably at a women's conference, "Overcoming the Unimaginable," sponsored by California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger.

WATERTOWN, Mass. - It's hard to tell in the quiet of a color-splashed autumn morning, but Redeemer Fellowship Church is trying to set roots in a rough neighborhood. For churches, anyway.

NEW YORK (Reuters Life!) - Being the boss might mean more money and challenging work but it can also take a toll on physical and mental well-being, according to a Canadian study.

WASHINGTON - House Democrats reached agreement Wednesday on key elements of a health care bill that would vastly alter America's medical landscape, requiring virtually universal sign-ups and establishing a new government-run insurance option for millions.

DETROIT - A man described as a leader of a radical Sunni Islam group in the U.S. was fatally shot Wednesday afternoon while resisting arrest and exchanging gunfire with federal agents, authorities said.

PESHAWAR, Pakistan - Suspected militants exploded a car bomb in a market crowded with women and children Wednesday, killing 100 people and turning shops selling wedding dresses, toys and jewelry into a mass of burning debris and bodies.

On Monday, a French court convicted the Church of Scientology on fraud charges stemming from complaints by two women. The judge in the case levied massive fines as punishment, fueling a long-running battle between Scientology and France, which considers the group a "sect" rather than a religion. The legal ruling is the latest in a string of recent setbacks for the star-studded organization. Here's a recap of what's taken place recently:

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Victims of Bernard Madoff's epic fraud have gotten approval to receive $534.25 million of payments, the trustee trying to recover the imprisoned swindler's assets said.

WASHINGTON - Many college graduates are passing up industrial centers and former hotspots in the Southwest, which have been hit hard by the recession, in favor of life in urban, high-tech meccas. Their moves are fueling a resurgence of brainiacs in parts of California, North Carolina and Texas.

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Incidents of violence against women on mainstream U.S. television has increased by 120 percent in the past five years, with the depiction of teen girls as victims rising by some 400 percent, the Parents Television Council said in a report on Wednesday.

KABUL - Terrified U.N. workers scrambled over the roof or leaped from windows to escape choking smoke and gunfire after being awakened at dawn Wednesday when Taliban militants wearing police uniforms stormed a residential hotel packed with foreigners.

MOGADISHU (Reuters) - Somali pirates holding two Britons captive aboard a yacht off the coast of the Horn of Africa nation warned Britain not to try to rescue the couple.

SAN FRANCISCO - The San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge has been closed indefinitely after a rod installed during last month's emergency repairs snapped, causing a traffic nightmare for the 26,000 motorists who cross the landmark span every day.

LOS ANGELES - Michael Jackson may be headed to the top of the charts again — this time at the movie box office.

CARROLL, Iowa - Police had no trouble identifying two men accused of trying to break into a Carroll apartment. Police were responding to a call about an attempted burglary when they pulled over a car matching the alleged suspects' vehicle. Inside the car, officers found two men with their faces blackened with permanent marker. Police said the caller described two men with painted faces attempting to break into an apartment Friday night before driving off.

ALFACAR, Spain - Forensic experts on Wednesday began exhuming a mass unmarked grave that could hold the remains of the acclaimed poet Federico Garcia Lorca, in a milestone in Spain's drive to address the legacy of its 1936-39 civil war.

UNITED NATIONS - Cuba is willing to hold talks with the United States "on any level," Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez said Wednesday in conciliatory remarks aimed at the Obama administration.

WASHINGTON - The Northwest Airlines pilots who overshot their Minneapolis destination by 150 miles have prompted the Obama administration to broaden its look at distracted driving to include distracted flying, Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood said Wednesday.

SINGAPORE (Reuters Life!) - For those who value their freedom of expression as much as health, wealth, and prosperity, then Finland is the place to be, with an index ranking the Nordic nation the best in the world.

NEW YORK - From spunky "Little Miss Sunshine" to an even more heroic young girl.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - NASA's newest rocket successfully completed a brief test flight Wednesday, the first step in a back-to-the-moon program that could yet be shelved by the White House.

UNITED NATIONS (AFP) - US drone strikes against suspected terrorists in Afghanistan and Pakistan could be breaking international laws against summary executions, the UN's top investigator of such crimes said.