National: The US has reached a security agreement that could keep troops in Afghanistan until 2024 and send billions of dollars in assistance. About 10,000 to 12,000 American troops would stay in Afghanistan to provide training and counter-terrorism assistance. That …

 National: JP Morgan Chase and the government finalized a record $13 billion settlement over the bank’s sale of junk mortgage securities from 2005 through 2008. This brings the total of fines paid by JP Morgan since 2010 to $18.7 billion. …

National: As many as 500 homes in Washington, Ill. east of Peoria, were damaged and destroyed by Sunday’s tornado.  A 200-unit apartment building was ripped apart. The twister was classified an EF-4 with winds up to 190 mph. A record …

National: More than 77 late-season tornadoes ripped through the Midwest yesterday. Six people are reported dead. The National Weather Service reported that most of the twisters touched down in Illinois, where Coal City and Washington were hit hard. Entire blocks …

China: Nine attackers were killed in western China as they tried to storm a police station in the province of Xinjiang. Two police officers also were killed. The assailants were reported to be armed only with knives and axes. Just …

Healthcare: President Obama promised to veto a House bill that would allow insurance companies to keep selling policies that don’t conform to Obamacare. Thirty-nine Democrats joined the Republicans to passing the bill. Although Obama already asked insurance companies to extend …

Dear Valued Customer: Trying to stop the healthcare meltdown, President Obama announced a one-year extension on individual health policies that don’t meet the standards of Obamacare. “We fumbled the rollout of this health care law,” the President admitted in an …

Health Checkup: Only 106,185 people bought an Obamacare health plan in its first month, according to the government. It’s only about 20% of the target figure for the first month. More disappointing for the administration is that only about 27,000 …

Philippines: The government lowered its estimate of storm dead to about 2,500, down from an original figure of 10,000. About 660,000 people are homeless. Most reports are coming out of the city of Tacloban but there’s little information about conditions …

Philippines: Philippine President Benigno Aquino has declared a “national calamity” as his country digs out from the damage of Typhoon Haiyan. The UN put out a call for $301 million in disaster aid as the risk of hunger and disease …