| CNN.com delivers up-to-the-minute news and information on the latest top stories, weather, entertainment, politics and more. | Deal avoids shutdown showdown | | Congressional leaders agreed on a six-month bill to fund the federal government, preventing the political spectacle that would go with a showdown before the election. |
| Syrian rebels hold prisoners in school | | In what has been one of the hottest summers many Syrians can remember, the classrooms of an elementary school in the north of the country are packed full -- not with schoolchildren, but with pro-government prisoners captured by rebels. |
| Syrian rebels hold prisoners in school | | | In one classroom, at least 40 men sat in front of the teacher's chalkboard. But it appears humiliation isn't the only punishment meted out to pro-government fighters since their capture by rebel forces. |
| Penn State loses star tailback to USC | | Silas Redd, who last year racked up five consecutive 100-yard games as tailback for Penn State's Nittany Lions, is leaving the troubled team to head west. |
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