Herman Cain, Mitt Romney lead new Iowa Poll  —  DES MOINES, Iowa - Herman Cain and Mitt Romney top The Des Moines Register's new Iowa Poll, with the retired pizza executive edging the former Massachusetts governor 23 percent to 22 percent in the race for the Republican presidential nomination.

The debt fallout: How Social Security went ‘cash negative’ earlier than expected  —  View Photo Gallery —  Since the entitlement program's inception in 1935, many changes to Social Security have been enacted or attempted.  Here's a look at some memorable moments in Social Security's history.

Zuccotti perv  —  Wall Street protesters in Zuccotti Park battened down the hatches yesterday as the early October snow turned their tents into igloos, but the close quarters also made easy pickings for one predator.  —  A sex fiend barged into a woman's tent and sexually assaulted her at around 6 a.m. …

Scientist who said climate change sceptics had been proved wrong accused of hiding truth by colleague  —  It was hailed as the scientific study that ended the global warming debate once and for all - the research that, in the words of its director, ‘proved you should not be a sceptic, at least not any longer’.

Occupy Denver protesters, law enforcement officers clash; 20 arrested  —  In the most violent Saturday in more than a month of Occupy Denver demonstrations and marches, Denver police fired mace and pepper balls at a crowd of protesters in Civic Center today and arrested 20 people.

Did You Hear the One About the Bankers?  —  CITIGROUP is lucky that Muammar el-Qaddafi was killed when he was.  The Libyan leader's death diverted attention from a lethal article involving Citigroup that deserved more attention because it helps to explain why many average Americans …

Obama: Pelosi was ‘one of the best’ Speakers, will be back in 2013  —  President Obama on Saturday said Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) was a great House Speaker and that she will get that job back after the 2012 elections.  —  “I am biased, but I think Nancy was one of the best Speakers …

More Than Two Million Lose Power as Snow Coats Region  —  October, said the calendar.  Before Halloween.  And the 2.5 million trees occupying New York City's open spaces confirmed it was fall — not winter — with glorious canopies of leaves stretching along their boughs.  —  Yet snow was falling.

Axelrod says new White House economic initiatives will ‘make a difference’  —  President Obama's senior campaign strategist David Axelrod on Sunday defended the suite of initiatives Obama rolled out last week against allegation that they're too modest to help people struggling in the ailing economy.

Assad: challenge Syria at your peril  —  Syria's president, Bashar al-Assad, has warned that Western action against his country would cause an “earthquake” that would “burn the whole region”.  —  President Assad admitted that ‘many mistakes’ had been made by his forces in the early part of the uprising …