Following steep sell-offs around the globe, stocks recover from an opening plunge that pushed the Dow average below 8,000 for the first time in five years. The Dow closes down 128 points, a relatively mild drop after the blue chips fell 2,271 during the eight previous trading days.
Also: Check Your Portfolio | People Respond to Crisis | Decoding the Lingo

A divided Connecticut Supreme Court rules that the state must recognize same-sex marriages. The ruling makes Connecticut the third state in the country, after California and Massachusetts, to recognize such unions.
Also: Read the Connecticut Supreme Court's Decision

With polls pointing to an increasing edge for Democrat Barack Obama, emotions run high at rallies for Republican presidential hopeful John McCain. Some in the crowd lash out at Obama with angry shouts of "terrorist" and "get him." And party stalwarts say McCain hasn't gone after Obama hard enough.

This year's Nobel Peace Prize goes to Finland's ex-president Martti Ahtisaari, who receives the award for his efforts "on several continents and over more than three decades, to resolve international conflicts."

Talk about single parenting -- DNA tests confirm that a shark at the Virginia Aquarium & Marine Science Center became pregnant without the help of a male partner, according to a study in the Journal of Fish Biology.