Debbie Elliott

On Monday, Alabama is set to join more than three dozen states with gay marriage. But the state's chief justice tells probate judges they're not bound to follow a federal court's order.

It's been 54 years since students from Friendship College were arrested for a sit-in at McCrory's Five and Dime in Rock Hill, South Carolina. On Wednesday, a Rock Hill judge exonerated them.

The third and final phase of the civil trial against BP opened on Tuesday. The last segment will determine the amount of fines BP will pay in the 2010 oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.

Oil giant BP is back in court this week for the third and final phase of a civil trial over the worst offshore oil disaster in U.S. history. BP faces up to $18 billion in fines for the spill.

Democrat Mary Landrieu is in the last day of a bitter campaign to try to keep her Senate seat. Voters will choose between Landrieu, who has served three terms, and Republican Rep. Bill Cassidy.

The 87-year-old former Democratic governor and convicted felon is in a congressional runoff with Republican Garrett Graves and voters will decide between the two on Saturday.

The Pentagon says reports of sexual assault in the military are up. But some argue that's a sign of progress: more people who've suffered a sexual assault have felt they could report the incident, rather than keep it quiet.

Editor's note: This story contains racial slurs.

A new musical work pays tribute to an unlikely and little-known civil rights activist: Booker T. Wright. You won't find his name in history textbooks. But his story is a testament to the everyday experiences of blacks in the Jim Crow South.

Wright ...

Environmentalists are suing to stop Alabama from using nearly $60 million in BP oil spill recovery funds to build a new hotel on the beach. The project is one of dozens underway across the region.

The Democratic Party's last hope rests with Mary Landrieu, who is locked in a runoff with GOP Rep. Bill Cassidy. She survived rematches in 1996 and again in 2008.

Some of Tuesday's most hotly contested Senate races are in the South. Control of the Senate could hinge on the outcome of races in Arkansas, Louisiana, Georgia and North Carolina.

Forget the contradictory polls and the pundit spin. Look to history as a more reliable guide to what will happen on Election Day.

The battle for control of the Senate is coming down to fewer than a dozen states around the nation, with Republicans hoping that leads in pre-election polls last through Tuesday. One ...

There's nothing like a good ghost story on Halloween — and some of the best tales were told by the late storyteller and NPR commentator Kathryn Tucker Windham.

In Alabama, the GOP is fielding a record number of black candidates this year, including Foster. It's part of a a Republican effort to make inroads with African-Americans in the Deep South.

The senator's opponents are tying her to President Obama's unpopular health care and other policies, while she tries to focus on how she's different. Her race will help decide control of the Senate.

Garment-making once thrived in the South. Two acclaimed designers are trying to bring it back with a field-to-garment concept, creating a clothing line from their own organic cotton grown in Alabama.

Democrats see an opportunity in the South's changing demographics — particularly in states with growing Hispanic communities, lots of unregistered black voters and migration from other states.

The 87-year-old Louisiana Democrat, famous for his charm, his philandering and his shaky ethical standards, is out of federal prison — and making a bid for Congress in a heavily Republican district.

The relics of African-American families help tell the story of America, the Smithsonian says. Museum experts are traveling the country to help identify and care for items of cultural significance.