Pulitzer Prize-winning columnist Connie Schultz resigned from The Plain Dealer after writing for the Cleveland newspaper for 18 years. She is married to U.S. Senator Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio), and she has said that she's concerned about conflicts of interest.

New Jersey Governor Chris Christie announced Tuesday that he will not run for the Republican nomination for president in the 2012 election. And South Carolina and Florida have moved up their primaries.

Civil rights leader Rev. Fred Shuttlesworth has died, according to reports. He was 89. In the 1950s, Shuttleworth's activism resulted in beatings and attempts on his life in Birmingham, where he established the Alabama Christian Movement for Human Rights in 1956.

The Birmingham News has put up a slideshow of the civil rights leader, along with some highlights of his life-long struggle against racism and discrimination:

Two weeks after the assassination of a former president, Afghan intelligence officials say they have disrupted a plot to kill the country's current leader.

Afghan officials said Wednesday that they have foiled a plot to assassinate President Hamid Karzai and arrested six people, including one of Karzai's bodyguards.

The bodyguard was recruited by a network of al-Qaida sympathizers at Kabul Medical University that is linked to the Pakistan-based Haqqani militant network, according to Afghan intelligence officials.

Intelligence service spokesman Latifullah Mashal said three college students and a university professor were also among those arrested in Kabul.

Ahmad Al Shayea grew up in Saudi Arabia in a middle-class family and dropped out of high school to join a local gang. Abdullah Al-Gilani fell in love with a girl who eventually married someone else. Zeddy was an old colleague of Osama bin Laden's.

The National Cathedral, closed since sustaining extensive damage from the August earthquake that shook Washington, D.C., and the surrounding area, will reopen on Nov. 12, according to officials.

The cathedral is also trying to raise money to pay for repairs, estimated to run into the tens of millions of dollars. A statement on the landmark's website says organizers are seeking "at least $25 million" to cover its expenses through the end of 2012.

Washington is hosting the Fall Festival of Indian Arts this week, which features poetry, music and a fusion of classical Indian dance with modern dance. Its founder Daniel Phoenix Singh grew up in a poor, fundamentalist Christian family in southern India and didn't see a live Indian dance performance until college. He works in IT during the day. He talks with Michel Martin about his journey into dance and his work bringing Indian dance to the U.S.

Texas Gov. Rick Perry's poll number may be sagging, but his campaign is flush with cash. Perry's campaign says it raised more than $17 million in the third quarter.

Perry entered the Republican presidential primary race in mid August with just 49 days left before the quarterly filing deadline. But in that short time he's shot to the top of the money race.

His $17 million haul likely outdoes front-runner Mitt Romney's efforts over the summer. Meanwhile, Perry's campaign says it's kept spending so low that it has $15 million cash on hand.

When retailer American Apparel put out a call for plus-sized models, Nancy Upton entered the contest as a joke. She submitted photos of herself eating food in posed positions, and even lying in a tub full of ranch dressing. Upton won the contest. But American Apparel announced she would not be awarded the prize. Michel Martin talks with Nancy Upton about her decision to enter the contest, and the reaction from the media, the public and American Apparel.