Mark Memmott

Good morning.

We'll have to make this roundup short and sweet so that we can get back to following the day's hottest breaking news:

-- Reports: Gadhafi Stronghold Has Fallen; His Status Uncertain.

Our other headlines so far today:

-- In Ohio: All Animals Accounted For, Sheriff Says.

After a harrowing night and day spent hunting escaped bears, lions, tigers and other dangerous animals, authorities in Muskingum County, Ohio, believe they have killed, captured or otherwise accounted for 56 animals that were freed Tuesday from a private reserve by a man who it's believed then killed himself.

Eight times a year the Federal Reserve releases "beige book" reports about how the economy is doing. Named for the traditional color of their covers and based on reports from the central bank's 12 districts, they're largely anecdotal and full of generalizations about what businesses leaders and others are saying about current conditions.

"The United States will hold a fresh round of talks with North Korea on its nuclear weapons program next week and appoint a new full-time envoy as its seeks to deepen its engagement with the reclusive regime," U.S. officials and a Washington-based foreign diplomat tell The Associated Press.

High winds, heavy rain and waves of up to 25 feet are forecast for later today along Chicago's shore with Lake Michigan.

In the aftermath of IndyCar driver Dan Wheldon's death Saturday at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, there's been a passionate discussion going on in the racing world about whether it was just too risky to have open-wheel-style cars on an oval track with banked turns designed for NASCAR races.

"Greek riot police have fired tear gas and fought running battles with protesters, amid a 48-hour general strike that has paralyzed the country," the BBC reports.

It adds that: "Tens of thousands are out on the streets of Athens to protest against the government's austerity measures. Some protesters have been hurling smoke bombs and stones at the police."

Two more pieces of data to add to the economic mix:

-- Builders started work on 5.7 percent more housing units in September than in August, the Census Bureau and Department of Housing and Urban Development report. The number of "housing starts," 594,000 at an annual rate, were still down 5 percent from August 2010. But, The Associated Press notes, the pace was the fastest in 17 months — "a hopeful sign for the struggling housing market."

"I don't know how to pick this one," NPR's Tom Goldman conceded on Morning Edition today.

But while the outcome may be difficult to predict because both teams can make compelling cases for why they should emerge victorious, Tom said the 2011 World Series between the St. Louis Cardinals and Texas Rangers has some very compelling story lines. The Series is set to begin tonight in St. Louis (game time is 8:05 p.m. ET. Fox-TV is the broadcaster.)

Good morning.

Our early posts today were:

-- GOP Contenders Hold 'Raucous' Debate In Vegas

-- Posse Continues Hunt For Escaped Animals In Ohio

The day's other top headlines include:

The reviews are in about last night's CNN Republican presidential debate in Las Vegas and the consensus seems to be that it was a slugfest in Sin City:

(This post is being updated as the news develops. Hit your "refresh" button to be sure you're seeing our latest additions.)

Armed deputies have found and killed nearly all the animals — including lions, tigers and bears — that escaped from a Zanesville, Ohio, private preserve on Tuesday, the local sheriff told reporters early this afternoon.

Investigators believe the preserve's owner, Terry Thompson, freed the 50-or-so animals and then killed himself. He was found dead at the scene.

"The Marine Corps is ending its controversial ban on bracelets honoring U.S. troops killed in combat," Marine Corps Times is reporting.

As we've seen before this year, when a "haboob" rolls over a city the results can be awesome — and not in a good way if you're caught in it.

Monday afternoon in Lubbock, Texas, a massive dust storm turned day into night in less than a minute. Check this video from local TV station KLBK and The Associated Press (which loops once).

Bank of America's report of a $6.2 billion profit in the third quarter, as we said earlier, has many analysts pointing out that it was mostly due to one-time accounting changes and asset sales. Still, BofA's stock is up slightly at this hour.

Tipping the board over and telling mom that "he's cheating!" wasn't an option, so:

Though the number is huge — $6.2 billion — this morning's third-quarter profit news from Bank of America is generating a lot of "yeah, but" analyses.

As in:

There was a 0.8 percent increase in wholesale prices from August to September, the Bureau of Labor Statistics just reported.

Much of the gain was due to higher costs for fuel and food. Without those two volatile sectors, prices went up 0.2 percent.

Good morning.

Our earlier headlines on breaking news were:

-- Israeli Soldier Released, Exchange Of Prisoners Begins.

-- Secretary Clinton Is In Libya To Unveil New Aid, Hail Country's Freedom.

And we also posted on this odd report:

"A truck filled with President Obama's podiums and audio equipment," including a teleprompter from which he reads prepared remarks and the presidential seal he stands behind, was stolen from a hotel parking lot in Henrico, Va., on Monday, local WWBT-TV reports.

The vehicle was discovered a short time later outside another local hotel. The TV station says it isn't yet known whether everything inside was recovered.

Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton is in Tripoli today and while in Libya will both congratulate the Libyan people on their freedom from Moammar Gadhafi and announce several new types of aid headed their way from the U.S., NPR's Jackie Northam reports.

A "dazed ... thin and pale" Gilad Shalit is home in Israel today after more than five years as a prisoner of Hamas, while Palestinians are joyously celebrating in Ramallah as Israeli authorities begin releasing some of the hundreds of prisoners who are being set free in exchange for the Israeli soldier's release.

Last week, Research in Motion apologized for the service outages that swept around the world last week, leaving millions of its BlackBerry users unable to send or receive messages.

As flames engulfed a Roxbury, Mass., apartment house early this morning, Judith Lamb desperately held her young grandson out a window. She was shielding him fire and smoke.

That's when Boston Fire Department Lt. Glenn McGillivray "reached his arms out," the Boston Globe reports.

This morning's announcement from Anadarko Petroleum Corp. that it is paying BP $4 billion "to settle all of BP's current and future claims" against it related to the April 2010 Gulf oil spill, "ends a long dispute between BP, which operated the well in the gulf, and Anadarko, which owned a 25 percent stake, about accepting responsibility for compensating those affected by on

Good morning.

Our early headlines were:

-- Drivers Had Safety Concerns Before Race That Took Indy Champ's Life

-- American Woman Stricken At South Pole Is Now In New Zealand