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Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney has promised to take a hard line against China on trade issues. He's not alone. In 2008, then-candidate Barack Obama made a similar threat. But, experts say, there's a big gap between confrontational campaign rhetoric and action.

John Timmons recently closed ear X-tacy, a record store he'd owned for 26 years. "People have priorities, and music is just not a top priority right now. That's what's really taken its toll on us," he says. Now, Timmons has to figure out what to do with the rest of his life.

MF Global is the securities firm run by Wall Street veteran and former New Jersey Gov. Jon Corzine. The firm filed for bankruptcy protection last month after making bad bets on European government bonds. A trustee was appointed to wind down the company.

Lawmakers have spent much of this year struggling to reach a deal that could get budget deficits under control. But the problem has been developing for at least a decade. In 2000, there was a $200 billion surplus.

The supercommittee's failure to reach a budget deal had been predicted for days, even weeks. And now leaders in Washington cannot agree on who is to blame, or what should happen next. President Obama said he would veto any effort to get rid of the automatic spending cuts to domestic and defense spending.

Federal regulators have announced a nationwide review of foreclosures by the country's largest banks. The goal is to reach homeowners who've been treated unfairly, or who lost their house when they shouldn't have. Anyone in any stage of foreclosure during 2009 and 2010 is eligible for the review.

The failure to agree on a way to trim budget deficits will give both major parties plenty of ammunition for next year's campaigns.

A South Carolina prison received two Bibles intended for an inmate. But the Bibles had been hollowed out, and contained razor knives, a cell phone, ecstasy pills and cocaine. The prison returned the package to the sender. Police identified the sener who mailed the Bibles from a post office.

Gross domestic product expanded at a 2 percent annual rate, not the 2.5 percent pace first thought. But some economists see better growth this quarter.

Tuesday's headlines: Large crowd is gathering in Tahrir Square; the U.S. economy grew slightly less than thought in the third quarter; the UC Davis chancellor gave students an emotional apology.