NEW YORK

Elizabeth Smart, who was kidnapped at age 14 and held by a Salt Lake City preacher for nine months in 2002 and 2003, has joined ABC News as a paid contributor.

They're getting there. That, in a few words, perhaps best characterizes the state of the nation's debt ceiling talks. President Barack Obama said Thursday Congressional Democrats and Republicans are making progress toward deficit reduction and raising the debt ceiling, but big gaps remain.

Queens Democratic leaders on Thursday announced their nomination of State Assemblyman David I. Weprin to fill Anthony D. Weiner's position.

The New York Knicks will search the free agent market when the lockout ends.

Mets ownership will need to walk a tightrope in the next few weeks, as the team teeters on contending for a wild card berth and payroll continues to loom large for the financially strapped franchise.

Casey Anthony could possibly taste freedom in late July or early August. Will her freedom lead to heaven or hell? The life ahead of Casey Anthony is surrounded by countless speculations.

President Barack Obama has shifted his strategy in debt talks with Republicans, offering a substantially larger deficit reduction package that would include cuts to Medicare and Social Security in exchange for eliminating tax breaks.

The British public is demanding justice after popular tabloid magazine News of the World was found hacking the cell phones of the dead.

Medicaid helps improve physical and financial stability for low-income Americans, according to a study released by the National Bureau of Economic Research.

The companies whose shares are moving in pre-market trade on Thursday are: Target Corp, Limited Brands, Urban Outfitters, Macy's, Gap, Sprint Nextel, Chesapeake Energy, Corning, Yum! Brands and Wellpoint Inc.

There are some procedural delays to the rapper's release from prison

Egyptians are protesting military trials this week, with the largest protest slated to erupt Friday.

New York City's Department of Parks and Recreation is attempting to answer that question this summer, as it conducts a weathering study of Cleopatra's Needle, which was gifted to the United States government by Egypt as a token to commemorate the opening of the Suez Canal. The obelisk has stood in Central Park since 1881, the New York Times reported.

According to the National Retail Federation, certain mainstays in the technology industry experienced the largest growth among all retailers in 2010.

Former New York governor Eliot Spitzer's run as the host of a political show on CNN lasted only nine months, as the cable network eliminated the In the Arena program from its evening lineup.

The fashion industry's most famous celebrities, including Karl Lagerfeld and Giorgio Armani, showcased their talent at the ongoing during Haute Couture Fall-Winter 2011/2012 fashion show in Paris this week.

A federal appeals court initiated an order Wednesday blocking the don't ask, don't tell policy in the military today. The 9th U.S. Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals said that the process of repealing the policy is well underway, and the preponderance of the armed forces are expected to have been trained by mid-summer on new procedures.

Former New York Gov. Eliot Spitzer's prime-time talk show was cancelled by CNN on Wednesday, with plans to replace it with Anderson Cooper 360 effective August 8.

CNN cancels Eliot Spitzer's prime time program. Former New York governor never developed a large following on air.

A towering plant known as the Giant Hogweed that can cause blindness, skin irritation, and permanent scarring is proliferating in New York state, prompting a warning from the state's Department of Environmental Conservation.

It's highly unlikely that New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo will replace U.S. Vice President Joe Biden on the 2012 Democratic Party presidential ticket, but sometimes is U.S. presidential politics, the unexpected occurs.