A man who Los Angeles police believe raped and murdered dozens of women decades ago has been arrested by cold case investigators after a computer matched his DNA to evidence from two killings in the 1970s. John Floyd Thomas Jr., 72, may have begun his killings as far back as 1955 and he could be one of the worst serial killers in U.S. history, according to the Los Angeles police chief.

Actors call it "backstory."

Supreme Court Justice David Souter is retiring after more than 18 years on the nation's highest court, a source close to Souter told CNN. Souter will leave after the current court term recesses in June, the source said. Filling Souter's seat would be President Obama's first Supreme Court appointment -- and the first since George W. Bush's picks of Samuel Alito in 2006 and Chief Justice John Roberts in 2005.

Redmond O'Neal, son of actors Ryan O'Neal and Farrah Fawcett, will get another chance to kick his drug addiction before facing more jail time.

The CDC today confirmed 109 cases of swine flu in 11 states. Confirmed cases of swine flu worldwide increased to 236, the World Health Organization reported. An official who traveled to Mexico City to support President Obama's delegation developed flu-like symptoms, the White House said today. It's not yet known if the official has swine flu.

Teams in southern Japan are searching for an award-winning U.S. poet and college professor who failed to return from a hike to a volcano, his university said Thursday.

The more often Americans go to church, the more likely they are to support the torture of suspected terrorists, according to a new analysis.

Ali al-Marri, the only formerly designated "enemy combatant" on U.S. soil, has pleaded guilty to a charge of conspiracy to provide material support to al Qaeda, the Justice Department said Thursday.

Richard Phillips, the cargo-ship captain whose capture by pirates triggered a dramatic U.S. Navy rescue off the coast of Africa, called on the federal government Thursday to provide military escorts for international shipping vessels.

The disease most people in the United States and worldwide know as "swine flu" is actually a combination of human and animal strains and has not been shown to be transmissible through eating pork. The nation's hog farmers and producers say the misnomer is hurting them. And in an already suffering market, the negative news is something the industry says could have been prevented.