National News From ABCnews.com

• Controlled blasts to bring down cranes at collapse site
  Authorities in New Orleans say plans are being made to place explosives on two unstable construction cranes in hopes of bringing them down with a series of small controlled blasts ahead of approaching tropical weather
• The Latest: Storm moving northeast across Gulf of Mexico
  Forecasters say a disturbance in the southwestern Gulf of Mexico will soon become a tropical or subtropical storm that is headed for the northern U.S. Gulf Coast
• Chicago teachers strike in nation's 3rd largest district
  Striking teachers went on strike after their union and city officials failed to reach a contract deal in the nation's third-largest school district
• Hurricane Center: Tropical storm likely along Gulf Coast
  Forecasters say a disturbance in the southwestern Gulf of Mexico is likely to become a tropical or subtropical storm that will hit the northern Gulf Coast
• The Latest: Chicago teacher strike to continue into Friday
  More than 300,000 Chicago students will miss another day of classes as contract talks between striking teachers and the school district remain at an impasse.
• Man heard in strangling video charged in 2nd death in Alaska
  Authorities in Alaska say a man accused in the strangling of an Alaska woman seen on a digital memory card has been charged with another death
• Suburban Houston man shot dead during break-in at his home
  Investigators say a 29-year-old man has been shot dead by intruders who broke into his suburban Houston home
• Texas prosecutor tosses charges in 1992 teen double slaying
  A Texas man who was sentenced to life in prison for killing two teens in 1992 is a free man after a prosecutor dismissed the charges
• UN: September deadliest for civilians in Yemen but new hope
  U.N. officials say September was the deadliest month for civilians in war-torn Yemen this year, though violence has lessened recently and there are signs of hope
• Chicago's top cop found lying in car; requests investigation
  Chicago Police Superintendent Eddie Johnson says he has asked the department to conduct an internal investigation on himself after he was found lying down in a car
• Chicago principal who watched boy's forced ejection retires
  A Chicago elementary school principal who looked on as a security guard physically forced a fourth-grader out of the building on a cold day has retired
• Venezuela wins seat on UN rights body despite opposition
  Venezuela has won a contested election for a seat on the U.N. Human Rights Council despite a campaign by organizations and countries opposed to Nicolas Maduro's government and its rights record
• NYC poised to close notorious Rikers jail complex by 2026
  New York City lawmakers have voted to close the notorious Rikers Island jail complex, which has become synonymous with violence and neglect, and replace it with four smaller jails intended to be more modern and humane
• Woman who livestreamed fatal crash arrested again
  A California woman recently released on parole after serving a sentence for driving drunk while livestreaming a crash that killed her younger sister has been arrested after crashing a car during a police pursuit
• Kansas says backlog of untested rape kits nearly eliminated
  Kansas officials say law enforcement agencies have nearly eliminated a backlog of 2,200 sexual assault kits that had gone untested after the evidence had been collected from victims