Publisher Harper Collins said Sarah Palin's memoir sold 300,000 copies on its first day, among the best openings ever for a US non-fiction book.
In 2004, Bill Clinton's My Life debuted with sales of 400,000 copies. The year before, Hillary Clinton's Living History started at 200,000.
Teacher's gun ban
The US State of Oregon Court of Appeals rejected a request by a high school English teacher to carry a handgun at school, the latest legal setback for the teacher who says she needs the gun for protection from her former husband.
Shirley Katz argued the Medford School District lacked authority to set a policy banning employees from carrying firearms.
But the appeals court upheld a Jackson County trial judge who ruled the school district could prohibit guns on campus.
Reprieve for elves
North Pole elves have good reason to celebrate again, thanks to a decision by the US Postal Service to resume a Santa Claus letter programme that's thrilled children from around the world for decades. Gabby Gaborik, chief elf among several dozen volunteers, was pleased with the agency's announcement that it's reversing a recent decision to drop a programme begun in 1954 in the small Alaska town of North Pole.
The programme was suspended over privacy concerns.
Rich charges dismissed
A US judge dismissed assault and harassment charges against country music singer John Rich.
Rich and other witnesses testified before Judge John Aaron Holt that he did not punch aspiring singer Jared Ashley at a private nightclub in March 2008.
Ashley, a former contestant on the cable TV music show Nashville Star, claimed Rich later threatened him in a voice mail message. Rich is a member of the duo Big and Rich and had a solo hit earlier this year, Shuttin' Detroit Down.
Fraudsters guilty
Three US men were found guilty of bilking thousands of investors out of more than $80 million.
A federal jury in South Carolina of four men and eight women deliberated for less than four hours before finding Timothy McQueen, Joseph Brunson and Tony Pough guilty of nearly 60 charges each. The charges included conspiracy, mail fraud, and money laundering.
McCain's war plea
US senator John McCain predicted success in the Afghan war effort if President Barack Obama makes a decision quickly to send the reinforcements requested by his top commander there.
The Arizona senator told a news conference at the Halifax International Security Forum that the delay in reaching a decision on Afghan strategy is creating uncertainty within the military as the situation in Afghanistan continues to worsen.
"More and more of our young men and women are either killed or wounded so that lends urgency to the decision-making process," said the former Republican presidential candidate.
Jail for mother
The mother of the man former Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin's daughter Bristol had planned to marry was sentenced to three years in prison.
Sherry Johnston was sentenced in Palmer, northeast of Anchorage, after she pleaded guilty in August to one count of possession with intent to deliver the painkiller Oxycontin. Five other felony counts were dropped in the deal, which called for a five-year prison sentence with two years suspended. The 43-year-old Johnston is the mother of Levi Johnston. He and 18-year-old Bristol Palin were engaged but called off the wedding after their son, Tripp, was born last December.
Hate crime call
Puerto Rico's American Civil Liberties Union wants hate crime charges to be filed against a suspect accused of killing and mutilating a gay teenager.
Local ACLU director William Ramirez said first-degree murder charges aren't enough for the suspect, considering his alleged victim, 19-year-old Jorge Steven Lopez Mercado, was found decapitated and burned.
Gay activists expressed disappointment that suspect Juan Martinez Matos wasn't immediately charged with a hate crime, saying authorities in Puerto Rico have never invoked a law covering crimes based on sexual orientation.