In an interview for Wednesday's All Things Considered, Bill Adair, editor of PolitiFact.com and Washington bureau chief for the St. Petersburg Times, will talk about how candidates at Tuesday night's GOP debate rated on PolitiFact's Truth-O-Meter.

"Greek riot police have fired tear gas and fought running battles with protesters, amid a 48-hour general strike that has paralyzed the country," the BBC reports.

It adds that: "Tens of thousands are out on the streets of Athens to protest against the government's austerity measures. Some protesters have been hurling smoke bombs and stones at the police."

The government is not shy about its success deporting people from the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) recently sent out videos of early-morning raids conducted across the country. Uniformed ICE agents are shown planning to capture suspects, followed by shots of the suspects being handcuffed and put into vehicles.

Two more pieces of data to add to the economic mix:

-- Builders started work on 5.7 percent more housing units in September than in August, the Census Bureau and Department of Housing and Urban Development report. The number of "housing starts," 594,000 at an annual rate, were still down 5 percent from August 2010. But, The Associated Press notes, the pace was the fastest in 17 months — "a hopeful sign for the struggling housing market."

"I don't know how to pick this one," NPR's Tom Goldman conceded on Morning Edition today.

But while the outcome may be difficult to predict because both teams can make compelling cases for why they should emerge victorious, Tom said the 2011 World Series between the St. Louis Cardinals and Texas Rangers has some very compelling story lines. The Series is set to begin tonight in St. Louis (game time is 8:05 p.m. ET. Fox-TV is the broadcaster.)

Good morning.

Our early posts today were:

-- GOP Contenders Hold 'Raucous' Debate In Vegas

-- Posse Continues Hunt For Escaped Animals In Ohio

The day's other top headlines include:

The reviews are in about last night's CNN Republican presidential debate in Las Vegas and the consensus seems to be that it was a slugfest in Sin City:

(This post is being updated as the news develops. Hit your "refresh" button to be sure you're seeing our latest additions.)

Armed deputies have found and killed nearly all the animals — including lions, tigers and bears — that escaped from a Zanesville, Ohio, private preserve on Tuesday, the local sheriff told reporters early this afternoon.

Investigators believe the preserve's owner, Terry Thompson, freed the 50-or-so animals and then killed himself. He was found dead at the scene.

In 1985, my friend Johnny suffered a tragic loss in a crime that went unsolved until this year. While reporters tell us that justice has finally brought closure, the story endures, and it raises an unsettling question: What compels us toward tales about violence, about murder?

Perhaps the answer lies in the fact that all artful stories humanize us as surely as they humanize their characters. They allow us to transcend crime-scene voyeurism and courtroom media hype, to bear witness to those who survive, after the book is slid back onto the shelf.