In the Nation

ST. LOUIS - A bald, heavyset man who has robbed 21 banks in the eastern and central United States since January 2009 is proving so elusive that the FBI has given him a name - the "Granddad Bandit" - and it announced plans Tuesday to post a digital picture of him on billboards in several states in hopes of catching him.

The man, believed to be 50 to 60 years old, is suspected in 21 bank robberies in 12 states, most recently on May 18 in St. Louis County, the FBI said. It describes him as about 6 feet tall, white, bald, and heavy. He tends to wear nondescript clothing such as a ballcap and polo-type shirt.

Along with Missouri, he is wanted in Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Kansas, Florida, New York, Oklahoma, Texas, Mississippi, Tennessee, and Virginia. The FBI is offering a $10,000 reward for the tip leading to his arrest and conviction, and CrimeStoppers is offering up to $1,000. - AP

BOSTON - A judge Tuesday scheduled an Aug. 10 deportation hearing for a Pakistani man arrested in Massachusetts on an immigration violation during an investigation of the failed Times Square bombing, finding that he has been living illegally in the country since 1991.

Pir Khan, 43, of Watertown, was one of three men arrested last month as authorities followed the money trail in their inquiry about Faisal Shahzad, who is accused of trying to set off the car bomb in New York City on May 1.

On Tuesday, U.S. Immigration Judge Matthew D'Angelo found Khan, a cabdriver, eligible for deportation because he entered the U.S. illegally through Mexico in 1991. Khan's lawyer, Saher Macarius, said that Khan has lived here more than 10 years without any arrests and that his deportation would pose an "extreme and unusual" hardship for an American woman he married in 2008. - AP

LITTLE ROCK - Sen. Blanche Lincoln (D., Ark.), fighting to keep her job, is trying to convince Arkansas voters she heard their frustration with Washington when they sent her into a runoff for the Democratic nomination.

As early voting began Tuesday, Lincoln and her rival, Lt. Gov. Bill Halter, started to make their closing arguments to voters through their final television and radio ads.

Lincoln faces the camera directly in her 30-second TV spot and seems to acknowledge her difficult position in next Tuesday's runoff. She is considered one of the most vulnerable incumbents seeking reelection.

"I know you're angry at Washington. Believe me, I heard you on May 18," Lincoln says, then adds later in the spot, "I'd rather lose this election fighting for what's right than win by turning my back on Arkansas."

Whoever wins the runoff will face Republican Rep. John Boozman on Nov. 2. - AP

A federal judge ordered a school in Schenectady, N.Y., to reinstate a 13-year-old boy who was suspended for wearing rosary beads, pending a hearing into whether the suspension violated his civil rights.