ALBANY, N.Y. — Steve Panetta smoked for 34 years, the last 10 at a three-pack-a-day clip. He watched his father die from lung cancer and his stepfather struggle with emphysema. He tried quitting...
CHARDON, Ohio — The Ohio teenager accused of killing three students in a shooting rampage in a high school cafeteria chose his victims at random and is “someone who’s not well,”...
SAN ANTONIO — Clearing the way for the twice-delayed Texas primaries to finally land in May, a federal court on Tuesday handed the state new voting maps for the 2012 elections that satisfied Republicans...
CAIRO — All three judges on Tuesday pulled out of Egypt's trial of 43 pro-democracy workers, including 16 Americans, according to a court official, throwing into question the case that has ripped...
LONDON — Authorities dismantled Occupy London's camp outside the famous St. Paul's Cathedral in a dramatic early hours raid Tuesday, clearing away one of the longest-surviving encampments.
The...
ATHENS, Greece — Greece's Parliament late on Tuesday approved new cuts in public sector pensions and government spending required to secure a second package of international rescue loans.
Lawmakers...
GUANTANAMO BAY NAVAL BASE, Cuba — Some prisoners at Guantanamo Bay will soon have a new, larger soccer field to help keep them occupied during their indefinite detention.
The U.S. military has nearly...
PARIS — Interpol said Tuesday that 25 suspected members of the loose-knit Anonymous hacker movement have been arrested in a sweep across Europe and South America.
The international police agency...
TRAVERSE CITY, Mich. — The U.S. Supreme Court refused Monday to order emergency measures that might prevent Asian carp from reaching the Great Lakes, despite a warning that the exotic fish pose a...
CAIRO — Egyptian security officials say they have thwarted an attempt by a British man and his wife to smuggle 19 artifacts out of the country.
Police say the couple were stopped in Luxor International...
RABAT, Morocco — Syrians in the military and business who still support President Bashar Assad should turn against him, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said Sunday.
“The longer...
NEW ORLEANS — On the cusp of trial over the catastrophic 2010 oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, phalanxes of lawyers, executives and public officials have spent the waning days in settlement talks....
KABUL, Afghanistan — Demonstrators hurled grenades at a U.S. base in northern Afghanistan, and a gun battle left two Afghans dead and seven NATO troops injured Sunday in the escalating crisis over...
JERUSALEM — Israeli defense officials on Sunday confirmed $1.6 billion in deals to sell drones as well as anti-aircraft and missile defense systems to Azerbaijan, bringing sophisticated Israeli technology...
WASHINGTON — Democrats are playing defense in governors’ races in 2012, protecting eight seats — some in conservative states like North Carolina and Montana — while Republicans...
BEIRUT — Medics stitch wounds with thread used for clothing. Hungry residents risk Syrian government sniper fire or shelling to hunt for dwindling supplies of bread and canned food on the streets...
BAGHDAD — Bombs and deadly shootings relentlessly pounded Iraqis on Thursday, killing at least 55 people and wounding more than 225 in a widespread wave of violence the government called a “frantic...
ST. LOUIS — Sometimes the men emerge from out-of-town police cruisers that stop at homeless shelters and then quickly drive off. Others turn up still wearing gowns from suburban hospitals.
Surrounding...
CARACAS, Venezuela — President Hugo Chavez has never been one to share decision-making authority. Now, the voluble socialist strongman and acerbic critic of the U.S. may have no choice but to designate...
PHILADELPHIA — A group of protesters affiliated with the Occupy Wall Street movement plans to elect 876 “delegates” from around the country and hold a national “general assembly”...
Editor's Note: This story is the latest installment in a joint initiative by The Associated Press and Associated Press Media Editors on the fiscal crisis facing U.S. states and cities, how governments...
BUENOS AIRES, Argentina — A train packed with morning commuters slammed into a downtown station on Wednesday, killing 49 people and injuring hundreds as passenger cars crumpled and windows exploded...
KABUL, Afghanistan — The U.S. apologized Tuesday for the burning of Muslim holy books that had been pulled from the shelves of a detention center library adjoining a major base in eastern Afghanistan...
NEW YORK — It came and went in a flash, a number on a board for seconds at a time, but its symbolic power couldn’t be dismissed.
The Dow Jones industrial average, powered higher all year by...
PITTSFIELD TOWNSHIP, Mich. — Police say an unloaded gun has been found inside a piano that was donated to a southeast Michigan nursing home years ago.
AnnArbor.com reports that staff at Whitehall...
NEW YORK — New York City’s mayor is facing off with Yale University over efforts by the NYPD to monitor Muslim student groups.
The Associated Press revealed Saturday that NYPD officers had...
LONDON — Status update: You’re sued.
Legal authorities said Tuesday that a High Court judge in England has approved the use of Facebook to serve legal claims.
Lawyers in a commercial dispute...
WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court will once again confront the issue of race in university admissions in a case brought by a white student denied a spot at the flagship campus of the University of Texas.
The...
SEOUL, South Korea — South Korea conducted live-fire military drills near its disputed sea boundary with North Korea on Monday despite Pyongyang’s threat to respond with a “merciless”...
MOSCOW (AP) — It was an Ice Age squirrel’s treasure chamber, a burrow containing fruit and seeds that had been stuck in the Siberian permafrost for over 30,000 years. From the fruit tissues,...
MOSCOW (AP) — Russia needs to modernize its military arsenals to deter others from grabbing its resources, Russia’s Prime Minister Vladimir Putin said in an article published Monday.
Putin,...
STEUBENVILLE, Ohio — Philosophical differences between the top two Republican presidential candidates are becoming starker.
Rick Santorum is driving harder on religious and social issues while Mitt...
BEIRUT — Syrian tanks and troops massed Monday outside the resistance stronghold of Homs for a possible ground assault that one activist warned could unleash a new round of fierce and bloody urban...
TUCSON, Ariz. — A federal judge will allow prosecutors to see most of a prison psychologist's personal notes pertaining to the suspect in the Tucson shooting that wounded then-U.S. Rep. Gabrielle...
MADRID — Hundreds of thousands of protesters were marching throughout Spain on Sunday in the first large-scale show of anger over new labor reforms that make it easier for companies to fire workers...
CIUDAD JUAREZ, Mexico (AP) — President Felipe Calderon on Thursday unveiled a “No More Weapons!” billboard made with crushed firearms and placed near the U.S. border. He urged the United...
CAIRO — Egypt said Sunday it was withdrawing its ambassador to Syria, the latest Arab country to scale back its relations with the embattled regime in Damascus.
The 11-month-old Syrian uprising...
NEW YORK — Gary Carter was nicknamed “Kid” for good reason.
His smile, bubbly personality and eagerness to excel on a ballfield made him a joy to watch at the plate and behind it.
Even...
TRENTON, N.J. — Gov. Chris Christie will take no action Thursday night on a gay marriage bill OK’d by the New Jersey Assembly.
The Assembly passed the bill allowing same-sex nuptials by a...
BEIJING — Authorities have seized iPads from more Chinese retailers in an escalating trademark dispute between Apple Inc. and a struggling local company that could disrupt global sales of the popular...
BEIRUT — U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon accused the Syrian regime of committing “almost certain” crimes against humanity Thursday as activists reported fresh violence and the arrest...
COMAYAGUA, Honduras — Six guards, 800-plus prisoners in 10 cellblocks, one set of keys. The numbers added up to disaster when fire tore through a prison and 355 people died, many yet to even be charged...
BRUSSELS — Cisco says it is challenging Microsoft’s $8.5 billion takeover of Skype at the EU’s top court to ensure Microsoft won’t block other video conferencing services.
In a...
Tony Parker had 34 points and 14 assists, and the San Antonio Spurs extended their season-best winning streak to nine games with a 113-106 victory over the Toronto Raptors on Wednesday night.
Danny Green...
Jeremy Lin put aside his record-setting scoring to hand out a career-best 13 assists, and the New York Knicks got back to .500 with their seventh straight victory, 100-85 over the Sacramento Kings on Wednesday...
BRUSSELS — Cisco says it is challenging Microsoft’s $8.5 billion takeover of Skype at the EU’s top court to ensure Microsoft won’t block other video conferencing services.
In a...
WASHINGTON — Republican presidential hopeful Newt Gingrich is refusing to ask the Justice Department to release thousands of records from the House Ethics Committee’s investigation into his...
PHOENIX — A teacher’s role may be to expand a student’s vocabulary, but one Arizona lawmaker wants to make sure that doesn’t include four-letter words.
A state legislator has introduced...
SARAJEVO, Bosnia-Herzegovina — Angelina Jolie on Tuesday premiered her film “In the Land of Blood and Honey” in Bosnia, where the fictional tale of a romance between a Bosnian Serb man...
TEHRAN, Iran — In defiant swipes at its foes, Iran said Wednesday it is dramatically closer to mastering the production of nuclear fuel even as the U.S. weighs tougher pressures and Tehran’s...
DES MOINES, Iowa — The last time China’s soon-to-be leader visited Iowa, he slept in a bedroom with green shag carpeting and Star Trek character cutouts on the walls. He ate eggs with a spoon...
BOGOTA, Colombia — Rev. Rafael Reatiga asked his parishioners to pray for him and gave the choirmaster a list of songs for his funeral just before he was found shot to death together with another...
WASHINGTON — The Obama administration is weighing options for sharp new cuts to the U.S. nuclear force, including a reduction of up to 80 percent in the number of deployed weapons, The Associated...
CAIRO — Stoking tensions with Washington, an Egyptian Cabinet minister has accused the United States of directly funding nonprofit groups to create chaos in the country following last year’s...
WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama is sending Congress a new budget that seeks to achieve $4 trillion in deficit reduction over the next decade through cuts in government spending and higher taxes on...
NEW DELHI — Israel blamed Iran on Monday for bomb attacks on its diplomats’ cars in India and Georgia, heightening concerns that the Jewish state was moving closer to striking its archenemy.
Iran...
OLYMPIA, Wash. — Gov. Chris Gregoire handed gay rights advocates a major victory Monday, signing into law a measure that legalizes same-sex marriage in Washington state, making it the seventh in...
GUATEMALA CITY — Guatemala’s president said Monday that the U.S. inability to deal with its drug consumption problem is leaving Central America with no option but to consider legalizing drugs.
President...
RESTELICA, Kosovo — Rescuers have pulled a 5-year-old girl alive from the rubble of a house flattened by a massive avalanche that killed both her parents and at least seven of her relatives in a...
ATHENS, Greece — Greek lawmakers on Monday approved harsh new austerity measures demanded by bailout creditors to save the debt-crippled nation from bankruptcy, after rioters in central Athens torched...
BEIRUT — Between blasts of rockets and mortar fire, Syrians used loudspeakers to call for blood donations and medical supplies Thursday in the stricken city of Homs, where a weeklong government offensive...
GUADALAJARA, Mexico — The historic seizure of 15 tons of pure methamphetamine in western Mexico, equal to half of all meth seizures worldwide in 2009, feeds growing speculation that the country could...
MADRID — The superstar Spanish judge who won global fame for aggressively taking on international human rights cases was convicted Thursday of overstepping his jurisdiction in a domestic corruption...
LUBBOCK — The smallest cattle herd since the 1950s likely will mean higher beef prices at the supermarket for the next two years.
Experts said beef prices could climb as much as 10 percent a year...
WASHINGTON — A landmark $25 billion settlement with the nation’s top mortgage lenders was hailed by government officials Thursday as long-overdue relief for victims of foreclosure abuses. But...
HOUSTON — The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals ruled Wednesday an accused killer’s MySpace pages were properly used as evidence by prosecutors to help convince a jury to convict the Dallas-area...
DAYTON, Ohio (AP) — An Ohio building constructed around the first Wright brothers’ bicycle shop has been declared a public nuisance and may eventually be demolished, despite a resident’s...
MOSCOW — After more than two decades of drilling in Antarctica, Russian scientists have reached a gigantic freshwater lake hidden under miles of ice for some 20 million years — a pristine body...
WASHINGTON — Resurgent Rick Santorum said his sweep of three GOP contests earned his shoestring campaign $250,000 overnight, cash he needs to take his upstart bid for the Republican presidential...
JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. — A Missouri teenager who confessed to murdering a young neighbor girl faces the possibility of life in prison when she’s sentenced Wednesday morning.
Alyssa Bustamante,...
CAIRO — Egypt refused to back down Wednesday in a dispute with the U.S. over Cairo’s crackdown on nonprofit groups despite Washington’s threats to cut aid, while the military deployed...
BEIRUT — Days after blocking a U.S.-backed peace plan at the U.N., senior Russian officials pushed for reforms Tuesday during an emergency meeting with Syrian President Bashar Assad, promoting a...
SAN FRANCISCO — Same-sex marriage moved one step closer to the Supreme Court on Tuesday when a federal appeals court ruled California’s ban unconstitutional, saying it serves no purpose other...
ROME — A top American cardinal on Monday defended Pope Benedict’s handling of sexual abuse cases by clergy, saying he should be praised not criticized, as advocates for abuse victims demanded...
LANSING, Mich. — Criticism of a Senate campaign ad featuring a young Asian woman talking in broken English about China taking away American jobs grew Monday as some warned it could revive discrimination...
SEATTLE — Money donated by the nation’s most charitable people is starting to catch up with pre-recession giving, thanks in part to some very large bequests from a few donors.
The Chronicle...
PORTLAND, Maine — A tent city in Maine that is among the longest-lived of the Occupy movement is being dismantled as part of a new round of evictions.
Demonstrators removed several communal tents...
BUCHAREST, Romania — Romania’s government collapsed Monday following weeks of protests against austerity measures, the latest debt-stricken government in Europe to fall in the face of raising...
AMALLAH, West Bank (AP) — After months of wavering, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas took a decisive step Monday toward reconciliation with the Islamic militant group Hamas, a move Israel promptly...
TEHRAN, Iran — Iranian authorities have arrested several people over alleged links to the British Broadcasting Corporation’s Farsi-language service, Iran’s semiofficial Mehr news agency...
LONDON (AP) — Markets were in a cautious mood on Monday as talks dragged on between Greek political leaders over a fresh austerity package that is required if the debt-ridden country is to get a...
BEIRUT — The U.S. closed its embassy in Syria and Britain recalled its ambassador to Damascus on Monday in a new Western push to get President Bashar Assad to leave power and halt the murderous grind...
ATHENS, Greece (AP) — Greece’s coalition government on Monday caved in to demands to cut civil service jobs, announcing 15,000 positions would go this year, amid mounting international pressure...
NEW DELHI — Google India has reportedly removed content deemed offensive to Indian political and religious leaders to comply with a court case that has raised censorship fears in the world’s...
OSLO, Norway — The right-wing extremist who has admitted killing 77 people in Norway’s worst peacetime massacre told a court Monday that he deserves a medal of honor for the bloodshed and demanded...
Tony Parker appreciates San Antonio coach Gregg Popovich’s conservation plan.
During this condensed NBA season, Parker said Popovich is rarely allowing anyone to play more than 40 minutes,...
DENVER — Long skeptical of Mitt Romney, tea party activists are either warming up to the GOP presidential front-runner or reluctantly backing him after abandoning hope of finding a nominee they like...
LONDON — Trading jokes and swapping leads, investigators from the FBI and Scotland Yard spent the conference call strategizing about how to bring down the hacking collective known as Anonymous. Unfortunately...
LAS VEGAS — Now it’s on to Colorado, Minnesota and Maine.
With back-to-back victories fueling him, Republican presidential front-runner Mitt Romney is looking toward the next states that hold...
INDIANAPOLIS — Take that, Brady. You too, Peyton.
Eli Manning is the big man in the NFL after one-upping Tom Brady and leading the New York Giants to a 21-17 victory over the New England Patriots...
NEW YORK — A protest against embattled Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh outside a luxury hotel in New York got heated Sunday when demonstrators saw him leave the building, with one charging toward...
BEIRUT — The United States proposed an international coalition to support Syria’s opposition Sunday after Russia and China blocked a U.N. attempt to end nearly 11 months of bloodshed, raising...
MEXICO CITY (AP) — A couple from Texas who moved to a remote and violence-plagued area of northern Mexico to run a Baptist church were found slain at their ransacked home, their children said.
John...
HOUSTON — The rain that started trickling into Texas in the fall may finally be making a dent in Dallas, but the rest of the state is still a long way off from being out of a historic drought, and...
MEXICO CITY (AP) — A couple from Texas who moved to a remote and violence-plagued area of northern Mexico to run a Baptist church were found slain at their ransacked home, their children said.
John...
CHICAGO — An Illinois Supreme Court ruling that gave one inmate new hope for freedom Thursday also could revive appeals by more than a dozen others who claim they confessed to crimes under torture...
ERZLIYA, Israel — Capping a day of strident warnings by Israeli officials about the dangers posed by Iran, Defense Minister Ehud Barak said Thursday that the world is increasingly ready to consider...
HOUSTON — Jailed Texas financier R. Allen Stanford’s extreme measures to hide his Caribbean bank’s fraud included entering into a blood oath with a top regulator, the man who was in charge...
NEW YORK — With the Super Bowl days away, federal authorities announced a crackdown Thursday on websites that stream unauthorized broadcasts of sports events just hours after New England quarterback...
BEIRUT — Thirty years ago Thursday, Syria’s regime launched a withering assault on the rebellious city of Hama, leveling entire neighborhoods and killing thousands in one of the most notorious...
