SALT LAKE CITY — Google will take over a troubled municipal fiber-optic system and make Provo, Utah, the third city to get its high-speed Internet service via fiber-optic cables, the company announced...

LAGOS, Nigeria — Nigeria formed a panel that will create an amnesty program for Islamic extremists to try to quell a bloody guerrilla campaign of bombings and shootings that’s killed hundreds...

WACO — American Red Cross crews from across Texas are being sent to the site of an explosion at a fertilizer plant near Waco where multiple injuries have been reported. Red Cross spokeswoman Anita...

LONDON — Police in northern England say thieves have stolen a gold Nobel Peace Prize awarded in the 1930s. Northumbria Police say burglars broke into the cellar of the Newcastle Lord Mayor’s...

JOHANNESBURG — South Africa’s government says Nelson Mandela “continues to make steady improvement” as he spends a seventh day in a hospital being treated for a recurring lung infection...

HELENA, Mont. — Montana’s chief federal judge will retire following an investigation into an email he forwarded that included a racist joke involving President Barack Obama. U.S. District...

CAIRO — Egypt’s Islamist government is “strongly committed” to freedom of expression, a presidential spokesman insisted Wednesday, distancing the administration from legal proceedings...

NEW YORK — Stocks are opening April on a weak note, ending slightly lower after an industry group reported that U.S. manufacturing growth cooled in March. The Dow Jones industrial average fell...

CHICAGO — Mexican drug cartels whose operatives once rarely ventured beyond the U.S. border are dispatching some of their most trusted agents to live and work deep inside the United States —...

UNITED NATIONS — The U.N. General Assembly is expected to vote on what would be the first U.N. treaty regulating the multibillion-dollar international arms trade after Iran, North Korea and Syria...

GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip — Gaza’s Hamas-controlled parliament has passed a law requiring separate classes for boys and girls in public and private schools from the fourth grade. Currently,...

TEHRAN, Iran — An Iranian confectioner has made five tons of ice cream in hopes of setting a new record. The production drew hundreds of spectators to taste the chocolate ice cream, which measured...

BERLIN — For nearly 30 years, the Berlin Wall was the hated symbol of the division of Europe, a gray, concrete mass that snaked through neighborhoods, separating families and friends. On Wednesday,...

TOKYO — Concrete rubble litters streets lined with shuttered shops and dark windows. A collapsed roof juts from the ground. A ship sits stranded on a stretch of dirt flattened when the tsunami roared...

SALT LAKE CITY — A group of at least six beavers at a Utah bird refuge have emerged as key players in helping contain a fuel leak that left half of them with severe burns. The Chevron fuel spill...

PHOENIX — Faced with an outcry from advocacy groups, an Arizona lawmaker has changed his proposed legislation that would have made it a crime for a transgendered person to use a bathroom other than...

PHOENIX — Faced with an outcry from advocacy groups, an Arizona lawmaker has changed his proposed legislation that would have made it a crime for a transgendered person to use a bathroom other than...

SEATTLE — Residents of a hillside overlooking scenic Puget Sound heard the thunder of a large landslide early Wednesday that knocked one home off its foundation, and isolated or threatened more than...

CANBERRA, Australia — Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard delivered a historic national apology in Parliament on Thursday to the thousands of unwed mothers who were forced by government policies...

KHARTOUM, Sudan — Sudan’s president said he intends to step down in 2015 after more than 20 years in power. In an interview published in several Sudanese dailies on Wednesday, Omar al-Bashir...

JERUSALEM — President Barack Obama said Wednesday that the United States is investigating whether chemical weapons have been deployed in Syria, but he’s “deeply skeptical” of claims...

LONDON — Prosecutors said Monday two men accused of plotting to rob and kill soul singer Joss Stone planned to decapitate her, then dump her body in a river. The suspects, Junior Bradshaw...

HASTINGS, Mich. — A burglar expressing guilt about stealing $800 from a western Michigan store three decades ago has repaid the money, plus some interest. The writer admitted breaking into the...

WASHINGTON — Hillary Rodham Clinton’s embrace of gay marriage Monday signals she may be seriously weighing a 2016 presidential run and trying to avoid the type of late-to-the-party caution...

Update A Travis County jury sentenced Zamora to two years in state prison Thursday, according to the Austin American-Statesman Original Story AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — A former University...

DETROIT — A lesbian couple’s desire to adopt each other’s children has grown into a potentially groundbreaking challenge to Michigan’s ban on same-sex marriage. Two Detroit-area...

CHICAGO — A 50-state study says those with the most gun laws have the fewest gun-related deaths. The research doesn’t prove that the number of laws makes a difference. And some experts say...

BISMARCK, N.D. — Managers at dozens of small airports have expressed outrage at federal officials for hauling new full-body scanners away from their facilities and sending them to large hubs that...

WASHINGTON — If your public tour of the White House has now been canceled, House Speaker John Boehner says come visit the Capitol instead. Boehner says tours of that building will continue, despite...

AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — A $6.6 billion emergency spending bill to mostly cover unpaid Medicaid costs is closer to landing on Gov. Rick Perry's desk. The Senate on Tuesday passed the measure after...

CIUDAD JUAREZ, Mexico — Gunmen shot dead an online journalist while he ate at a taco stand in the Mexican town of Ojinaga, which lies across the border from Presidio, authorities said Monday. Jaime...

ATLANTA — Basketball hall of famer Michael Jordan asked a Georgia court on Monday to dismiss a paternity suit against him, calling it a “shameless, bad faith attempt to abuse the legal system.” Jordan’s...

VATICAN CITY — Cardinals said Monday they want to talk to Vatican managers about allegations of corruption and cronyism within the top levels of the Catholic Church before they elect the next pope,...

PHILADELPHIA — Three women were chosen as jurors on Monday for the trial of a Philadelphia abortion provider charged with killing a patient and seven babies allegedly born alive. Dr. Kermit Gosnell,...

AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — National Instruments Corp. plans to spend $80 million to expand its Texas research and development complex and create about 1,000 technical and engineering jobs. Austin-based...

“Hello world from comms center in (hash)Pyongyang.” That Twitter missive, sent Monday from Koryolink’s main service center in downtown Pyongyang using my iPhone, marked a milestone...

“Hello world from comms center in (hash)Pyongyang.” That Twitter missive, sent Monday from Koryolink’s main service center in downtown Pyongyang using my iPhone, marked a milestone...

LONDON — Truth and alcohol may not mix, particularly when people are asked how much they drink. That’s the implication of a study released Wednesday that reveals a big gap between the booze...

FORT WORTH — For a time in Cold War America, Van Cliburn had all the trappings of a rock star: sold-out concerts, adoring, out-of-control fans and a name recognized worldwide.  And he...

BAGHDAD — Iraq’s Transportation Ministry says the country’s airline will resume commercial flights to Kuwait for the first time since Saddam Hussein’s forces invaded the Gulf nation...

WASHINGTON — Internet users who illegally share music, movies or television shows online could soon receive warning notices from the nation’s five major Internet service providers. The Copyright...

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — “Star Trek” fans, rejoice. An online vote to name Pluto’s two newest, itty-bitty moons is over. And No. 1 is Vulcan, a name suggested by actor William...

VATICAN CITY — In a season of startling change for the Catholic Church, the latest break with tradition was as unexpected as it was a wake-up call to the 115 men who will elect the next pope. Britain’s...

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — A homeless Kansas City man will soon have well over $100,000 after returning an engagement ring to a woman who accidentally dropped it in his cup earlier this month. “I...

WASHINGTON — High-tech leaders including the former heads of AOL and Mozilla are organizing a “virtual march for immigration reform” aimed at pressuring lawmakers to enact sweeping changes...

DOYLESTOWN, Pa. — Sixth-grader Caroline Pla is fighting the archdiocese for the right to keep playing church-sponsored youth football. While at least a few U.S. dioceses let girls play football,...

AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — A Senate education panel spent hours Tuesday maligning the state's standardized testing system, even questioning whether it's appropriate to ask youngsters across sun-kissed...

AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — Texas alcohol regulators are preparing for spring break by using undercover youths to check at least 600 retailers for possible illegal sales to minors. The Texas Alcoholic...

BRUSSELS — EU finance ministers, condemning the Feb. 12 nuclear test by North Korea, have imposed trade and economic sanctions on the Asian nation. A statement by the 27 European Union finance...

COLOMBO, Sri Lanka — Sri Lanka’s navy says it has rescued 32 Myanmar nationals whose wooden vessel began sinking while making a perilous journey to Australia. A navy statement says the rescue...

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti — U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder discussed regional crime with Caribbean leaders on Monday during a summit in Haiti. Holder talked with the leaders of mostly English-speaking...

PARIS — A French father demanding visiting rights with his son climbed down Monday from his protest perch atop a crane, but said it will be a long time before divorced dads are seen as credible single...

ABU DHABI, United Arab Emirates — A defense official in the United Arab Emirates says the Gulf nation has signed $1.4 billion in military contracts that include purchases of U.S.-made drones. The...

EASTON, Pa. (AP) — Talk about grade inflation. Graduate student Megan Thode wasn't happy about the C-plus she received for one class, saying the mediocre grade kept her from getting her desired...

AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — Texas Democrats want immigration back in the conversation at the Capitol as the White House and Congress propose new paths to citizenship for an estimated...