!!-- pobj:TNNAT101-1006082129 -->GOP presidential nominee John McCain has past connections to a private group that supplied aid to guerrillas seeking to overthrow the leftist government of Nicaragua in the Iran-Contra...

For years, Massachusetts was known derisively as "Taxachusetts." But voters could help shed that label in November by completely eliminating the state's income tax in a single stroke. If approved, the ballot initiative...

Sarah Palin's promise for a new era of government openness as the reform governor of Alaska started to crack even before Sen. John McCain's presidential campaign built a wall of protectiveness around her. Palin was...

Nearly two decades later, John McCain is still haunted by his role in the Keating Five scandal. His role in the 1980s banking scandal is featured in a new Barack Obama attack video. McCain's presidential campaign...

Tuesday night's presidential debate offers Republican John McCain one of his last best chances to stop Democrat Barack Obama's recent surge in the race and turn it in his favor. The debate's town hall format is...

The government is weighing a bold plan to buy massive amounts of unsecured short-term debts in a dramatic effort to break through a credit clog that is imperiling the economy. The Federal Reserve is working with the...

Even when he thought no one was listening but his old friend Bill Allen, Sen. Ted Stevens repeatedly proclaimed his innocence in an Alaskan corruption investigation in between lectures on staying healthy and keeping out...

A National Transportation Safety Board investigative hearing on a fatal January bus crash in Texas will focus on commercial passenger vehicles that do not comply with federal safety standards. The NTSB hearing on the...

The government's rescue of American International Group Inc. last month is getting a critical eye from lawmakers examining the chain of events that forced a $700 billion bailout of the financial industry. Three former...

Tropical Storm Marco was closing in on Mexico's coast early Tuesday and threatened to hit with near-hurricane strength winds later in the day. Marco was a small tropical storm with winds extending out only up to 15...

Riot police using tear gas clashed Tuesday with several thousand protesters who barricaded Parliament while trying to block Thailand's new prime minister from delivering his first policy speech to lawmakers. Scores of...

Recent winners of the Nobel Prize in physics, and their research, according to the Nobel Foundation: _ 2007: France's Albert Fert and Germany's Peter Gruenberg for work on the discovery of giant magnetoresistance. _...

Scientists who have pursued dark matter, hunted for undiscovered planets and advanced nanotechnology were being touted Monday as candidates for the 2008 Nobel Prize in physics. But the prize being announced on Tuesday...

Police are pursuing DNA tests to identify the suicide bomber who wounded a lawmaker and killed 16 people in eastern Pakistan, an official said Tuesday. The attack on the politician's home in the Bhakkar area in Punjab...

An armed man in a jealous rage took 42 hostages in a Guatemala City call center on Monday and released them unharmed and turned himself to police after a five-hour standoff, police said. National Police spokesman...

Like any farmer, Iowa Agriculture Secretary Bill Northey is eager to put the pains _ and the rains _ of 2008 behind him. By any measure, Northey said, it has been a trying year for Iowa farmers _ record rain fall,...

Asian markets showed signs of life Tuesday as investors cheered a big interest rate cut by the Australian central bank aimed at alleviating the unfolding global credit crisis that has battered global markets. A late...

Oil prices rebounded to above $90 Tuesday in Asia after plunging to an 8-month low the previous day on concerns a significant slowdown in global economic growth will undermine demand for crude. "Prices have moved so...

Japan's central bank left its key interest rate unchanged Tuesday amid heightened anxiety that the U.S. credit crisis was quickly spreading from Wall Street to Europe and beyond. In a widely expected decision, the Bank...

Australia's central bank cut its official interest rate by a bigger-than-expected 1 percentage point Tuesday to ease credit concerns amid a global financial turmoil, cheering investors around the region and lifting...

R. Kelly has won a $3.4 million award against his former tour promoter and is asking a Los Angeles judge to help him collect. R. Kelly Touring, which represents the singer, filed court documents on Monday seeking a...

Misty May-Treanor is too hurt to keep dancing. The 31-year-old "Dancing with the Stars" contestant and Olympic gold medalist volleyball player appeared at the conclusion of Monday's show on crutches and with a cast on...

Larry Doyle, a former TV writer-producer for "The Simpsons," was named the winner Monday of this year's Thurber Prize for American Humor. He was cited for the novel "I Love You, Beth Cooper." "Clearly Larry Doyle was...

Veteran Washington hand Ian Cameron was appointed Monday as the producer in charge of ABC's Sunday political talk show "This Week with George Stephanopoulos." Cameron has been the Washington senior producer for ABC's...

Sherry Jones' "The Jewel of Medina" reached bookstores Monday amid fears that the book about the Prophet Muhammad's child bride might lead to violence and threats. But the author said she had received no threats and was...

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (BP)--My family and I recently attended a church we had never visited before, and we pulled into the parking lot eager to worship in a new place and to interact with new people.At the door, we were...

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (BP)--The "main reason" for the National Youth Workers Conference "was to answer a need that Southern Baptist youth workers had been making known to us," said Paul Turner, national student ministry...

HOUSTON (BP)--It has been good to get back into the routine of campus life at Houston Baptist University, said Martha Morrow, HBU assistant vice president for communications. Students have completed two weeks of classes...

BOLIVAR, Mo. (BP)--In 1988, a baby named Swapna was born without arms or legs in India, a country where women with disabilities have little control over their lives. She was not given much hope to live.That same year, a...

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (BP)--In its second week at the box office, "Fireproof" topped $12 million in total receipts and stayed among the top five movies in average theater revenue.Fireproof averaged $4,776 in 852 theaters,...

Using a fan to circulate air seemed to lower the risk of sudden infant death syndrome in a study of nearly 500 babies, researchers reported Monday. Placing babies on their backs to sleep is the best advice for...

Most people over 75 should stop getting routine colon cancer tests, according to a government health task force that also rejected the latest X-ray screening technology. The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force _ in a...

One in 75 patients who gets a knee or hip replaced must get it replaced again within three years, new research finds, although the studies underscore a question: Just how much pounding can a new joint take if you want...

Warning: young children should not keep hedgehogs as pets _ or hamsters, baby chicks, lizards and turtles, for that matter _ because of risks for disease. That's according to the nation's leading pediatricians' group...

More children have died from flu because they also had staph infections, according to a new government report that urges parents to have their kids get the flu shot. The number of deaths wasn't high _ 73 during the...

Advanced Micro Devices Inc. will announce Tuesday it is spinning off its manufacturing operations as part of a sweeping plan to cut cuts, The Wall Street Journal reported. Sunnyvale-based AMD said it will make a...

The federal government will designate "critical habitat" for polar bears off Alaska's coast, a decision that could add restrictions to future offshore petroleum exploration or drilling. Federal law prohibits agencies...

More than 370 penguins that mysteriously washed up on Brazil's equatorial beaches were flown south on a huge air force cargo plane and released closer to the frigid waters they call home, animal advocates said Monday. ...

A small asteroid was headed for a fiery but harmless dive into Earth's atmosphere early Tuesday morning over Africa, astronomers said in a first of its kind advance warning. Harvard scientists announced late Monday...

RealNetworks Inc. said Monday it had temporarily stopped distributing its DVD copying software, RealDVD, at a federal judge's request in a copyright case brought by Hollywood studios. "We temporarily suspended...

Rain clouds stretched from North Dakota to Texas early Monday, while storms also made for a wet commute in the Northwest. The Northeast was to stay cool. Low pressure will sweep through the central portion of the...

Most of the East was expected to remain dry Sunday, while showers and thunderstorms were forecast for the northern Rockies, the Great Basin, the Southwest and the central and southern Plains. Snow and rain were...

Light rain and clouds covered parts of the West on Saturday as low pressure moved across the region, also generating periods of heavy rainfall with isolated thunderstorms. It was cooler than usual in Southern...

Showers were forecast across the Pacific Northwest and Northern California on Saturday and a winter storm warning was issued for parts of Northern California, Utah and Colorado. Mostly sunny skies and cool conditions...

Scattered rain showers were forecast for the Pacific Northwest and northern California on Friday, while southern California was to get cooler air. The mid-regions of the country were to remain dry with fair conditions....