Calculated political ploy. Timely foreign outreach. A dash of each? Ask voters across the country about Barack Obama's image-packed week of foreign travel and you'll get a mix of admiration, suspicion, even a couple of...

Republican presidential candidate John McCain had his own German experience Thursday _ at a restaurant in Ohio. He asserted that he was happy to devote his time this week to touring the nation's heartland. "I'd love to...

Congress sends Bush bill tripling help for AIDS victims worldwide. ...

Quotes from people in the United States on Democratic presidential contender Barack Obama's trip to Europe and the Middle East: ___ "This trip overseas has an opportunity to backfire on him, because it looks like...

Sen. Barack Obama scrapped plans to visit wounded members of the armed forces in Germany as part of his overseas trip, a decision his campaign said was made because the Democratic presidential candidate thought it would...

A judge allowed hay production and cattle grazing on certain lands designated for conservation Thursday, helping farmers and ranchers struggling with high grain prices. U.S. District Judge John C. Coughenour said the...

A federal appeals court ruling that a Christian university in Colorado can receive state scholarship money is the latest in a string of legal victories for religious schools seeking public dollars. The most recent case...

The towering trucks that give U.S. troops the best protection against roadside bombs and enemy bullets also make them vulnerable to routine hazards like sharp turns, rutted roads and rickety bridges. Five deaths caused...

The Justice Department in 2002 told the CIA that its interrogators would be safe from prosecution for violations of anti-torture laws if they believed "in good faith" that harsh techniques used to break prisoners' will...

The global AIDS bill Congress is preparing to send President Bush would: _Approve $48 billion over the next five years for HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria programs in Africa and other afflicted areas of the world....

A man who served 32 years in a U.S. prison for hijacking a plane and planting a bomb that killed a policeman returned home to Croatia on Thursday after being paroled. Zvonko Busic, 62, was welcomed at the airport by...

A suspected Islamic militant threw a hand grenade at a group of migrant laborers in Indian Kashmir, killing a woman and her four children Thursday in one of two attacks that claimed a total of nine lives in the disputed...

Police say a boy stabbed and killed a 9-year-old girl in front of her classmates and teacher at an elementary school in Suriname. A statement from Waldeck Police Station says the 12-year-old boy then tried to stab...

A proposed new constitution grants Ecuador's leftist President Rafael Correa broad powers including the ability to dissolve Congress and set monetary policy, and would let him stay in office through 2017. The charter,...

The real Dragan Dabic has emerged _ and the 66-year-old construction worker was shocked Thursday to discover his identity had apparently been stolen by one of the world's most notorious war crimes suspects. Radovan...

Bleeding cash and with its very survival uncertain, Ford Motor Co., an icon of American automaking, will try to import some of its success from across the Atlantic. Ford reported its worst-ever quarterly loss Thursday...

Qualcomm, the world's largest maker of chips that run cell phones, issued fourth-quarter and full-year earnings guidance Thursday that fell short of Wall Street targets, but the stock soared on a broad-ranging legal...

Regional bank National City Corp. on Thursday reported a $1.76 billion loss for the second quarter, as mortgage loans soured and it took a big charge related to previous acquisitions. Over the past year, mortgages have...

Xerox Corp.'s second-quarter profit skidded 19 percent, but matched Wall Street's forecast, as the office-equipment maker was hurt by restructuring charges while its cash-cow supplies and services business hummed along...

Newmont Mining Corp., one of the world's largest gold producers, said Thursday it turned a profit in the second quarter as it sold more gold at higher prices. The results were essentially in line with expectations and...

They're packing the "Little House" in Minneapolis. A new musical version of "Little House on the Prairie" was extended two weeks because of demand, the Guthrie Theater said. It stars Melissa Gilbert as the mother of...

DMX rapped for reporters outside a Phoenix courtroom Thursday after pleading not guilty to felony charges of theft and identity theft. Then he plugged an album. Authorities allege the 37-year-old rapper, whose real...

MTV is staking its brand on a lesser-known one: Russell Brand. The British actor and comedian will host this year's Video Music Awards, set to air live from Paramount Pictures Studios in Los Angeles on Sept. 7. Brand...

Sheryl Crow is putting the "Rumours" to rest: She's not making a record with or joining Fleetwood Mac _ not anytime soon at least. "No, that was those 'Rumours' _ to quote the album," she joked Wednesday, referring to...

Now Amy Adams' love life is "Enchanted," too. The Oscar-nominated Adams is engaged to fellow actor Darren Legallo, her publicist, Cari Ross, confirmed Thursday. Ross did not immediately provide further details. The...

Arizona star wide receiver Anquan Boldin says the Cardinals lied to him about a new contract and that he has no desire to re-sign with the organization. Boldin, a two-time Pro Bowl player and a team captain last...

U.S. coach Mike Krzyzewski says injured forward LeBron James is a "95 percent no-go" for Friday's exhibition against Canada. James, who has a mild right ankle sprain, was held out of a scrimmage for the second straight...

The WNBA punished so many players for their roles in this week's skirmish that the league is staggering the suspensions by alphabetical order. "None of us can recall an incident like this," WNBA president Donna Orender...

The New England Patriots signed first-round draft pick Jerod Mayo on Thursday, bringing their last unsigned selection into the fold as the defending AFC champions opened training camp and began their quest to put last...

There were plenty of No. 4 jerseys in the stands and a smattering of jeers for general manager Ted Thompson at Thursday morning's annual meeting of Green Bay Packers shareholders at Lambeau Field. But given the chance...

BROWNSVILLE, Texas (BP)--Wind and heavy rain continued from what remained of Hurricane Dolly Thursday in the Rio Grande Valley of Texas while churches from the Gulf Coast westward toward McAllen, 70 miles inland,...

GRAPEVINE, Texas (BP)--John Lilley, president of Baylor University in Waco, Texas, has been terminated by the school's board of regents after less than three years in the position.Lilley was the focus of controversy in...

EDITOR'S NOTE: Listen to an audio version of this column here.RICHMOND, Va. (BP)--Pop quiz: If you don't really believe Jesus Christ is the one and only way to salvation, would you ...-- pray for the lost at home and...

ALPHARETTA, Ga. (BP)--In the first column in this series I said that we can come to terms with Jesus' claims to being the only way by answering three rudimentary questions. In yesterday's column we looked at the first...

RICHMOND, Va. (BP)--Elaine Lambach, 49, a missionary serving in Brazil through the Southern Baptist International Mission Board, died after a brief illness July 14. Lambach, a mother of five, was serving in church and...

After three surgeries, Judy Sherer still had chronic pain in her left shoulder. She'd lost faith in her doctors, and in despair tried a new health benefit offered by her employer. The service, Health Advocate, is a...

More than 1,000 people died over two years from an illegal version of the painkiller fentanyl, the government reported Thursday in its first national tally of those deaths. The spike of overdoses seems to have ended,...

Scientists will have to take "enormous intellectual leaps" to develop an AIDS vaccine in the coming years, say researchers clearly frustrated by the failure of a once-promising shot. The researchers, including a top...

Scientists will have to take "enormous intellectual leaps" to develop an AIDS vaccine in the coming years, say researchers clearly frustrated by the failure of a once-promising shot. The researchers, including a top...

It was a hot lead for detectives on a cold case. People suddenly were getting salmonella at a Minnesota restaurant more than 1,000 miles from the center of the nation's outbreak. Not my tomatoes, protested the manager....

Scientists have exposed some of the mystery behind the northern lights. On Thursday, NASA released findings that indicate magnetic explosions about one-third of the way to the moon cause the northern lights, or aurora...

An influential shareholder advisory firm endorsed the re-election of Yahoo Inc.'s entire board Thursday, reducing the chances that the Internet company's directors will be ousted for spurning Microsoft Corp.'s $47.5...

T-R-O-U-B-L-E could loom for a Scrabble knockoff that has become one of the most popular activities on Facebook. Hasbro Inc., the company that owns the word game's North American rights, sued the creators of the...

Embarq Corp. has revealed more details about its exploration of a program that tracked Internet subscribers' Web-surfing habits for advertising purposes, telling Congress that it performed the test on 26,000 customers...

Newspaper publisher McClatchy Co.'s second-quarter earnings tumbled 44 percent as ad revenue continued to shrink in its key markets. McClatchy, whose papers include the Miami Herald and Sacramento Bee, said Thursday...

The remnants of Hurricane Dolly were dumping heavy rain over southern Texas on Thursday, a day after making landfall, then weakening to a tropical storm. Flooding concerns persisted as Dolly crept across the state. A...

Hurricane Dolly was expected to make landfall Wednesday near the Texas-Mexico border, bringing up to 15 inches of rain to southern Texas. Flooding was anticipated, especially along the coast, because of the heavy rain...

A cold front hovering over the Ohio Valley early Tuesday was expected to trigger showers and thunderstorms from the Central Plains to New England, while Tropical Storm Dolly threatened Texas. Scattered showers, strong...

Tropical storms Dolly and Cristobal were to continue spinning away in the Atlantic Basin on Monday. Cristobal was to pull away from the North Carolina coastline in the morning, but showers and gusty winds were to last...

Tropical Storm Cristobal was expected to continue to move northeastward along the eastern seaboard on Sunday, possibly making landfall over the Outer Banks of North Carolina. In any case, it was to produce much-needed...