Republican presidential candidate John McCain said Thursday that a shake-up in the leadership of his campaign was part of a "natural evolution" as the organization becomes more national in scope. McCain's campaign...

Democrat Barack Obama struggled Thursday to explain how his upcoming trip to Iraq might refine, but not basically alter, his promise to quickly remove U.S. combat troops from the war. A dustup over war policy _ one of...

It will be a red-state Fourth of July for Barack Obama, who hopes to find votes as well as fireworks in places that blue-state Democrats often bypass in presidential elections. During the long holiday weekend, Obama is...

!!-- pobj:NDJH120-0703081154 -->Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama says "mental distress" should not qualify as a justification for late-term abortions, a key distinction not embraced by many supporters of...

Barack Obama's policy for bringing U.S. troops home from Iraq as stated on his Web site: "Obama will immediately begin to remove our troops from Iraq. He will remove one to two combat brigades each month, and have all...

A member of a gang of drifters who was accused of helping to kill another woman in the group and of torturing the woman's 11-year-old son pleaded no contest Thursday to reckless homicide. In a plea bargain, Candace...

Police have a suspect in the 1985 killing of a teenage boy whose body was found in a thicket months after he left home on a bicycle, a coroner said Thursday. The death of 13-year-old David Reed had long been labeled...

An influential Republican senator suggested Thursday that Congress might want to consider reimposing a national speed limit to save gasoline and possibly ease fuel prices. Sen. John Warner, R-Va., asked Energy...

The White House said Thursday that dangerous detainees at Guantanamo Bay could end up walking Main Street U.S.A. as a result of last month's Supreme Court ruling about detainees' legal rights. Federal appeals courts,...

!!-- pobj:OHCLE301-0824061521 -->A federal jury on Thursday convicted the former top accountant at the Cleveland Catholic Diocese of tax charges and acquitted him of more serious charges related to alleged kickbacks. ...

Three U.S. hostages rescued from Colombian rebels after more than five years in captivity are in good condition and learning how to live a normal life again, military officials said Thursday. The three U.S. military...

The plan was nothing if not audacious: A turncoat persuades rebels to bring together their most prized hostages and march them 90 miles through Colombia's wilderness. A month later, disguised commandos primed with...

More than 100 Chinese tourists have arrived in Taiwan on the first regularly scheduled flight from the mainland to the island in nearly six decades. The China Southern Airlines flight from Guangzhou was the first of...

As of Thursday, July 3, 2008, at least 468 members of the U.S. military had died in Afghanistan, Pakistan and Uzbekistan as a result of the U.S. invasion of Afghanistan in late 2001, according to the Defense Department....

As of Thursday, July 3, 2008, at least 4,113 members of the U.S. military have died in the Iraq war since it began in March 2003, according to an Associated Press count. The figure includes eight military civilians...

Nebraska Beef Ltd. is expanding a recall announced earlier this week to include all 5.3 million pounds of meat it produced for ground beef between May 16 and June 26. Federal investigators have linked Nebraska Beef's...

The largest union of the jointly owned Philadelphia Inquirer and Philadelphia Daily News reached an accord Thursday with management to end a lawsuit over the merger of two pension plans. The Newspaper Guild of Greater...

Louisiana authorities say three people are being treated for burns after a steam accident at a ConocoPhillips Co. refinery. Plaquemines Parish Sheriff's Office Major John Marie says one was in critical condition and...

The nation lost jobs for a sixth month in a row in June, a storm of pink slips drenching this year's July Fourth holiday for more than 60,000 Americans and leaving thousands more worried about the future. Weighed down...

Two investment firms pulled the plug Thursday on their $5.82 billion acquisition of Penn National Gaming Inc. after the racetrack and casino operator's stock price tumbled. But they will pay for pulling out. Penn...

A former accountant for Rachael Ray's TV cooking show has filed a $1 million lawsuit saying he was forced out of his job because he has an eating disorder. Aaron Ferguson says in papers filed in Manhattan's state...

A-Rod and the Material Girl? That's a lot of hits. Reports that Yankees superstar Alex Rodriguez and Madonna have become close just as their marriages are disintegrating have both the celebrity gossip industry and the...

Larry Harmon, who turned the character Bozo the Clown into a show business staple that delighted children for more than a half-century, died Thursday of congestive heart failure. He was 83. His publicist, Jerry Digney,...

Partially eclipsed by the glitterati of Cannes and the royal glare of Monaco, Nice is a place where even the brightest stars _ like Brangelina _ are greeted by little more than indifference. Only the presence of...

A tearful Christie Brinkley testified at her divorce trial Thursday that she was devastated by her husband's affair with a teenager and his attempts to find other paramours through pornographic Web sites. "My world was...

Elaine Breeden has won the 200-meter butterfly at the U.S. Olympic swimming trials with a time of 2 minutes, 6.75 seconds. Breeden's performance Thursday night followed her second-place showing in the 100 fly, which...

In the first major stunner of the U.S. Olympic swimming trials, Brendan Hansen failed to make the Olympic team in the 200-meter breaststroke Thursday night. The world recordholder less than a month ago, Hansen won't...

Gilbert Arenas has agreed to re-sign with the Washington Wizards for $111 million over six years, essentially taking millions less so that his team could have more financial flexibility, two newspapers reported...

Chris Paul and the Hornets reached a contract agreement Thursday that could keep the All-Star point guard with the team for at least the next four seasons. Lance Young, Paul's agent, said Paul agreed to a three-year...

In the first major stunner of the U.S. Olympic swimming trials, Brendan Hansen has failed to make the team in the 200-meter breaststroke. The former world recordholder and bronze medalist in the event at the Athens...

MONTGOMERY, Ala. (BP)--A silly story is told about a little boy asking his father a question, "Dad, do they have the Fourth of July in England?" "Yes, oh yes, son they do have a fourth of July in England. They just...

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (BP)--Specialty license plates on cars can signal the driver's support of an array of topics from the environment to animals to college sports teams, but those that support belief in God have faced...

PUERTO CABEZAS, Nicaragua (BP)--When Marie Davidson heard Jim and Viola Palmer talk about their ministry among the Miskito people of Nicaragua, she was deeply moved. And when, more than a year later, she heard Hurricane...

WASHINGTON (BP)--Leaders of the National Education Association continue to advance a liberal political ideology that includes support of the homosexual agenda, as evidenced by news items surrounding the group's annual...

DENVER (BP)--Giving a significant boost to Republican John McCain's goal of attracting the votes of social conservatives, nearly 100 pro-family leaders gathering in Denver July 1 agreed to unify behind the Arizona...

A slice of cool, fresh watermelon is a juicy way to top off a Fourth of July cookout and one that researchers say has effects similar to Viagra _ but don't necessarily expect it to keep the fireworks going all night...

Scientists have new evidence that the brain chemical best known for regulating mood also plays a role in the mystifying killer of seemingly healthy babies _ sudden infant death syndrome. Autopsied brain tissue from...

A Filipino teenager who came to New York so doctors could perform surgery to untwist her severely clubbed feet took her first unaided steps Wednesday in pink-and-white sneakers _ the first shoes she's ever worn. "I'm...

A slice of cool, fresh watermelon is a juicy way to top off a Fourth of July cookout and one that researchers say has effects similar to Viagra _ but don't necessarily expect it to keep the fireworks all night long. ...

A Filipino teenager who came to New York so doctors could perform surgery to untwist her severely clubbed feet took her first unaided steps Wednesday in pink-and-white sneakers _ the first shoes she's ever worn. "I'm...

The Phoenix lander's first chemical sniff of Martian soil did not turn up any trace of the building blocks of life. Its next whiff could be its last. Engineers said a short circuit that occurred last month in one of...

From climate change to volcanoes and earthquakes, the world's growing challenges have leaders in earth science proposing a merger of agencies that study the planet. Creation of a new Earth Systems Science Agency is...

This doesn't sound good: The nonprofit agency in charge of the Internet's addresses recently lost track of its own. The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers, or ICANN, said it happened when an Internet...

Dismissing privacy concerns, a federal judge overseeing a $1 billion copyright-infringement lawsuit against YouTube has ordered the popular online video-sharing service to disclose who watches which video clips and...

Internet users will now have an easier time finding sites that rely heavily on the popular Flash video format. Adobe Systems Inc., the format's developer, has released a customized version of its Flash Player software...

Showers and thunderstorms were forecast Thursday for the central Plains as a cold front moves through the region. The storms could produce damaging winds, hail and possibly tornadoes. Flooding was also a threat for some...

A cold front was forecast to sweep into the northern Plains on Wednesday, triggering showers and thunderstorms from the Plains to the Great Lakes. The storms were expected to strengthen throughout the day, stretching...

The West was expected to be stormy and warm on Tuesday, with severe thunderstorms packing strong winds and hail possible in Montana and Idaho. Thunderstorms, gusty winds and lightning also were forecast for the Four...

Widespread showers and thunderstorms pounded the Eastern Seaboard early Monday, while a warm day dawned across the Midwest, Plains and much of the West. A line of storms stretched from New England to Florida and into...

Showers and thunderstorms were expected to pass through Great Lakes and into the Southern Plains, Southeast and Mid-Atlantic on Sunday. There was a slight chance of severe weather including possible tornadoes along the...