Nation Headlines


Funeral services held for slain New Mexico nun

GALLUP, N.M. (AP) -- A slain Catholic nun who lived and worked on the Navajo Indian reservation was remembered Saturday for her passion for the poor at funeral services....

Ida grows into hurricane near Mexico's Carib coast

CANCUN, Mexico (AP) -- Officials readied storm shelters along Mexico's Caribbean coast Saturday and told fishermen and tour operators to pull in their boats as Ida strengthened into a hurricane as it neared the resort city of Cancun....

Suspect identified in Seattle police killing

SEATTLE (AP) -- A man accused of shooting and killing a police officer on Halloween night is also suspected of firebombing police cruisers and other property nine days earlier, police said Saturday....

Police: 1 killed, 2 injured in shooting near Vail

VAIL, Colo. (AP) -- Gunfire at a bar near the Colorado ski resort town of Vail killed one and injured two Saturday night, and a man was quickly arrested in connection with the shooting, police said....

Murder case a glimpse into stresses of caretaking

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (AP) -- The scenes seared into the minds of those who know Bobby Yurkanin differed only in place: Whether in the pool, around the dinner table or at the bowling alley, he was the 50-something man whose life had long before been handed over to the sickness of his parents. Always his father was by his side....

Suspect told 'There's something wrong with you'

FORT HOOD, Texas (AP) -- There was the classroom presentation that justified suicide bombings. Comments to colleagues about a climate of persecution faced by Muslims in the military. Conversations with a mosque leader that became incoherent....

Fort victims had different reasons for enlisting

The 13 people killed when an Army psychiatrist allegedly opened fire on fellow soldiers at Fort Hood, Texas, included several people who shared the same profession as the alleged shooter, a father of three with ties to Laos whose family had a history of military service, a civilian who had returned to work a week after suffering a heart attack, and a psychiatric nurse who arrived at Fort Hood a day before the shooting. Here is a look at the victims....

Ground broken for Flight 93 memorial in Pa.

SHANKSVILLE, Pa. (AP) -- With the words "Let's roll" - the command issued by United Flight 93 passenger Todd Beamer to lead the passenger revolt - U.S. Interior Secretary Ken Salazar and 39 victims' relatives and dignitaries turned shovels of dirt at a groundbreaking ceremony Saturday for a permanent national memorial....

Talks in Philadelphia transit strike break off

PHILADELPHIA (AP) -- Negotiations aimed at ending a transit strike in Philadelphia broke off Saturday night over disagreement on pensions and the impact of possible national health care overhaul, and Pennsylvania's governor walked away from the negotiations....

Va. Tech advises Army on Texas shootings response

BLACKSBURG, Va. (AP) -- Virginia Tech administrators have been advising Pentagon officials on how to respond to the mass shootings at Fort Hood....

Alleged Ohio serial killer rare among mass killers

CLEVELAND (AP) -- Authorities say Anthony Sowell lured women into his home in a busy neighborhood, killed them - most by strangulation - and scattered their remains throughout the inside and buried some in the backyard....

After immigrant killed in NY, others tell of abuse

PATCHOGUE, N.Y. (AP) -- The high school buddies who trolled the streets looking for Hispanics to attack called it "beaner hopping."...

Officer describes firefight that downed Hasan

KILLEEN, Texas (AP) -- One of two police officers who confronted the alleged Fort Hood killer says he shot Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan before kicking the man's weapon away, handcuffing him and ending the nation's worst killing spree on a military base....

Army: Officer shot at Fort Hood in good condition

TEMPLE, Texas (AP) -- Authorities say one of the officers who has been hailed as a hero in the Fort Hood massacre has had a second surgery and is grateful for all the good wishes....

Army: Shooting suspect taken off ventilator

FORT HOOD, Texas (AP) -- A U.S. Army spokesman says the man authorities say went on a shooting spree at Fort Hood has been taken off a ventilator but still remains in intensive care at a military hospital....

G-20 finance officials: Too early to end stimulus

ST. ANDREWS, Scotland (AP) -- Finance officials from rich and developing countries have pledged to maintain emergency support for their economies until recovery is assured, but failed to reach a clear agreement to bear the cost of fighting climate change....

Office shooting suspect's life spiraled downward

ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) -- Jason Rodriguez's marriage long ago went sour, his home taken in foreclosure, his job lost to incompetence, his finances sunk in bankruptcy. It was a "stress overload" for the man accused of a deadly shooting rampage at his former office, his lawyer said Saturday....

AP News in Brief

Obama tells Democrats to answer the call of history as they move toward health care vote...

Mass. father of boy in cancer case dies

SALEM, Mass. (AP) -- The father of an autistic Massachusetts boy who died after his mother allegedly withheld cancer medication has died from injuries sustained in a motorcycle crash....

Brother: Shooting suspect is a peaceful person

STERLING, Va. (AP) -- A brother of the man authorities say went on a shooting spree at Fort Hood says the Army psychiatrist is peaceful person - and hopes he will be treated fairly by the legal system....

Perry says he's humbled after visiting wounded

TEMPLE, Texas (AP) -- Texas governor Rick Perry has visited with wounded victims from the Fort Hood shooting....

Navy ship built with WTC steel goes into service

NEW YORK (AP) -- The USS New York, built with steel from the rubble of the World Trade Center, was put into Navy service Saturday both as a symbol of healing and strength....

Some fear backlash against Muslims in US military

Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan's family says he confided in them that he felt harassed as a Muslim in the U.S. military - and wasn't treated as an American and soldier should be....

Transformer fire disrupts Ellis Island activities

JERSEY CITY, N.J. (AP) -- Fire officials say operations at Ellis Island have been widely disrupted by a transformer fire....

Police report says wrong-way driver a pot smoker

WHITE PLAINS, N.Y. (AP) -- New York State Police investigators said in a written report that a woman who killed seven people plus herself in a crash on the Taconic State Parkway was a regular marijuana user....

Minnesota teen who fled chemo now cancer-free

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) -- A Minnesota teen who fled the state to avoid chemotherapy has finished his cancer treatment....

Spat over 'terrorists' halts Conn. 9/11 memorial

HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) -- A memorial to honor a Sept. 11 victim from a small northwestern Connecticut town has been halted by the unexpected conflict arising from his father's insistence it say his son was murdered by "Muslim terrorists."...

Woman hit, killed on Calif. highway fetching boxes

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) -- A 36-year-old woman has died after she was struck several times while retrieving boxes on a Sacramento freeway....

Police: Inmate had threatened deputy with knife

WAUKESHA, Wis. (AP) -- Authorities in Wisconsin say an inmate somehow armed himself with a knife and threatened a sheriff's deputy before the officer shot and wounded him....

Killings remain unsolved as sniper execution nears

McLEAN, Va. (AP) -- It galled her to do it, but Sarah Dillon was desperate for answers, so she wrote letters to convicted snipers John Allen Muhammad and Lee Boyd Malvo: If you murdered my son, please confess, she wrote....

NY case spotlights Dead Sea Scrolls, fake e-mails

NEW YORK (AP) -- Students and university officials started getting e-mails last year in which a prominent Judaic studies scholar seemed to make a startling confession: He had committed plagiarism....

George W. Bush visits Fort Hood, wounded soldiers

FORT HOOD, Texas (AP) -- Former President George W. Bush and his wife, Laura, have visited wounded soldiers and their families after the mass shooting at Fort Hood....

Alabama county celebrates official Obama holiday

MARION, Ala. (AP) -- The sign going on the front door at the Perry County courthouse reads: "Closed for the Obama Holiday."...

Colo. man who threatened Obama makes weapons plea

DENVER (AP) -- A man who threatened to kill Barack Obama last summer just before the Democratic National Convention in Denver has pleaded guilty to federal weapons charges....

Alaska island village hit by suspected swine flu

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) -- Suspected swine flu is sweeping a traditional Eskimo whaling village on a remote Alaska island - prompting an urgent medical mission to deliver help....

MIAMI (AP) -- Tropical storm warnings issued in Mexico, Cuba as Ida rapidly strengthens over Caribbean....

NJ jurors convict Fla. man in 'fat defense' trial

HACKENSACK, N.J. (AP) -- A jury convicted a Florida man Friday of murdering his former son-in-law, rejecting the man's defense that he was too fat to have run up and down a flight of stairs to commit the crime and make a quick getaway....

Gift card scandal could sink Baltimore mayor

BALTIMORE (AP) -- The accusations that Mayor Sheila Dixon used holiday gift cards for the needy during personal shopping sprees may sound like a minor embarrassment at worst, a small-time case of a politician enjoying the perks of power....

Pa. locals, Flight 93 families united by history

SHANKSVILLE, Pa. (AP) -- Esther Heymann was overflowing with grief for her stepdaughter. Standing in a blustery snow, overlooking the empty field where Flight 93 had crashed a couple of years earlier, she couldn't stop crying....

Ida returns to tropical storm strength

MIAMI (AP) -- Ida has become a tropical storm again, with top winds of 45 mph (72 kph), as it swirls in the Caribbean on a track that could bring it to the U.S. Gulf Coast next week....

MIAMI (AP) -- Ida has become a tropical storm again, with top winds of 45 mph, as it swirls in the Caribbean....

NY town marks year since immigrant fatally stabbed

PATCHOGUE, N.Y. (AP) -- The family of an Ecuadorean man slain on a Long Island street will be among those participating in a candlelight vigil and memorial service to mark the first anniversary of the killing....

Computers, records seized at ACORN offices in La.

NEW ORLEANS (AP) -- State investigators raided ACORN offices on Friday, taking away computer hard drives and documents as part of a probe into alleged embezzlement and tax fraud when the organization's national headquarters was based in New Orleans....

Stepfather convicted in death of 'Baby Grace'

GALVESTON, Texas (AP) -- Two years after the remains of a toddler who came to be known as "Baby Grace" were dumped in Galveston Bay, the child's stepfather was convicted of capital murder in her beating death....

Court upholds removal of man after Nazi salute

SANTA CRUZ, Calif. (AP) -- A federal appeals court has ruled that Santa Cruz City Council members did not violate a man's rights when they ordered him removed from a council meeting after he made a one-armed Nazi salute....

Sea lions killed, but Columbia salmon toll rises

Killing or removing 25 California sea lions over the past two years has not reduced the toll on salmon at the base of Bonneville Dam in the Columbia River....

UN urges Karzai to fight corruption

UNITED NATIONS (AP) -- The U.N. Security Council joined calls Friday on Afghan President Hamid Karzai to fight corruption, with Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon calling the country's political situation "delicate" following deeply flawed elections....

But for heroes, bloodbath could have been worse

FORT HOOD, Texas (AP) -- Pfc. Marquest Smith, on his way to Afghanistan in January, was completing routine paperwork about a bee-sting allergy when the sounds erupted....

$900,000 winner in Space Elevator Games

LOS ANGELES (AP) -- A Seattle team has won $900,000 in a competition aimed at developing technology based on the science fiction concept of a space elevator....

Several hundred gather at Fort Hood vigil

FORT HOOD, Texas (AP) -- Several hundred people gathered at a base stadium where the Army's chief chaplain offered prayers for families and victims of the shooting rampage that left 13 dead and 30 wounded at Fort Hood, Texas....

US military deaths in Iraq war at 4,359

As of Friday, Nov. 6, 2009, at least 4,359 members of the U.S. military had died in the Iraq war since it began in March 2003, according to an Associated Press count....

US military deaths in Afghanistan region at 833

As of Friday, Nov. 6, 2009, at least 833 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. The department last updated its figures Friday at 10 a.m. EDT....

Los Angeles moves to ban declawing of cats

LOS ANGELES (AP) -- The Los Angeles City Council has given preliminary approval to an ordinance that would ban the declawing of cats....

Teen charged with killing nun in NM

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) -- A teenager was charged Friday with killing a nun after allegedly breaking into her trailer home on the Navajo Indian reservation in search of cash or valuable items....

NM cabinet official resigns after DWI arrest

SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) -- A top official in Gov. Bill Richardson's cabinet has resigned over a drunken driving arrest just days after she was appointed to a spot in President Barack Obama's administration....

4th Chicago teen charged in videotaped beating

CHICAGO (AP) -- A fourth teen is facing murder charges in the beating death of a Chicago high school honor student last month....

Wis. man donates cheesehead hat signed by Obama

MADISON, Wis. (AP) -- A Wisconsin man who got his cheesehead hat signed by President Barack Obama has decided to donate it to a museum rather than sell it on eBay....

Capitol Christmas tree to be cut from AZ forest

FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. (AP) -- An 85-foot blue spruce soon will embark on a long journey from the mountains of northeastern Arizona to Washington, D.C., to stand as the Capitol Christmas tree....

Coast Guard chief hails Calif. crash victims

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) -- Thousands of family members, friends and colleagues said farewell Friday to seven Coast Guard members who died when their plane collided with a Marine helicopter off the San Diego coast....

Cops: Mich. man admits killing abortion protester

OWOSSO, Mich. (AP) -- A Michigan man charged with killing an abortion protester and a business owner told police he had guns loaded in his truck when he took two nieces and a friend to school just before the shooting spree....

Veteran admits faking paralysis to avoid Iraq

EAST ST. LOUIS, Ill. (AP) -- An Army veteran admitted in federal court Friday to plotting with his wife to bilk the U.S. government by faking paralysis after a car wreck to get disability benefits and avoid being deployed to Iraq....

Father pleads not guilty to killing daughter

LOS ANGELES (AP) -- A man serving time for killing his infant son and trekking around the country with the child's body pleaded not guilty Friday to doing the same thing to his baby daughter....

NYC woman sentenced for killing, mutilating father

NEW YORK (AP) -- A New York City woman convicted of killing her father and mutilating his body has been sentenced to five to 15 years in prison....

Wisconsin deputy shoots inmate at hospital

WAUKESHA, Wis. (AP) -- Authorities in Wisconsin say a deputy shot an inmate at a hospital in suburban Milwaukee after the inmate began a scuffle....

2 teens charged with girl's death at Calif. school

LONG BEACH, Calif. (AP) -- Two 16-year-old boys have been charged as adults in the death of a 16-year-old girl who was shot after a homecoming football game in Long Beach....

Survivor of Conn. family slayings calls for probe

NEW HAVEN, Conn. (AP) -- As the lone survivor of a deadly 2007 Connecticut home invasion called for an investigation into why prison officials let a writer interview one of the defendants for a book, the state attorney general said Friday a probe has already begun....

Iraq again seeks international bombing probe

UNITED NATIONS (AP) -- Iraq's foreign minister has reiterated his country's request for a high-level international envoy to investigate the extent of foreign involvement in recent bombings of government institutions....

Circus elephant that escaped and was hit by SUV OK

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) -- An animal rights group on Friday asked a U.S. Department of Agriculture agency to look into an owner's treatment of a circus elephant that escaped and was hit by a sport utility vehicle on a northwestern Oklahoma highway....

Fla. cops: Wife faked own abduction to scam hubby

PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. (AP) -- A wealthy health care executive came home one night in September to find a terrifying note from his wife, Quinn Gray: The 37-year-old housewife and mother of two had been abducted from her posh Florida beach community....

Officer praised for taking down suspected gunman

KILLEEN, Texas (AP) -- A civilian police officer is being praised for taking down a man suspected of opening fire on fellow soldiers at Fort Hood when she shot him in the torso....

Pa. prostitution case tossed over gov't-funded sex

HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) -- An appeals court has ruled Pennsylvania State Police botched a prostitution investigation in which troopers gave an informant money to pay for sex four times at a massage parlor, along with a total of $180 for the man's trouble....

`Drug kingpin' convicted by New York jury

NEW YORK (AP) -- A Guatemalan designated as one of the world's biggest drug kingpins has been convicted of cocaine importation and distribution charges....

AZ 'honor killing' victim just wanted to be normal

PEORIA, Ariz. (AP) -- Noor Faleh Almaleki just wanted to be a normal American woman....

Ohio man who killed family, self had money woes

PATASKALA, Ohio (AP) -- Police say an Ohio man sent a letter to a business associate saying his family would soon be dead before fatally shooting his wife, son and himself....

Judge approves release of some Yale killing files

NEW HAVEN, Conn. (AP) -- Some documents detailing the case against a former Yale University employee accused of killing a graduate student must be unsealed and made available to the public in three business days, a Connecticut judge ruled Friday....

NY village gets new voting system to aid Hispanics

WHITE PLAINS, N.Y. (AP) -- A federal judge imposed an unusual election system on a suburban village Friday, nearly two years after finding that the existing system was unfair to Hispanics....

Hospital: Fort Hood suspect moved to San Antonio

SAN ANTONIO (AP) -- An Army medical official says the man suspected of opening fire on fellow soldiers at Fort Hood has been transferred to Brooke Army Medical Center in San Antonio....

Gay marriage foes win with message about schools

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) -- Gay marriage opponents pulled off another victory at the ballot box this week by using a tried-and-tested argument: Approve it and children will be taught homosexuality in school....

Exhaust cone falls off jet onto NY home's lawn

NEW YORK (AP) -- An engine tailcone fell off a Delta Air Lines jet shortly after takeoff Thursday and plummeted thousands of feet before landing harmlessly on a lawn in a Long Island residential neighborhood....

Mass shootings in recent years

Here is a glance at some of the worst U.S. mass shootings in recent years:...

Correction: Black Muslims story

In an Oct. 30 story about African-American Muslims, The Associated Press reported erroneously that a 2007 Pew survey estimated that 35 percent of the nation's Muslims were African-American. The survey estimated that 20 percent were African-American....

Ohio town to toast forgotten Vietnam veterans

SHELBY, Ohio (AP) -- The floor of VFW Post 291 has been scuffed by the shoes and boots of veterans who fought in wars going back nearly a century, to World War I....

Police: Man posed as Ariz. student for scholarship

YUMA, Ariz. (AP) -- A 22-year-old man accused of posing as a student at two Arizona high schools wanted to play basketball and hoped to get a college scholarship, authorities said....

Van stolen 35 years ago in Wash. state recovered

SPOKANE, Wash. (AP) -- A Volkswagen van stolen 35 years ago in Washington state has been found in a shipping container at the Los Angeles/Long Beach seaport....

Nevada Dem. leader pleads guilty to hitting son

MINDEN, Nev. (AP) -- A Nevada Democratic Party leader who pleaded guilty to hitting his teenage son and throwing him on the hood of a car has resigned, according to a letter received Friday by a newspaper....

Police probe delay in response to family deaths

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) -- Police in North Carolina delayed for more than an hour after a chilling emergency call that captured a gunshot before sending officers to the home where a real estate developer killed his family and then himself....

Casey: Fort Hood rampage was a 'kick in the gut'

FORT HOOD, Texas (AP) -- Army Chief of Staff George Casey has asked Army leaders across the country to review force protection measures after the shooting rampage at Fort Hood, Texas, left 13 people dead....

Military observes moment of silence at Fort Hood

FORT HOOD, Texas (AP) -- Military, friends and families have observed a moment of silence at Fort Hood, Texas and other U.S. military bases as a show of respect for the victims of the shooting rampage....

Doctor: Some Fort Hood victims may still die

TEMPLE, Texas (AP) -- A doctor at a hospital where several of the wounded from the shooting rampage at Fort Hood, Texas were taken says some patients may still die....

Wolffish doesn't need federal protection

PORTLAND, Maine (AP) -- A deep-water fish that's known as much for its ugly mug as its ability to gobble up whole urchins and crabs in a few swift chomps won't be getting federal protection after all....

Death sentence for man who killed sister, husband

MARTINEZ, Calif. (AP) -- A trucker from Northern California has been given the death sentence for killing his sister and brother-in-law despite pleas from the victims' son against the death penalty....

NY man gets jail for cashing dead mother's checks

MONTICELLO, N.Y. (AP) -- An upstate New York man has been sentenced to six months in jail for hiding his dead 98-year-old mother in a freezer and cashing her Social Security checks....

NM city prepares for salt cavern collapse

CARLSBAD, N.M. (AP) -- The bright yellow signs on U.S. 285 are the first indication that things aren't right in Carlsbad....

Dolphins may be cause of spike in porpoise deaths

MOSS LANDING, Calif. (AP) -- Marine biologists think they've figured out why a growing number of dead harbor porpoises have been found on California beaches in recent years: dolphin attacks....

Army: Shooting suspect was bound for Afghanistan

WASHINGTON (AP) -- An Army spokeswoman says the suspect in the Fort Hood shootings had been scheduled to deploy to Afghanistan to counsel soldiers suffering from combat stress....

Exonerated man seeks cash for 27-year sentence

SATELLITE BEACH, Fla. (AP) -- No bars or razor wire hold former Florida inmate No. 082629. Instead, William Dillon sits on furniture the color of ripe lemons, surrounded by cheerful animal statues and blooming plants, a prisoner no longer after 27 years....

Water officials ban septic tanks in Malibu

MALIBU, Calif. (AP) -- Water officials have banned septic tanks in portions of Malibu, ending years of wrangling between surfers, environmentalists and residents in the celebrity-filled community....

Charges dropped against man accused of hitting boy

RICHLAND, Wash. (AP) -- Charges have been dropped against a retired coach accused of hitting a 7-year-old autistic boy who was having a "meltdown" in the Richland Public Library....

Wash. officer pleads not guilty to manslaughter

EVERETT, Wash. (AP) -- An Everett police officer charged with manslaughter for shooting a drunken driving suspect has pleaded not guilty in Snohomish County Superior Court....

Defense discounts competency report in Smart case

SALT LAKE CITY (AP) -- Defense attorneys for the man charged in the 2002 abduction of Elizabeth Smart say a psychiatrist's report deeming him competent for trial is advocacy, not an objective evaluation of facts....

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