U.S. Embassy says US strengthening sanctions against Zimbabweans accused of political violence. ...

Barack Obama wants to sound like the voice of reason on U.S. foreign policy _ the guy who would abandon Bush administration policies he sees as shortsighted, self-defeating or just plain wrong. Problem is, George Bush...

IN THE HEADLINES Secret Service needs $9.5 million more to protect presidential candidates ... Hagel calls on candidates to focus on Iraq's future over past war strategy ... American voters greet Obama trip to Europe...

!!-- hobj:347 -->The Secret Service has asked for an extra $9.5 million to cover unexpected costs of protecting the presidential candidates during what has turned into an historic year for the agency's campaign security...

Cheered by an enormous international crowd, Democratic presidential contender Barack Obama on Thursday summoned Europeans and Americans together to "defeat terror and dry up the well of extremism that supports it" as...

An awful lot of the oil produced in the United States comes from the nation's northernmost state. So why are gas prices at Alaska's filling stations among the highest in the country? That's one of three questions in...

!!-- AUDIO:08257040,08257041 -->A long-standing dispute between two men turned violent when authorities say a former student shot three people in a computer lab at a community college, injuring one of them critically....

A teenager shown on a video coaxing his 2- and 4-year-old nephews into smoking marijuana was sentenced Thursday to eight years in prison. Demetris McCoy, 18, pleaded guilty to two charges of injury to a child/causing...

Robert Levy's record in the Vietnam War was impressive: two Army tours and several honors, including a Bronze Star. It just wasn't as impressive as he claimed. Decades of lies caught up with him when he was mayor of...

It's a political oddity: a TV commercial extolling the public safety record of a sitting mayor, except the spot isn't soliciting votes and the politician's name isn't scheduled to appear on the November ballot. The...

Lebanese police say sectarian fighting in the northern city of Tripoli has killed one person and wounded 10. The state-run National News Agency, citing two police officials, reports that clashes between Sunni Muslim...

A NATO soldier was killed and two were wounded during a clash with militants in southern Afghanistan's Helmand province, the military alliance said Friday. The nation's Interior Ministry, meanwhile, said three Taliban...

An explosion and ensuing fire on a ship undergoing repairs at a dockyard near Athens has killed eight people and injured four more, Greek authorities said Friday. Rescue crews were trying to remove the final three...

Police say a series of explosions have rocked the southern Indian city of Bangalore, killing at least one person. Police officer Ahmed Hussain said four blasts went off in the city's Madiwala neighborhood Friday,...

Germany's biggest airline faced a major strike by its ground and cabin crews next week after union members voted overwhelmingly to support a massive walkout. The Ver.di union, which represents some 50,000 Lufthansa...

Honda Motor Co. reported record profit for a fiscal first quarter Friday as sales growth in new markets offset the damage from a stronger yen and soaring material costs. Honda, Japan's No. 2 automaker, earned a...

The top business news from The Associated Press for the morning of Friday, July 25, 2008: New market demand spurs Honda to record quarter TOKYO (AP) _ Honda Motor Co. reported record profit for a fiscal first quarter...

Japanese stocks fell sharply Friday as Wall Street's overnight plunge renewed lingering concerns about the U.S. economy. The benchmark Nikkei 225 index lost 268.55 points, or 1.97 percent, dashing its three-day gaining...

South Korea's Samsung Electronics said Friday that second-quarter net profit grew 51 percent compared with the same quarter last year led by its liquid crystal display and mobile phone businesses. "We posted very...

Oil extended a rebound Friday, rising above $126 a barrel after several declines over the past two weeks, although the market remains weighed down by the belief that flagging fuel demand does not justify the recent high...

If you haven't heard of "Twilight," ask a teenager. The best-selling young-adult book isn't bound for the big screen until December, but fan frenzy for the film practically took over Comic-Con on Thursday. Hundreds of...

Country singer Chris Cagle has been found not guilty of domestic violence after his girlfriend refused to testify against him. Cagle and Jennifer Tant were both charged with domestic violence after police said they got...

A New York publisher is suing Foxy Brown and Lil' Kim, saying they were paid advances for books they never delivered. Simon & Schuster Inc. says Brown was paid $75,000 in 2005 to deliver an autobiography called...

Estelle Getty always liked a bargain. Despite her sitcom success with "The Golden Girls," son Carl Gettleman told friends and family gathered at a private memorial service Thursday that his mother always chose frugal...

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, MTV...

Mike Weir just finished saying that water-logged Glen Abbey could only get firmer and faster when a clap of thunder forced him to reconsider. "Maybe not with what's coming. Maybe not," Weir said. That was about the...

Peyton Manning's voice resonated through the Colts training camp Thursday _ from 90 miles away. The NFL's two-time MVP spent reporting day at home in Indianapolis, his valuable left knee immobilized after having surgery...

No team in baseball is playing as well as the Milwaukee Brewers and no hitter is on a tear like Ryan Braun. The left fielder hit a two-run homer in the ninth inning to cap his second straight four-hit game and...

Gil Meche's arms and hands were coated with sweat, his rhythm completely off from spending so much time trying to dry off. It took three innings, but Meche finally overcame the sweating _ and started pitching. Meche...

Nancy Lieberman savored every moment of her brief return to professional basketball, even throwing in a no-look pass. The 50-year-old Hall of Famer had two assists and two turnovers in the Detroit Shock's 79-61 loss to...

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....

China's booming Internet population has surpassed the United States to become the world's biggest, with 253 million people online despite government controls on Web use, according to government data reported Friday. ...

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...

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...

Microsoft's CEO defended the software maker's decision to invest heavily in its unprofitable online business, but shed minimal light Thursday on specific steps it will take to challenge Google in the wake of the failed...

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...

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...