Barack Obama says he knows John McCain has asked supporters to tone down their attacks on him. But Obama says McCain's ideas are still wrong for the country. Obama said at a rally Saturday in Philadelphia that he...

Jailed political fundraiser Antoin "Tony" Rezko, the Chicago real estate developer who helped launch Barack Obama on his political career, is whispering secrets to federal prosecutors about corruption in Illinois and...

The politically charged investigation into Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin is over, and its conclusions are stinging. But the fallout, if any, might not come until Election Day. A legislative investigator found that Palin...

IN THE HEADLINES Report stings Palin over troopergate flap; Raw anger showing up in McCain crowds; candidate taking steps to minimize it; Leading in polls, Obama seeking to play it safe; Voter fraud accusations mar...

The anger is getting raw at Republican rallies and John McCain is acting to tamp it down. McCain was booed by his own supporters Friday when, in an abrupt switch from raising questions about Barack Obama's character, he...

Evangelist Billy Graham was hospitalized Saturday after tripping and falling over one of his dogs at his North Carolina home, a hospital spokeswoman said. The 89-year-old Graham was at Mission Hospital in Asheville...

The United States is dropping North Korea from a terrorism blacklist, The Associated Press has learned, in the latest attempt to salvage a nuclear disarmament deal before President Bush's term ends in January. The...

Alfred J. Gallodoro NEW YORK (AP) _ Alfred J. Gallodoro, a jazz musician who performed on the saxophone, clarinet and bass clarinet, has died. He was 95. Gallodoro died Saturday at his home in Oneonta in upstate New...

!!-- pobj:ORPOR501-1008030410 -->!!-- pobj:ORPOR502-1022030410 -->Pioneering Oregon winemaker David Lett, widely considered the father of Oregon's thriving pinot noir industry and a major force in winning worldwide...

A Japanese businessman accused of conspiring to have his wife murdered 27 years ago in Los Angeles has been found dead in an apparent suicide, less than 24 hours after he set foot in the continental United States to...

Police say two Arab-owned apartments were torched in the Israeli town of Acre amid clashes between Jews and Arabs. Police say Saturday rioters torched two empty apartments owned by Arabs in a predominantly Jewish...

President Robert Mugabe has laid claim to all key Cabinet posts and Zimbabwe's powerful state security apparatus in a direct challenge to a power-sharing agreement that has deadlocked over allocation of ministries. The...

A strong earthquake hit Russia's North Caucasus Saturday, an uncommon occurrence for the region, officials said. No damage or injuries were immediately reported. The U.S. Geological Survey said the quake hit around 1...

Austrian politician Joerg Haider, whose far-right rhetoric at times sounded sympathetic to the Nazis and contemptuous of Jews _ and at one point led to months of international isolation for the Alpine republic _ died...

When Indonesia's health minister stopped sending bird flu viruses to a research laboratory in the U.S. for fear Washington could use them to make biological weapons, Defense Secretary Robert Gates laughed and called it...

President Bush emerged from a meeting with foreign financial officials on Saturday and pledged a global response to the credit crisis that will lead toward a "path of stability and long-term growth." Bush announced no...

General Motors Corp. and Chrysler LLC have held preliminary talks about a merger or an acquisition of Chrysler by GM, according to published reports. The Wall Street Journal, citing people it described as familiar with...

Qwest Communications International Inc. says it has reached a tentative agreement for a four-year contract with a union representing about 20,000 employees. The company made the announcement early Saturday. Members of...

Gold and silver plummeted Friday after Wall Street posted another big loss and forced investors to dump holdings in precious metals to raise badly needed cash. Gold for December delivery fell $27.50, or 3.1 percent, to...

The Federal Communications Commission has sided with the National Football League in a long-running programming dispute with Comcast Corp., ruling that Comcast should carry the league's NFL Network on its popular...

Larry Hagman was reluctant to be on a new TV show called "Dallas" when he first read the script in the late 1970s, figuring there wouldn't be any money in it. But his wife persuaded him to give the role of conniving...

Angelina Jolie, an advocate of adoption, credits partner Brad Pitt with her decision to have biological children. In an interview with W magazine, Jolie says: "One of the life-changing things that he did, one of many,...

Late-night TV show hosts found humor in the presidential debate. A sampling from Friday night: ___ "A town in upstate New York is being accused of being biased because they sent out absentee ballots that say 'Barack...

!!-- pobj:ASIANYET707-1008081055 -->He's the kid who taught a world of youngsters how to spell "aardvark" _ and that's not all. He's Arthur, the 8-year-old aardvark with Philip Johnson glasses, who's back for a new...

Tim Robbins is known in Hollywood as an Academy Award-winning actor, director, activist and hockey fanatic. On Friday, he added comedian to his repertoire while getting a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. "I used to...

KANSAS CITY, Kan. (BP)--"I purchased the Love Dare book for my daughter and her husband. They saw it (Fireproof) Friday night and my son-in-law went to church today for the first time in about 5 years." A fellow church...

ALEXANDRIA, La. (BP)--"Opinion polls," someone once said, "measure the public's satisfaction with its ignorance." While that assessment might seem somewhat cynical, it is probably not too far from the truth. Which is...

EVANSTON, Ill. (BP)--Today's top Chicago Tribune headline screams, "All signs pointing to panic," and Matt Drudge crowns his webpage with the photo of a snarling bear. These are, indeed, tough bear-market times.But I'm...

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (BP)--"Fireproof" will open in 59 additional cities -- from Olympia, Wash., and Portland, Ore., to Binghamton, N.Y., and Fairmont, W.Va. -- this weekend thanks to its success during the first two...

NEW ORLEANS (BP)--New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary paused Oct. 7 to celebrate and remember the life, ministry and legacy of President Emeritus Landrum P. Leavell II.Leavell, who led the seminary from 1975-95,...

When drug makers made a surprise announcement this week that they no longer recommend cough and cold remedies for youngsters under 4, they didn't let on that it was the government's idea. And why age 4 rather than the...

One in four teen girls have rolled up their sleeves for the relatively new vaccine against cervical cancer, federal health officials said Thursday. The figures represent the government's first substantial study of...

A German farmer who received the world's first complete double arm transplant said Wednesday that incredulity gave way to joy when he woke from surgery to discover he had arms again. Karl Merk, who lost his arms in a...

Cells taken from men's testicles seem as versatile as the stem cells derived from embryos, researchers reported Wednesday in what may be yet another new approach in a burgeoning scientific field. The new type of stem...

Don't give over-the-counter cold remedies to kids under 4, drug companies said Tuesday. What sniffling little ones need, doctors said, are plenty of fluids and lots of tender, loving care. "The best thing a parent can...

On a bank of the Mohawk River, a windowless industrial building of corrugated steel hides something that could make floor lamps, bedside lamps, wall sconces and nearly every other household lamp obsolete. It's a...

NASA said Friday it will press ahead with plans to launch a supersized rover to Mars next year despite spiraling costs and schedule pressures. The decision to maintain the status quo _ at least for now _ came after the...

Now that Sony Corp. and Bertelsmann AG have broken off their troubled relationship, known as Sony BMG, the Japanese company hopes to harmonize its consumer electronics and its music, a duo that was badly out of sync. ...

When Yahoo Inc. co-founder and CEO Jerry Yang spurned Microsoft Corp.'s rich buyout offer this spring, he promised brighter days in Sunnyvale were just over the horizon. Now the market collapse has helped drive Yahoo's...

!!-- pobj:NYMG201-0813081216 -->!!-- pobj:NYMG204-0813081316 -->!!-- pobj:NYMG205-0813081309 -->On a bank of the Mohawk River, a windowless industrial building of corrugated steel hides something that could make floor...

Unseasonably cold temperatures, rain and snow were forecast for much of the West on Saturday, while showers and thunderstorms were expected in parts of the Southeast. Snow was likely across the Rockies and into...

Light snow fell in high elevations of the northern Rockies on Friday, with overnight accumulations of about 4 inches expected in some areas. High elevations of Nevada also got 1 to 2 inches of snow, while scattered...

A mixture of snow and rain was expected to continue falling over regions of the West on Friday as a strong trough of low pressure dips across the Central Great Basin and the Central Rockies. Measurable amounts of snow...

Strong storms buffeted the Southeast on Thursday, downing power lines and trees, pelting towns in Georgia and Florida with quarter-sized hail and spawning a tornado near Fargo, Georgia. Up north, cold fronts settled...

Gusty winds, rain and early season snow were forecast Thursday for parts of Washington, Oregon and Northern California as a strong storm system moves into the Northwest. Snow was expected only in the higher elevations...