It was only midmorning on the first day of absentee voting, but 200 people had already shown up to cast their ballots at the clerk's office in Bernalillo County, New Mexico's most populous. "All indications are folks...

John McCain's proposal to buy up bad home mortgages would use nearly half the $700 billion from the recent Wall Street bailout package to assist Americans directly, instead of indirectly by rescuing the nation's...

Small details matter to rancher Ed Tinsley, the Republican nominee in the 2nd Congressional District race. He'll pore over contracts, analyzing fine print to ensure he understands what he's studying. It's a trait...

!!-- pobj:WIRAC501-0215081527 -->State regulators say a Willie Horton-style campaign ad that suggested the first black member of the Wisconsin Supreme Court freed a child molester played so loose with the truth that the...

Democrat Barack Obama and Republican John McCain tried to rectify perceived shortcomings and played against type at key moments in Tuesday's presidential debate, but neither seemed to change a campaign dynamic that...

Defense Secretary Robert Gates and his Ukrainian counterpart acknowledged Wednesday that there is much work to do to overcome the political unrest in Ukraine and its limited public support for the nation's NATO...

A homeless shelter here is going way beyond providing hot meals and a bed for the night. The St. Patrick Center this week opened a new small business incubator and trades training center with a goal of helping the...

Congressional investigators are looking at a federal government agency's quick approvals for oil and gas drilling in Utah, a development applauded by environmental groups but condemned by industry executives as...

The National Hurricane Center says Hurricane Norbert has strengthened to a Category 3 storm in the Pacific Ocean. And the hurricane is forecast to hit Mexico's Baja California peninsula by the weekend. Norbert's...

Perennial college football powerhouse Penn State University is promoting glossy trading cards similar to those collected by sports fans. Only, there's no card for Hall of Fame football coach Joe Paterno or any of his...

A New York-based human rights group accused Jordan's security services Wednesday of carrying out widespread torture in the country's jails. The Human Rights Watch report comes a year after the U.N. special rapporteur...

A small airplane crashed and caught fire Wednesday as it tried to land in foggy weather at a tiny mountain airport near Mount Everest, killing 18 people, including 16 tourists from Germany, Australia and Nepal,...

A police official says at least 10 people died when an apartment building collapsed in the Egyptian port city of Alexandria. The police official says at least six other residents were wounded when the six-story...

Police say they are searching an apartment in the northern English city of Leeds as part of the investigation into the London bombings on July 7, 2005. The search is expected to take several days. No one has been...

Police fired tear gas and used batons to beat back union activists demanding the reinstatement of Mauritania's deposed president. Four of the country's unions went ahead with the unauthorized march Tuesday, violating...

Ford-owned carmaker Volvo Cars said Wednesday it will slash more than 13 percent of its work force because of falling global demand. Citing a "rapidly deteriorating market situation in the global car industry," the...

The British government said Wednesday it would partly nationalize major banks, with taxpayers taking a share stake in a bid to shore up a financial sector that many investors feared could not survive the global turmoil...

A meltdown in confidence strangled Asian stock markets Wednesday on accelerating fears that the widening financial crisis could spawn a global recession. After a miserable day on Wall Street when the Dow Jones...

Shares of Toyota Motor Corp. plunged Wednesday following a major business daily report that Toyota's operating profit would fall 40 percent this fiscal year through March. But Toyota Senior Managing Director Yoichiro...

Japan's stock market plummeted 9.4 percent _ its biggest one-day drop in 21 years _ Wednesday as investors rushed for the exits on deepening fears over the global financial crisis. The benchmark Nikkei 225 index...

A phalanx of white-coated doctors endorses Camel cigarettes in an exhibit that opened this week at the New York Public Library. Movie stars and baseball greats are there, too, in tobacco ads dating from the 1920s to...

Former Blink-182 drummer Travis Barker, who always has been afraid of flying, says he's glad to be alive after suffering severe burns in a fiery plane crash last month. "I hate planes," Barker said in an interview with...

Linkin Park is canceling its China tour because lead singer Chester Bennington has suffered a back injury. The band didn't say Tuesday how Bennington suffered the injury. A statement posted on Linkin Park's official...

Actor Nick Nolte jumped out a window and used a hose to fight a fire that broke out in his Malibu home Tuesday, authorities said. The 67-year-old actor scraped his arm and inhaled some smoke but was not hospitalized,...

Rocco DiSpirito will serve seconds on "Dancing with the Stars." The celebrity chef came in last place on the ABC dancing competition, but he wasn't dismissed because injured contestant Misty May-Treanor dropped out of...

HAMPSTEAD, N.C. (BP)--For perhaps the first time in my life since the final exam, I wish I had paid more attention in Economics 101. About all I can now recall is that economics has something to do with guns and butter...

MONTGOMERY, Ala. (BP)--Many babies admitted to this neonatal intensive care unit —- those born unexpectedly early, some even before their own baby showers -— receive their first gifts from Dana Gallahair."Yes, I'm the...

KALISPELL, Mont. (BP)--A new executive director, new strategy and newly revived newspaper were key highlights of the Montana Southern Baptist Convention's Oct. 1-2 annual meeting at Easthaven Baptist Church in...

WASHINGTON (BP)--The Bush administration has cut off federal aid to a leading international provider of abortions because of the organization's alleged support of China's coercive population control program.The U.S....

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (BP)--A proposed constitutional marriage amendment in California has taken a lead in a new statewide poll, days after supporters of the proposal began airing their first statewide television ad.The...

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...

Get moving: New exercise guidelines released Tuesday set a minimum sweat allotment for good health. For most adults, that's 2 1/2 hours a week. How much physical activity you need depends largely on age and level of...

Using a fan to circulate air seemed to lower the risk of sudden infant death syndrome in a study of nearly 500 babies, researchers reported Monday. Placing babies on their backs to sleep is the best advice for...

Using a fan to circulate air seemed to lower the risk of sudden infant death syndrome in a study of nearly 500 babies, researchers reported Monday. Placing babies on their backs to sleep is the best advice for...

Most people over 75 should stop getting routine colon cancer tests, according to a government health task force that also rejected the latest X-ray screening technology. The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force _ in a...

The University of Minnesota has concluded that falsified data were used in a 2001 article published by one of its researchers on adult stem cells. The school is asking that the article be retracted. The conclusion...

Will NASA's flagship mission to Mars fly next year? The space agency could decide as early as Friday whether to cancel, delay or proceed with plans to launch a nuclear-powered, SUV-size rover to the red planet. NASA...

Research in Motion Ltd., maker of the BlackBerry, is taking on Apple Inc. with a touch-screen phone that puts a new twist on the technology. RIM is known for its e-mail-oriented phones with large keypads. With the new...

Google Inc., the leader in online search and advertising, is muscling in on video game territory _ though it won't exactly be in the form of a shoot 'em up game. Google was set to announce Wednesday it is launching the...

Online video leader YouTube has opened up its version of a home shopping network in its latest effort to wring more revenue from its massive audience and justify the $1.76 billion that Google Inc. paid for the site two...

Severe weather was to continue sweeping across the Plains on Tuesday, while thunderstorms slipped over the Mississippi Valley and high pressure kept the interior West clear. A cold front was to extend from the Upper...

Rain clouds stretched from North Dakota to Texas early Monday, while storms also made for a wet commute in the Northwest. The Northeast was to stay cool. Low pressure will sweep through the central portion of the...

Most of the East was expected to remain dry Sunday, while showers and thunderstorms were forecast for the northern Rockies, the Great Basin, the Southwest and the central and southern Plains. Snow and rain were...

Light rain and clouds covered parts of the West on Saturday as low pressure moved across the region, also generating periods of heavy rainfall with isolated thunderstorms. It was cooler than usual in Southern...

Showers were forecast across the Pacific Northwest and Northern California on Saturday and a winter storm warning was issued for parts of Northern California, Utah and Colorado. Mostly sunny skies and cool conditions...