Some Connecticut Democrats believe Sen. Joe Lieberman's colleagues in Washington let him off the hook for backing John McCain, and say it's time for them to consider a possible censure by the state party. The U.S....

The largest-ever recount in Minnesota history has more than just voters in the state biting their nails. An army of election workers was to begin a statewide recount Wednesday of more than 2.9 million ballots to...

The first black man elected U.S. president is poised to name Washington lawyer Eric Holder as the nation's first black attorney general _ a historic appointment but one with some potential political problems over a 2001...

The election of Barack Obama has delivered a decisive victory to "fair traders," mainly Democrats and their allies who for years have contended that the free-trade policies of past administrations were recipes for...

Possible Republican presidential candidates already are making Iowa a winter destination four years before the leadoff caucuses, but some wonder if the state Republican Party's drift to the right could hurt its...

Many women recoil at the thought of baring their arms in sleeveless dresses or blouses, but not Michelle Obama _ half of the fabulously fit new first couple. Both President-elect Barack Obama and the future first lady...

Capitol Hill Democrats say President-elect Barack Obama appears to have settled on Congressional Budget Office chief Peter Orszag to be his budget director. It's among the toughest jobs in Washington, but Democratic...

An Ohio Democrat elected earlier this month to succeed the late U.S. Rep. Stephanie Tubbs Jones has also won a special congressional election in Cleveland to fill the final weeks of Tubbs Jones' unexpired term. ...

The mayor of an eastern Idaho town where second- and third-grade students on a school bus chanted "assassinate Obama!" after the Nov. 4 election has publicly apologized, saying there's no excuse for such behavior. ...

!!-- AUDIO:295,294,293,292 -->A pilot can be heard on newly released cockpit recordings warning air traffic controllers that his plane was "going off the end" of the runway, the last words captured before the private...

The Border Patrol has finished installing razor-sharp barbed wire atop a 5-mile stretch of fence on the Mexican border, an addition critics call heavy-handed and an eyesore. Agents say the concertino wire on a violent...

Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton drew about 18 million votes as a presidential candidate. But that doesn't necessarily count for much in the Senate, where seniority rules, and so far not in her favor. In recent weeks,...

!!-- pobj:WATW105-1101081243 -->Ed Levesque heads into the Wenatchee Mountains every weekend with the same fever that lured his forebears here during the gold rush of the 1870s. "There's lots of gold in this creek,"...

Detroit's Big Three automakers are running out of time in their quest to convince skeptical lawmakers that Congress should throw them a $25 billion lifeline. Top executives with General Motors, Ford and Chrysler will...

Sen. Ted Stevens' election defeat marks the end of an era in which he held a commanding place in Alaska politics while wielding power on some of the most influential committees in Congress. It also moves Senate...

Hayden Elder's beaver pelt cowboy hat delivered his message to lawmakers as starkly as anything else did: The proposed $25 billion federal loan to keep the U.S. auto industry breathing is a local issue. Elder, who...

A suspected U.S. missile strike hit a village deep inside Pakistani territory Wednesday, officials said, killing six alleged militants and indicating American willingness to pursue insurgents beyond Pakistan's lawless...

Separate bands of pirates hijacked two ships and captured their crews, while yet another opened fire on an Indian navy ship before being driven off _ clear signs that the brigands roaming the Gulf of Aden are becoming...

Boston Red Sox pitcher Tim Wakefield was the inspiration for a 16-year-old girl who has been drafted to play for a Japanese pro baseball team. Now, he's hoping maybe she will teach him a thing or two. "Hope I can see...

Researchers studying a rare and endangered species of penguin have uncovered a previously unknown species that disappeared about 500 years ago. The research suggests that the first humans in New Zealand hunted the...

A new witness has come forward in the 2005 disappearance of American teenager Natalee Holloway in Aruba, and prosecutors said Tuesday they are seeking more evidence against the only remaining suspect. A woman told...

Russian lawmakers have approved the second reading of a bill extending the presidential term from four to six years. The bill was proposed by Russian President Dmitry Medvedev. It has been seen by many as a step toward...

Young Tibetan leaders at a summit of exiles are pushing the Himalayan region to declare independence from China, while the older guard continues to support a more conciliatory approach toward Beijing, participants said....

The Indian navy says its warship dedicated to fighting pirates has successfully fought off an attempted pirate attack in the Gulf of Aden. An official press release says a suspected pirate ship with two speed boats in...

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration opened an office Wednesday in China's capital _ its first outside the United States _ as part of a new global strategy to ensure the safety of trillions of dollars of imports. ...

Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen said Wednesday poor countries like his must continue speaking with one voice in the Doha round of global trade talks to ensure their competitiveness with developed countries. He also...

Most Asian and European markets slid into the red Wednesday as weak earnings from financial firms, lower commodity prices and concerns about ailing U.S. automakers reinforced pervasive gloom about the global economy. ...

A senior International Monetary Fund official has praised Kazakhstan, an early victim of the global credit crunch, for its handling of the crisis. The oil-rich Central Asian nation has taken drastic measures to...

Russia spent $57.5 billion from its foreign currency reserves in September and October to support the declining ruble during the financial crisis, the Central Bank chief revealed Wednesday. In addition to fluctuations...

If Dreamworks Chief Executive Jeffrey Katzenberg is right, you'll soon be out shopping for the latest in designer glasses. 3D glasses that is. Hollywood studios such as Dreamworks, Walt Disney and 20th Century Fox are...

Woolworths Group PLC's shares fell 13 percent Wednesday after the company confirmed it is considering selling its retail business. "The board can confirm that it is in preliminary discussions regarding a possible offer...

While two of the Detroit Three have no new models to unveil at this year's Los Angeles Auto Show, Ford Motor Co. stayed in and will show off a revamped midsize car that is an example of how serious it is about gas...

Cody Linley won't be graduating "Dancing with the Stars." The 18-year-old "Hannah Montana" actor and his professional partner, Julianne Hough, were eliminated Tuesday from ABC's popular dancing competition. The pair...

Money showers the stage like confetti in "Road Show," the exhilarating Stephen Sondheim-John Weidman musical that finally has surfaced in New York after a long, arduous journey that included several different titles,...

A mural by Mexican artist Rufino Tamayo _ one of five exhibited in the United States still in private hands _ was sold Tuesday for nearly $7 million at an auction of Latin American art. "America," measuring 13 feet by...

Marion "Suge" Knight is facing criminal charges in Las Vegas, stemming from an incident in which police found the hip hop mogul allegedly beating his girlfriend just off a busy thoroughfare. Knight is charged with two...

First Harvey Fierstein. Now Marissa Jaret Winokur. Winokur will return to "Hairspray" Dec. 9-Jan. 4 for the final four weeks of its Broadway run at the Neil Simon Theatre. She will join Fierstein, her original co-star,...

A new national tour of "Dreamgirls" will kick off a year from now at Harlem's Apollo Theater, which is where the opening scene of the musical takes place. The revival, directed and choreographed by Bobby Longbottom,...

Sean "Diddy" Combs is becoming a prosecutor _ at least on television. CBS says the rapper has agreed to a two-episode appearance on "CSI: Miami." The network says Combs will portray a prosecutor who doesn't get along...

Michael Jackson might be too sick to travel to London to testify in a suit claiming he owes an Arab sheik $7 million, the pop star's attorney said Tuesday. Jackson is seeking to give his testimony by video link from...

RICHMOND, Va. (BP)--The discouraging news headlines just keep coming for Christians in London (profiled in today's edition of Baptist Press) and the rest of the United Kingdom:-- "Government plays down Christmas for...

HENDERSONVILLE, Tenn. (BP)--Messengers to the 134th annual meeting of the Tennessee Baptist Convention, held Nov. 11-12 at First Baptist Church, Hendersonville, Tenn., approved a new missions partnership with West...

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (BP)--Nearly 500 messengers gathered for the 102nd annual meeting of the Illinois Baptist State Association at the Crowne Plaza Hotel in Springfield Nov. 12-13, voting to increase Cooperative Program...

ROANOKE, Va. (BP)--The Baptist General Association of Virginia, acknowledging an uncertain economic environment, approved a reduced budget for 2009 during a quiet annual meeting that drew about 1,200 people to the...

EL CAJON, Calif. (BP)--Adoption of a $12.2 million budget, a resolution affirming the passage of Proposition 8 and election of a new president highlighted business at the 68th annual meeting of the California Southern...

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (BP)--Some moderate Republicans are urging the party to jettison social conservatives in order to reclaim the White House and Congress, but former presidential candidate Mike Huckabee believes it would...

LONDON (BP)--When British Baptist missionary Boyd Williams arrived home from Brazil 30 years ago to lead London's Southall Baptist Church, he got a rude awakening.The Southall area was changing, with many south Asians...

LONDON (BP)--Eyes brighten when Southern Baptist missionary Peter Le steps into Las Vegas Nails, one of the scores of Vietnamese-owned nail salons in east London's Hackney district.Le isn't there for a manicure -- just...

Doctors have given a woman a new windpipe with tissue grown from her own stem cells, eliminating the need for anti-rejection drugs. "This technique has great promise," said Dr. Eric Genden, who did a similar transplant...

The dietary supplement ginkgo, long promoted as an aid to memory, didn't help prevent dementia and Alzheimer's disease in the longest and largest test of the extract in older Americans. "We don't think it has a future...

If breast cancer runs in the family, women can be at high risk even if they test free of the disease's most common gene mutations, sobering new research shows. The genes BRCA1 and BRCA2 are linked with particularly...

What was left of Dan Sivia's ankle simply didn't work. He limped through his 30s by sheer force of will, one foot almost completely immobile from repeated broken bones and surgeries. Then a doctor offered his last hope:...

!!-- pobj:NY335-0409081228 -->What's the healthiest city in America? It appears to be Burlington, Vt. Vermont's largest city is tops among U.S. metropolitan areas by having the largest proportion of people _ 92 percent...

As a portly woman plodded ahead of him on the sidewalk, the obese mayor of America's fattest and unhealthiest city explained why health is not a big local issue. "It doesn't come up," said David Felinton, 5-foot-9 and...

Vitamin C or E pills do not help prevent cancer in men, concludes the same big study that last week found these supplements ineffective for warding off heart disease. The public has been whipsawed by good and bad news...

!!-- pobj:NY335-0409081228 -->What's the healthiest city in America? It appears to be Burlington, Vt. Vermont's largest city is tops among U.S. metropolitan areas by having the largest proportion of people _ 92 percent...

!!-- AUDIO:221,223,222,314,313 -->Flight controllers were revamping plans Wednesday for the remaining spacewalks planned during space shuttle Endeavour's visit to the international space station, after a crucial tool...

One of the two Democrats on the Federal Communications Commission is calling on the agency to investigate whether a new electronic measurement system used by Arbitron Inc. to track radio station listenership is unfairly...

Google Inc. has opened an online photo gallery that will feature millions of images from Life magazine's archives that have never been seen by the public before. The new service, available at !a...

Facebook plans to start charging for verifying applications built for the social network _ an optional process that has upset some developers despite the company's assurances it will bring plenty of positive benefits. ...

Mobile officials are considering providing free, wireless Internet services in the downtown district, joining the ranks of other cities with free wi-fi for roving laptop users on Main Street. Mobile spokeswoman Barbara...

With Jerry Yang quitting as Yahoo Inc.'s chief executive, the Internet company's board will confront pivotal questions as it looks for a new leader. Should Yahoo swallow its pride and try to strike a buyout deal with...

Taking a big hop forward in marsupial research, scientists say they have unraveled the DNA of a small kangaroo named Matilda. And they've found the Aussie icon has more in common with humans than scientists had thought....

If you aren't sure which books to give that avid reader on your gift list this holiday season, how about considering every title she could name? BookSwim, an online book rental and delivery service, offers gift...

Heavy snow and blustery winds were forecast for the Great Lakes region and the Northeast on Tuesday, while rain was expected in the mid-Atlantic and chilly temperatures were predicted in the South. The heaviest snow in...

Cold, wintry winds from the north was to push across the warm waters of the Great Lakes on Monday, triggering lake-effect snowfall across areas of Michigan, Indiana and Ohio. The heaviest amounts of snowfall was...

Wintry weather blanketed parts of the Midwest with snow and drenched New England with showers Sunday morning. Northern Michigan was placed under a snow advisory, with heavy accumulation expected. Areas in Ohio...

Unseasonably warm temperatures along the West Coast and into the Southwest were to provide no support to firefighting crews in Southern California on Sunday. Santa Ana winds there were to continue to fuel the flames. ...

A strong low pressure system brought varying forms of precipitation to the eastern half of the nation on Saturday. A cold front resulted in late-season tornado watches from the Mid-Atlantic coast to New York, and snow...

Wet conditions were forecast for the East Coast on Saturday. A cold front was to extend from Florida up to Pennsylvania, while a warm front was to extend up through to New England. Heavy rainfall was to move through...

A storm was expected to dump snow, sleet and rain on the Rockies and parts of the Plains and the Midwest on Friday, while cloudy conditions were forecast for much of the East Coast and the West Coast was likely to be...

A storm was expected to pelt the Rockies and northern Plains with heavy snow, sleet, rain and strong winds on Thursday, while wet weather was forecast along the East Coast. After days of stormy weather, the Pacific...