‘Doomsday Clock’ moves closer to midnight
LONDON — The world is nudging closer to nuclear or environmental apocalypse, a group of prominent scientists warned Wednesday as it pushed the hand of its symbolic Doomsday Clock closer to midnight.
Mom who threw kids to their deaths in San Francisco Bay is ruled insane
SAN FRANCISCO — A young mother who claimed she tossed her three young sons in San Francisco Bay to send them to heaven was declared criminally insane Wednesday by a judge whose decision spared her a possible life sentence.
Pentagon chief Gates suggests he’ll request more U.S. troops in Afghanistan
BAGRAM AIR BASE, Afghanistan — The Taliban are on the attack in Afghanistan, and U.S. commanders want more troops to fight them — at the same time the military is straining under President Bush’s plans to send more to Iraq.
Ethics reform derailed in partisan dispute
WASHINGTON — Democrats’ hopes of starting off their control of the Senate with a sweeping commitment to ethics reform received a painful jolt Wednesday, their ethics and lobbying legislation sidetracked by a dispute with Republicans.
Family of man killed over accusation of molesting neighbor child sues girl’s father
NEW HAVEN, Conn. — An attorney accused of killing a man he thought had molested his daughter has been hit with a $5 million lawsuit by the victim’s family.
Secret court to oversee domestic spying program
WASHINGTON — The Bush administration agreed Wednesday to let a secret but independent panel of federal judges oversee the government’s controversial domestic spying program. Officials say the secret court has already approved at least one request for monitoring.
Cal senators taking different approaches on global warming
WASHINGTON — California Sens. Dianne Feinstein and Barbara Boxer are embracing two different approaches to fighting global warming as the new Democrat-led Congress prepares to take action on the issue.
2 National Guardsmen arrested, accused of selling gear on eBay
CHAMPAIGN, Ill — Two National Guardsmen who served in Iraq have been arrested, accused of illegally selling thousands of dollars of stolen military gear — from night-vision equipment to body armor — on eBay.
LA man condemns release of men arrested in stepdaughter’s death
LOS ANGELES — Allan Maxwell still struggles to understand how a stray bullet could pierce the wall of his family kitchen, striking his 9-year-old stepdaughter in the head.
Civil lawsuit accuses Kuwaiti diplomat of making slaves out of his domestic help
McLEAN, Va. — A Kuwaiti diplomat and his wife regularly beat and abused three domestic workers who were kept under conditions akin to slavery for months before they escaped, according to a civil lawsuit filed Wednesday.
Cancer deaths in U.S. drop for the second year in a row
ATLANTA — The tide has turned in the nation’s battle against cancer.
New analysis concludes Napoleon died of stomach cancer, not arsenic poisoning
NEW YORK — Napoleon Bonaparte died a more prosaic death than some people would like to think, succumbing to stomach cancer rather than arsenic poisoning, according to new research into what killed the French emperor.
Iranian president condemns his critics over nuclear program
8 a.m. TEHRAN, Iran -- President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said Thursday that Iran was prepared for any possibility in the standoff with the West over its nuclear activities - a tough reaction to a U.S. military buildup in the Gulf meant as a warning to Tehran.
