The crystal ball has dropped and confetti has showered the crowd of hundreds of thousands of revelers in Times Square who are greeting 2010 with cheers.With hugs and...

Jubilant gay couples have rung in the New Year in New Hampshire with wedding vows to celebrate the state's new law legalizing same-sex marriage.At midnight, New Hamp...

Today is Friday, Jan. 1, the 1st day of 2010. There are 364 days left in the year. Today is New Year's Day.Today's Highlight in History:On Jan. 1, 1863, Presi...

President Barack Obama is wishing the nation a happy New Year with "brighter days ... ahead of us."Obama said in a posting on the White House's Web site that 2009 wa...

President Barack Obama's pick to lead the Transportation Security Administration has provided Congress inconsistent reports about — and regrets for — running background...

Seattle officials are backpedalling on a plan to name a new park in honor of a sister city better known these days as the Italian community where an American student was co...

Reclusive Irish singer Van Morrison said Thursday that a computer hacker planted a false report on his Web site claiming he had fathered a fourth child at the age of 64 wit...

Pulitzer Prize-winning foreign correspondent William Tuohy has died at 83.Tuohy's stepson Adam Wheeler says the veteran reporter who worked for the Los Angeles Times...

As of Thursday, Dec. 31, 2009, at least 861 members of the U.S. military had died in Afghanistan, Pakistan and Uzbekistan as a result of the U.S. invasion of Afghanistan in...

Police say a man who appeared in the Discovery Channel show "Deadliest Catch" is wanted for three bank robberies in Oregon and has been arrested in Illinois.Police i...

The company behind Sean "Diddy" Combs' clothing line says it has a looming problem at its flagship New York City store — a scaffold that has been hanging over the shop fo...

A California judge on Thursday ruled that Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger had abused his discretion in ordering furloughs of state workers, dealing a blow to the administration'...

Janitors who clean Delta and United airlines planes at Boston's Logan International Airport have gone on strike.The more than 100 Aramark Corp. employees clean toile...

A woman accused of helping her husband and stepson torture and kill a 20-year-old Ohio man was charged Thursday with first-degree murder, and prosecutors said she admitted ...

President Barack Obama went golfing on New Year's Eve. The president hit the links at Mid-Pacific Country Club in the same Honolulu suburb of Kailua where he's renting a be...

Hundreds of thousands of revelers gathered in chilly weather Thursday in Times Square to usher in the new decade and say goodbye to 10 years marred by war, recession, terro...

Police say someone tried to blow up a gang task force building in Southern California by piping in natural gas.Police say two officers from the Riverside County-base...

Two people died in separate collisions with Northern California commuter trains Thursday, making 2009 the deadliest year for Caltrain since 1995.Caltrain spokeswoman...

The grandson of Walt Disney has pleaded not guilty to drug and gun charges in Los Angeles.Patrick Disney Miller was being held in lieu of $550,000 bail after his arr...

The wife and stepmother of two men accused of torturing and killing a 20-year-old Ohio man was charged Thursday with first-degree murder in the case, and prosecutors said s...

Santa Monica police say a 19-year-old British woman missing since Dec. 18 has been found safe.Police Sgt. Jay Trisler says officers received a tip Thursday and found...

An Alachua County Sheriff's Office corrections officer who acknowledged being a member of the Ku Klux Klan has been fired for belonging to a subversive or terrorist organiz...

U.S. security chiefs briefed President Barack Obama on Thursday about missteps in the lead-up to the attempted Detroit jetliner bombing as lawmakers joined the White House ...

A tugboat captain and second mate have been relieved of duty after their vessel ran aground on the same reef as the Exxon Valdez 20 years ago.The tug Pathfinder was ...

The Fort Hood mass shooting suspect's attorney says his client is treated more harshly than other soldiers suspected of crimes.Attorney John Galligan says Maj. Nidal...

The stock market closed out a remarkable 2009 with a loss as investors bet the improving economy will lead the government to pull back on its stimulus measures. But stocks ...

The anthrax spores that infected a New Hampshire woman are the same strain as spores found on an electrical outlet and two drums used at a gathering she attended in early D...

Police said Thursday they do not believe the boyfriend of a missing 19-year-old British woman had anything to do with her disappearance during their Southern California vac...

President Barack Obama was briefed Thursday on how a 23-year-old Nigerian with suspected terrorist ties almost succeeded in a Christmas Day airline bombing and how to preve...

The Montana Supreme Court said Thursday that nothing in state law prevents patients from seeking physician-assisted suicide, making Montana the third state that will allow ...

Frito the llama defied his name and didn't get eaten.Lou Centrella seemed sure that was Frito's fate after a mountain lion killed another of his llamas on Sunday. Fr...

Cruising through the darkness in rough seas, the USS Ross encountered a rogue wave that smashed into the destroyer's bow, sending a shudder along the entire ship that knock...

Budget woes mean couples who want to tie the knot at one Maryland courthouse on New Year's Eve are out of luck.Dec. 31 is usually the second busiest day, after Valen...

The Montana Supreme Court says nothing in state law prevents patients from seeking physician-assisted suicide, paving the way for the procedure.A year ago, a state D...

Focus on the Family founder James Dobson says he will host a new daily radio show with his son Ryan in 2010.Dobson announced the new show, to be called "James Dobson...

A federal lawsuit filed on behalf of 500 juveniles in New York state detention seeks to ban violent physical restraint and to require better mental health treatment....

About 10 years ago the government set some lofty health goals for the nation to reach by 2010.So how did we do? By many measures, not so hot. There are more obese Am...

The Montana Supreme Court says nothing in state law prevents patients from seeking physician-assisted suicide, paving the way for the procedure.A year ago, a state D...

A 9-year-old Pennsylvania boy has died two days after a tree fell on him at a nature camp in Maryland.Carroll County spokeswoman Vivian Laxton says Noah Asid of Hano...

A teen trying to rob an espresso stand in northern Idaho met his match in a gun toting barista.Police say the 17-year-old confronted Sunshine Espresso owner Michelle...

Hundreds of thousands of revelers in Times Square celebrate the start of 2010....

The car industry got a historic makeover in 2009, most of it not for the better.General Motors and Chrysler almost went broke and now largely owe their survival to b...

Authorities in Florida say military jets escorted down a small plane being flown by a French pilot, who was advised to not get behind the controls of the aircraft because h...

Health officials say swine flu was widespread in only four states last week, indicating the fall wave of illness is still declining.Swine flu was widespread in seven...

The year began with a harmonious glow at the inauguration of the first black president, as America marked a stunning victory over its racial demons."That lasted abou...

Out with the old and in with the — what?With the nation at war on two foreign fronts, the economy uncertain, terrorism a threat and environmental catastrophe on th...

Conservative talk show host Rush Limbaugh remains hospitalized in Hawaii after experiencing chest pains similar to a heart attack.That's according to Walter E. Willi...

Another lawsuit has been filed against a Las Vegas hospital, alleging emergency room personnel failed to treat a pregnant woman in labor.The two suits claim two diff...

A casino gaming commissioner killed by a former employee was about to leave his job and move back to Arizona because he didn't like being ordered to fire people, his wife s...

Colorado's minimum wage will drop slightly in the new year — the first decrease in any state's minimum wage since the federal minimum was adopted in 1938.Colorado'...

Officials say a New York-to-Paris flight carrying 180 passengers was diverted to Maine's Bangor International Airport when pilots reported engine trouble shortly after taki...

The Washington Times slashed its staff by more than 40 percent and will eliminate its sports section and most local coverage in 2010, shifting its focus to politics, busine...

AT&T says it will no longer sponsor Tiger Woods, joining Accenture and Gillette in dropping support for the golfer after numerous allegations of infidelities.AT&...

The new Ford Transit Connect has a strange name, a compact European delivery van appearance and a ceiling that's so tall, someone sitting in the driver's seat might only re...

Crowds, celebrities and cold temperatures — it's all you need for New Year's Eve in New York City.A light snow fell on Times Square early Thursday and temperatures...

Officials in Ohio will have to try again to sell a motorized bar stool from an unusual drunken driving case.The child support agency in central Ohio's Licking County...

As Ronak Ray hunted for his flight gate, he prepared for the prospect of a security guard peering through his clothes with a full body scanner. But Ray doesn't mind: what h...

Investigators say some kind of religious ritual may be behind the discovery of the remains of 400 to 500 dead animals at a Philadelphia house.Officer George Bengal, ...

President Barack Obama is to receive a preliminary report Thursday on how a 23-year-old Nigerian with suspected terrorist ties managed to board a plane he is accused of att...

A county jailer in Florida has been fired after telling investigators he was an officer of the Ku Klux Klan.An internal affairs report by the Alachua (ah-LAH-chu-AH)...

The deaths of two men in one of a string of fires last weekend have been ruled homicides by the Massachusetts Medical Examiner's office.Dr. Andrew Sexton on Wednesda...

Stocks are pointing to a mixed open ahead of a report on employment and as investors look to wrap up a strong year for the market.Trading is expected to be quiet Thu...

A Vermont man has admitted in a plea deal to killing an 18-year-old girl in 1982.Forty-seven-year-old Theodore Caron of Barre was arrested in February in the strangu...

Taliban claim blasts that killed 8 Americans, 5 CanadiansKABUL (AP) — The Taliban claimed responsibility Thursday for a suicide bombing at a base in eastern Afghan...

In its annual effort to protect the Queen's English, a Michigan university is insisting that "shovel ready" be buried, "tweet" be tossed and all "czars" be banished....

Wet and active weather was expected to develop across the Eastern U.S. on New Year's Eve.A storm system along the Southeast and Mid-Atlantic coasts was forecast to p...

Prosecutors have accused a Texas high school assistant principal of soliciting sex from students using text messages.James Camden McKinney was arrested last month on...

Dec. 16Time magazine names Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke its Person of the Year.Dec. 18U.N. climate summit in Copenhagen ends with modest accor...

As Ronak Ray hunted for his flight gate, he prepared for the prospect of a security guard peering through his clothes with a full body scanner. But Ray doesn't mind: what h...

Jeffry Burr and Neil Blair are just hours from their wedding, but there are no typical prenuptial jitters. After all, this is the third time they've exchanged vows.T...

President Barack Obama is to receive a preliminary report Thursday on how a 23-year-old Nigerian with suspected terrorist ties managed to board a plane he is accused of att...

Conservative talk show host Rush Limbaugh is resting comfortably in a Hawaii hospital after suffering chest pains while on vacation, his radio program says."Rush app...

Evangelical pastor Rick Warren appealed to parishioners at his Orange County megachurch Wednesday to help fill a $900,000 deficit by the first of the year.Warren mad...

Conservative radio talk show host Rush Limbaugh was taken to a hospital with chest pains on Wednesday and was in serious condition, a Honolulu television station reported.<...

Evangelical pastor Rick Warren is begging parishioners at his Southern California megachurch to cough up $900,000 before Jan. 1 to keep the parish out of the red.In ...

Using the White House's blog, a top aide to President Barack Obama on Wednesday dismissed former Vice President Dick Cheney's criticism about Obama's approach to dealing wi...

Republican attorneys general in 13 states say congressional leaders must remove Nebraska's political deal from the federal health care reform bill or face legal action, acc...