Fireworks burst into the night sky above New York with a kaleidoscope of colors shooting 1,000 feet into the air on an Independence Day that began with the Statue of Libert...

Today is Sunday, July 5, the 186th day of 2009. There are 179 days left in the year.Today's Highlight in History:On July 5, 1865, William Booth founded the Sa...

John Schupp pulled his car onto a country road lined with half-grown corn. Dark clouds obscured the sun, and he couldn't tell which way pointed east or west. Thunder rumble...

Outgoing Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin on Saturday laid the groundwork to take on a larger, national role after leaving state government, citing a "higher calling" with the aim o...

Fireworks lit the night sky above New York with a kaleidoscope of colors shooting 1,000 feet into the air on an Independence Day that began with the Statue of Liberty's cro...

Evangelical megachurch pastor Rick Warren says the country's largest Islamic organization showed courage when it invited him to speak at its annual convention.Warren...

Former President George W. Bush was greeted by thunderous applause on the Fourth of July as he told thousands of spectators in a rural Oklahoma rodeo arena that the U.S. wa...

In temperament, Sean Parnell is the polar opposite of Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin.Palin, with her signature updo, glasses and bright wardrobe, has had a tenure marked by...

Fireworks lit the night sky above New York with a kaleidoscope of colors shooting 1,000 feet into the air on an Independence Day that began with the Statue of Liberty's cro...

Outgoing Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin on Saturday laid the groundwork to take on a larger, national role after leaving state government, citing a "higher calling" with the aim o...

As of Saturday, July 4, 2009, at least 642 members of the U.S. military had died in Afghanistan, Pakistan and Uzbekistan as a result of the U.S. invasion of Afghanistan in ...

As of Saturday, July 4, 2009, at least 4,322 members of the U.S. military had died in the Iraq war since it began in March 2003, according to an Associated Press count....

A truckload of fireworks exploded Saturday morning on a dock at a remote North Carolina island, killing two workers and critically injuring three others preparing for an In...

A lightning strike at a Fourth of July gathering in central Florida killed one person and 18 others were taken to hospitals, officials said Saturday.About 100 people...

The soldier who was photographed fighting the Taliban in his pink boxer shorts said Saturday he was glad to be back home in Texas after his yearlong deployment to Afghanist...

Police say a New York man has died after his boat capsized during a regatta on Long Island's Great South Bay.Suffolk County police say John Everitt was participating...

Credit the recession for staycations and bringing us more game-night parties at home. But also give it a shout for spurring more first dates.Economic woes, it seems,...

North Korea fires 7 ballistic missiles off eastern coast, flouting UN resolutionsSEOUL, South Korea (AP) — North Korea launched seven ballistic missiles Saturday i...

A dozen people have been arrested, and 33 pounds of heroin worth $30 million and stuffed inside Build-A-Bear toys has been seized in a drug bust in the Bronx.The arr...

Roland Martin will anchor a new Sunday public affairs show aimed at a black audience that will debut in September on the TV One network.The "Washington Watch" progra...

Joey Chestnut chomped down a record 68 hot dogs, capturing his third straight July Fourth hot-dog eating contest at Coney Island, an annual showcase for flamboyant hot dogg...

Former NFL quarterback Steve McNair, who led the famous Tennessee Titans drive that came a yard short of forcing overtime in the 2000 Super Bowl, was found dead Saturday wi...

A U.S.-trained scientist accused of being an al-Qaida operative was living freely in Pakistan and Afghanistan for portions of the five years before her arrest last year, a ...

A teenage girl shot while helping her father in their family's small furniture and appliance store died Saturday, becoming the fifth victim of a suspected serial killer ter...

Coroner: Teen girl shot in father's store has become 5th victim of suspected SC serial killer....

The Republican inheriting the job as Alaska governor from resigning Sarah Palin plans to seek a full term in office in 2010.Palin spokesman David Murrow says Lt. Gov...

The first visitors allowed into the Statue of Liberty's crown in nearly eight years made the arduous climb Saturday on an Independence Day journey laden with symbolism of f...

Three women donned scuba masks and jumped into the waters off Oahu's North Shore, floating inside a submerged cage as about a dozen sharks glided toward bloody fish scraps ...

Joey Chestnut chomped down a record 68 hot dogs, capturing his third straight July Fourth hot-dog eating contest at Coney Island, an annual showcase for flamboyant hot dogg...

California voters gave Arnold Schwarzenegger a single, blockbuster-sized mission when they sent him to Sacramento six years ago in an unprecedented election: Fix California...

The soldier who was photographed fighting the Taliban in his boxer shorts says he's glad to be back home in Texas after his yearlong deployment to Afghanistan — especiall...

Where is Sarah Palin?A day after surprising even her closest friends by announcing she would step down as Alaska governor more than a year before her term was up, th...

Former President George W. Bush, who has turned up in a handful of out-of-the-way places since leaving office, was set to spend part of Independence Day speaking at a remod...

Defense lawyers and a U.S. senator are criticizing comments made by Pittsburgh's U.S. attorney last month as her office dismissed fraud and theft charges against a noted pa...

John Fallan's trained eye scans rows of iceboxes brimming with tiger fish and shrimp in a Vietnamese supermarket, searching for one pesky fish that threatens the health of ...

A Transportation Security Administration agent was arrested at a New Jersey airport after authorities say she avoided a pre-flight screening and boarded a plane.Auth...

A sea turtle named after President Barack Obama that was rescued just before Inauguration Day has been set free on Independence Day.Obama the loggerhead sea turtle w...

"Cops & Doughnuts" is more than a punchline. It's now a bakery in Michigan — owned by nine full-time employees of the Clare Police Department.The newly renamed...

Reigning champ Joey Chestnut has logged his third consecutive win in Coney Island's annual hot dog eating contest with a world-record 68 franks.He defeated his archr...

A truckload of fireworks exploded Saturday morning on a remote North Carolina island dock, killing one worker and critically injuring four others preparing for an Independe...

Once the nation's most secure prison, the federal lockup in southern Illinois has housed everyone from spies to a Colombian druglord to dapper mob boss John Gotti.No...

As lawmakers in cash-strapped states wrestled this year with revenues that kept on falling, both campaign promises and long-standing reform efforts got pushed to the side. ...

With a fattened GI Bill covering full tuition and more, the number of veterans attending college this fall is expected to jump 30 percent from last year to nearly half a mi...

Authorities say a fireworks explosion on a North Carolina island only reachable by ferry has injured several people.Hyde County spokeswoman Jamie Tunnel says she isn...

By all accounts, Shiner beer shouldn't have made it this long. The Spoetzl Brewery ferments its brew in a one-stoplight town that's not on the way to anywhere, and much lar...

Roll up to an intersection in many places and the sign you see might not only tell you to stop, yield or turn in a certain direction, it might also feature unwanted ads for...

The first visitors allowed into the Statue of Liberty's crown in nearly eight years made the arduous climb Saturday on an Independence Day journey laden with symbolism of f...

Cynthia Mary Roberson is an unemployed mother who police say led her 12- and 14-year-old sons and their friends to commit at least 20 armed robberies and assaults, includin...

Last November, more than 60 percent of voters on the San Francisco Peninsula supported a $9.9 billion bond measure to help pay for a high-speed rail line between San Franci...

A low pressure system moving through the Central Plains on Saturday is forecast to kick up scattered showers and thunderstorms over the Upper Midwest and Mid-Mississippi Ri...

It might take Californians a puff or two to get their heads around an apparent contradiction recently enshrined in state law. The same marijuana smoke that doctors can reco...

"Many just accept that lame duck status, and they hit that road. They draw a paycheck. They kind of milk it. And I'm not going to put Alaskans through that." — Alaska Gov...

Even for a nonconformist, Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin defies political logic with her sudden, stunning announcement to leave office more than a year early.Supporters and...

A terrified rural South Carolina community hunkered down over the Fourth of July after the sheriff said a serial killer was on the loose, and longtime residents were remind...

A terrified rural South Carolina community hunkered down over the Fourth of July after the sheriff said a serial killer was on the loose, and longtime residents were remind...

_ 1992-1996 — Sarah Palin enters public life in Alaska, serving two terms on the Wasilla City Council._ 1996-2002 — Palin is elected Wasilla mayor, serves two te...

References to television pitchman Bill Mays' trademark image were everywhere at his funeral Friday near Pittsburgh.Most mourners wore stickers showing a cartoon imag...

Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin abruptly announced Friday she is resigning from office at the end of the month, a shocking move that rattled the Republican party but left open the ...