US: Vietnam backsliding on human rights
The Obama administration expressed concern Thursday about Vietnam's "backsliding" on human rights and asserted that advancing individual freedoms is ...

Officials: Okla. teen had history of running away
A teen who stole medication and a cache of weapons and ammunition from his parents' home in Oklahoma had a history of running away, but authorities ...

Judge frees man convicted of killing NY rabbi
A man who spent more than two decades behind bars for the cold-blooded slaying of a Brooklyn rabbi was released Thursday into the arms of his weeping ...
No Powerball winner? Officials watch $320M jackpot
Viola Mourton buys a Powerball ticket every day. But with a $320 million jackpot that could grow in the next few days, she's upping her chances ...

Shivs, more on display at historic Philly prison
A mounted wooden fish. Dog figurines. Colorful soap carvings of clowns and Santa. A wallet made of interwoven cigarette packs. It sounds like a bad ...

Maine man gets 20 days in Zumba paid-sex case
An insurance agent who helped run a prostitution operation out of his mistress's Zumba studio and watched sex videos made with a hidden camera will ...
Mexico demands Sotheby's halt auction of artifacts
The Mexican government is demanding that Sotheby's auction house halt the planned sale of 51 pre-Columbian Mexican artifacts, arguing they are ...

Barbs of racism, anti-Semitism in NY school clash
School board meetings descend into shouting matches. Accusations of racism and anti-Semitism fly. Angry parents turn their backs on board members in ...
Iran says it's not opposed to direct talks with US
Iran is not opposed to direct talks with the U.S. to resolve its nuclear standoff with the West, the country's top leader said Thursday in comments ...

Parents of Newtown victim met with killer's father
The parents of one of the 20 first-graders killed in the Sandy Hook Elementary School massacre met with the gunman's father for more than an hour in ...
NY town: OK to boo, politely, at board meetings
A New York town's board members have decided it's OK to boo at their meetings — but only if it's done politely. The Riverhead board voted to ban ...

US pockets of protest persist after years of war
The protesters gather at noon every Friday in front of the Montpelier post office, sharing signs made up years ago to tell their little part of the ...
Police: Girl, 7, was asked to pepper spray workers
Police say a Philadelphia-area woman returned to a dollar store where she'd been banned and pepper-sprayed employees who tried to escort her out ...

Rescued subway worker looking forward to cold beer
A New York City subway construction worker who got stuck chest-deep in mud for nearly four hours says he's looking forward to having a beer, relaxing ...

Boeing worker mentors 'Barefoot Bandit' in prison
Jonathan Standridge and Colton Harris-Moore made an odd couple as they sat together in the visiting room of a Washington state prison one day last ...

US, Israel concerned about Iran plutonium reactor
While international diplomacy has focused on trying to prevent Iran from using enriched uranium to produce nuclear arms, concern is growing about ...

Arson convictions challenged over fire science
Ed Graf was given life in prison 25 years ago for killing his two stepsons by locking them in a backyard shed and setting it on fire.
Truck stolen by teen found at deadly robbery scene
A pickup truck that a 17-year-old Oklahoma boy stole from his parents' home along with guns and ammunition was found Wednesday at a deadly robbery ...

Ind. police: Child safe, bus slaying suspect dead
A man pulled a woman off a city bus in northern Indiana on Wednesday, fatally shot her and then took a 3-year-old boy hostage before a sniper killed ...

Homicides down, police overtime way up in Chicago
Hundreds of Chicago police officers are hitting the streets on overtime every night in dangerous neighborhoods, the latest tactic by Mayor Rahm ...
NYC prosecutors: Vacate conviction in rabbi murder
A man put behind bars for the 1990 killing of a Brooklyn rabbi was on the verge of freedom Wednesday after prosecutors told a judge they support ...
Stephen King, wife pledge $3M to Maine library
Stephen King and his wife have agreed to pay $3 million to overhaul their century-old hometown library in Maine, as long as $6 million is raised from ...

Lindh lawyer to push for 5 daily group prayers
A lawyer who helped American Taliban fighter John Walker Lindh and other Muslim inmates win the right to hold daily group prayers in a high-security ...

12-year-old boy arrested in Minn. School lockdown
A Minnesota school district locked down several buildings Wednesday after a 911 call that authorities later said was a prank, and a 12-year-old boy ...
Correction: Missouri-Missing Mom story
In late versions of a March 19 story about the disappearance and reemergence of a Missouri woman and her daughter, The Associated Press misspelled the ...