News

Jury selection begins in trial for ex-BP rig supervisor

NEW ORLEANS — A judge and attorneys questioned jurors Tuesday as a former BP rig supervisor went on trial for a misdemeanor pollution charge from… Continue reading

Sudden vacancy highlights stakes in presidential race

WASHINGTON — The presidential election just got real.The unexpected death of Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia — and the immediate declaration from Republicans that the… Continue reading

Who Obama might nominate to the Supreme Court

WASHINGTON — Republicans are near-unanimous in demanding that President Barack Obama leave it to his successor to nominate a candidate to fill the Supreme Court… Continue reading

A vistor to the Washington Monument walks past flags flying a half-staff in honor of Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia on a wintry President's Day on Monday in Washington.

Results in key cases could change with Scalia’s death

WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court abhors even numbers. But that’s just what the court will have to deal with, perhaps for many months, after the… Continue reading

A vistor to the Washington Monument walks past flags flying a half-staff in honor of Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia on a wintry President's Day on Monday in Washington.

Into the mosh pit: Republican campaign talk gets nastier

WASHINGTON — In 2011, eyebrows shot up when former vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin used a salty acronym — WTF — to mock the policies… Continue reading

Pope denounces exploitation of Mexico’s indigenous people

SAN CRISTOBAL DE LAS CASAS, Mexico — Pope Francis denounced the centuries-old exploitation and exclusion of Mexico’s indigenous people Monday and prayed before the tomb… Continue reading

In this Oct. 15, 2006 photo, Supreme Court Associate Justice Antonin Scalia speaks at the ACLU Membership Conference in Washington. On Saturday, the U.S. Marshals Service confirmed that Scalia has died at the age of 79.

Scalia, a life

WASHINGTON — Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia kept your attention, whether you liked him or not.He was a big personality who rather enjoyed the spotlight,… Continue reading

In this Oct. 15, 2006 photo, Supreme Court Associate Justice Antonin Scalia speaks at the ACLU Membership Conference in Washington. On Saturday, the U.S. Marshals Service confirmed that Scalia has died at the age of 79.

Young adults swipe right on Tinder, but is it just a game?

NEW YORK — Online dating services are now hip with young adults, but not always for dating.Credit mobile dating apps such as Tinder, which incorporate… Continue reading

In this March 28, 1978 photo, William Shatner, center, who plays Capt. James Kirk, and Leonard Nimoy, left, who plays Spock, attend a Paramount Studio press conference about the new "Star Trek" movie in Los Angeles. Shatner's latest memoir, "Leonard: My Fifty-Year Friendship with a Remarkable Man," is out Tuesday.

Q&A: Shatner talks Nimoy friendship in new book

LOS ANGELES — The walls and shelves inside William Shatner’s office are covered with the kinds of memorabilia you’d expect from someone who’s served for… Continue reading

In this March 28, 1978 photo, William Shatner, center, who plays Capt. James Kirk, and Leonard Nimoy, left, who plays Spock, attend a Paramount Studio press conference about the new "Star Trek" movie in Los Angeles. Shatner's latest memoir, "Leonard: My Fifty-Year Friendship with a Remarkable Man," is out Tuesday.
A visitor looks at Gustave Courbet's 1866 "The Origin of the World," which depicts female genitalia, on Friday at Orsay museum in Paris, France.

Facebook nude-painting case can face trial in France

PARIS — If you post a 19th-century nude painting on Facebook, is it art or impermissible nudity? That question is now cleared for trial in… Continue reading

A visitor looks at Gustave Courbet's 1866 "The Origin of the World," which depicts female genitalia, on Friday at Orsay museum in Paris, France.
In this photo provided by Science Advances, microbiologist Maria Gloria Dominguez-Bello collects temperature information of the floor at one of a Checherta hut. Whether it's a jungle hut or a high-rise apartment, your home is covered in bacteria, and new research from the Amazon suggests city dwellers might want to open a window.

Urbanization leads to bacteria changes

WASHINGTON — Whether it’s a jungle hut or a high-rise apartment, your home is covered in bacteria, and new research from the Amazon suggests city… Continue reading

In this photo provided by Science Advances, microbiologist Maria Gloria Dominguez-Bello collects temperature information of the floor at one of a Checherta hut. Whether it's a jungle hut or a high-rise apartment, your home is covered in bacteria, and new research from the Amazon suggests city dwellers might want to open a window.
In this Feb 6 photo, far-right activists and supporters of the group Patriotic Europeans against the Islamization of the West demonstrate with former French Gen. Christian Piquemal, center left, in Calais.

Migrants attacked around Calais, tinderbox of tensions

CALAIS, France — Mysterious armed groups are on the prowl, targeting migrants in night attacks in Calais and elsewhere in northern France, sowing fear among… Continue reading

In this Feb 6 photo, far-right activists and supporters of the group Patriotic Europeans against the Islamization of the West demonstrate with former French Gen. Christian Piquemal, center left, in Calais.

After Oregon standoff, some say: Right fight; wrong tactics

LAS VEGAS — Right fight; wrong strategy.That’s what many ranchers and sympathizers opposing federal control of public lands in the West concluded after the armed… Continue reading

Clinton says Sanders making promises that ‘cannot be kept’

MILWAUKEE — Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders tangled over the price tag and practicality of his plans for expanded government programs in Thursday night’s Democratic… Continue reading

Fargo police say officer shot during standoff won’t survive

FARGO, N.D. (AP) — A North Dakota police officer was near death Thursday after being hit by a gunshot while responding to a domestic disturbance,… Continue reading

CDC ships Zika test for pregnant women; Puerto Rico at risk

WASHINGTON (AP) — The government is shipping Zika virus tests for pregnant women to health departments around the country, but warning there could be temporary… Continue reading

Cruz app data collection helps campaign read voters’ minds

WASHINGTON — Republican presidential candidate Ted Cruz is testing the limits of siphoning personal data from supporters, even as he campaigns to protect law-abiding citizens… Continue reading

Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory (LIGO) Co-Founder Kip Thorne speaks next to a visual of gravitational waves from two converging black holes, right, during a news conference at the National Press Club in Washington, Thursday, Feb. 11, 2016, to announce that scientists they have finally detected gravitational waves, the ripples in the fabric of space-time that Einstein predicted a century ago. The announcement has electrified the world of astronomy, and some have likened the breakthrough to the moment Galileo took up a telescope to look at the planets. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik)

Music to one’s ears

WASHINGTON — In an announcement that electrified the world of physics, scientists said Thursday that they have finally detected gravitational waves, the ripples in the… Continue reading

Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory (LIGO) Co-Founder Kip Thorne speaks next to a visual of gravitational waves from two converging black holes, right, during a news conference at the National Press Club in Washington, Thursday, Feb. 11, 2016, to announce that scientists they have finally detected gravitational waves, the ripples in the fabric of space-time that Einstein predicted a century ago. The announcement has electrified the world of astronomy, and some have likened the breakthrough to the moment Galileo took up a telescope to look at the planets. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik)

Last occupiers of Oregon wildlife refuge surrender to FBI

BURNS, Ore. (AP) — Surrounded by FBI agents in armored vehicles, the last four occupiers of a national nature preserve surrendered Thursday, and a leader… Continue reading

An exile Tibetan holds multi color prayer flags called wind horse or 'lungta' to be tied on tall posts on the third day of the Tibetan New Year on Thursday in Dharmsala, India. Tibetans believe that the Buddhist prayers printed on these flags whose colors represent the five elements, earth, fire, sky, water and air, are spread on wind.

Photos: Tibetan prayers for the new year

An exiled Tibetan holds prayer flags called “lungta,” or wind horse, to be tied on tall posts on the third day of the Tibetan New… Continue reading

An exile Tibetan holds multi color prayer flags called wind horse or 'lungta' to be tied on tall posts on the third day of the Tibetan New Year on Thursday in Dharmsala, India. Tibetans believe that the Buddhist prayers printed on these flags whose colors represent the five elements, earth, fire, sky, water and air, are spread on wind.