MIAMI – A tanker filled with more than 308,000 barrels of crude oil ran aground in Puerto Rico early Thursday, Coast Guard officials said. There were no immediate reports of injuries or leaks. The Coast Guard received a call around 1:15 a.m. that the tanker, the Margara, ran aground about …

DENVER – Hundreds of thousands of Denver-area commuters faced the prospect of carpooling, biking or walking to work Monday after transit workers voted to strike for the first time in 24 years. About 200 bus drivers, mechanics and light rail operators for the Regional Transportation District hit the picket lines …

AKRON, Ohio – A man accused of impregnating his teenage stepdaughter with a syringe eight years ago was convicted Monday of rape. The jury in the retrial of John Goff, 44, found that he forced Shenna Grimm to be inseminated with his sperm when she was 16, at a time …

GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip – Israeli artillery fire killed a Palestinian police officer and wounded 16 people in Gaza Sunday, as Israel escalated its retaliation for militant rocket strikes and put pressure on the new Hamas-led government that refuses to stop the attacks. The shelling, which set a plastics factory …

WASHINGTON – Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said Thursday the U.S. position on Hamas as a terrorist organization has not changed, despite the militant group’s stunning victory in Palestinian elections. “You cannot have one foot in politics and another in terror,” told an international conference in Davos, Switzerland via a …

WASHINGTON – Reaction to President Bush’s State of the Union address Tuesday: ——— “Tonight, we heard the president again call to make his tax policies permanent, despite his administration’s failure to manage our staggering national debt. Over the past five years, we’ve gone from huge surpluses to massive deficits. No …

Suppose you owned a 1998 Volvo that was in good shape except for a service warning light that stayed on no matter how often your mechanic serviced the car and re-set the light. Would you ignore the “warning” and keep driving it? I have, and that car has performed just …

Recent major attacks outside Iraq claimed by or linked to the Al Qaeda terror network: — July 23, 2005: Bombings in the Egyptian resort at Sharm el-Sheik kill at least 64 people, including 17 foreigners, according to the Egyptian Health Ministry. Local hospitals put the death toll at 88, with …

SAN FRANCISCO – Apple Computer Inc. may have introduced a couple of new Intel-powered computers this week, but for many exhibitors taking part in the Macworld Conference & Expo, the focus remains firmly on the iPod. On display were aisles of new accessories for the world’s favorite digital music player, …

FRANKFORT, Ky. – With a bust in the balance, Kentucky’s governor is siding with Colonel Sanders over Pamela Anderson. Gov. Ernie Fletcher wrote the “Stacked” actress to say a bust of the KFC founder will stay in the Kentucky Capitol, despite Anderson’s claim that Sanders is a symbol of cruelty …