WASHINGTON – Texas is asking the Justice Department to approve Dec. 12 for a congressional runoff election — a date opposed by a Latino civil rights group because it is a religious day for many Hispanics. The runoff between incumbent Republican Henry Bonilla and Democrat Ciro Rodriguez, a former congressman, …

MILWAUKEE – Two Milwaukee police officers accused in the beating of a man outside a party at an officer’s house two years ago pleaded guilty Friday to federal charges. Joseph Schabel, 35, who also resigned from the force Friday, and former officer Jon Clausing, 29, were among eight officers charged …

NEW YORK – Ilana Benhuri remembers her first thought as the small plane crashed through her apartment window: “I was dead.” She had been baking an apple pie for her 12-year-old daughter’s school, and doing some paperwork at a desk in her four-bedroom apartment. She never saw the plane carrying …

The stellar baby boom period of the Milky Way sparked a flowering and crashing of life here on Earth, a new study suggests. Some 2.4 billion years ago, when the Milky Way started upping its star production, cosmic rays — high-speed atomic particles — started pouring onto our planet, causing …

RICHMOND, Va. – Virginia voters easily approved a state constitutional ban on same-sex marriage Tuesday, making the state one of nearly two dozen to pass such measures. Close to 60 percent of voters favored the measure. Similar questions were on the ballot in seven other states Tuesday. Wisconsin and South …

BAGHDAD, Iraq – Shiite militiamen grabbed six Sunnis as they left worship services Friday, doused them with kerosene, and burned them alive, Iraq police said, making for a total of at least 25 Sunnis who were killed in a seemingly retaliatory move to Thursday’s triple homicide bombing targeting Shitte that …

MUJA, Congo – Congo‘s government on Wednesday welcomed a decision by the United States to impose sanctions on seven warlords and businessmen, including a notorious international arms dealer, who are accused of fueling instability in this vast country’s lawless east. In an executive order Tuesday, U.S. President George W. Bush …

WASHINGTON – British police charged a 43-year-old man Thursday with plotting an act of terrorism and having two improvised explosive devices, chemicals, timers, and a Nazi-themed handbook. Neil Christopher Lewington was first arrested last week after police discovered a suspected explosive device when they searched him at a railway station …

WASHINGTON – Brother, can you spare a $300 bottle of wine? The White House dinner Friday night for foreign leaders working to resolve the global economic crisis featured traditionally gourmet selections for such an august gathering. There was no risk of a menu meltdown to go along with the subject …

MOSCOW – Russian news agencies say the Kremlin is rejecting U.S. proposals for missile defense cooperation, calling them inadequate. ITAR-Tass and Interfax cite an unidentified Kremlin official as saying that Russia is prepared to work with Washington on European security questions. But the official accuses the current U.S. administration of …