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Arafat's former aide faces embezzlement charges

2012-05-16T07:19:40Z

The top Palestinian anti-corruption campaigner says he wants the shadowy financial adviser of the late Yasser Arafat to appear before a Palestinian court on embezzlement charges.

Official: 1 dead in explosion on Kenya's coast

2012-05-16T07:11:16Z

Police say attackers fired shots and detonated grenades outside a nightclub in Kenya's coastal town of Mombasa after they were denied entry, killing one person and injuring four.

Lawyers try to see China activist's jailed nephew

2012-05-16T07:11:16Z

A Shanghai lawyer said Wednesday he is trying to visit the jailed nephew of activist Chen Guangcheng, who sparked a diplomatic crisis last month when he fled into the U.S. Embassy in Beijing.

Ratko Mladic's genocide trial gets under way

Mike Corder, Associated Press — 2012-05-16T07:11:12Z

Twenty years after the opening shots of the Bosnian War, former Bosnian Serb military commander Gen. Ratko Mladic went on trial Wednesday at a UN tribunal on 11 charges of genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes.

AP IMPACT: Evacs and drills pared near nuke plants

Jeff Donn, AP National Writer — 2012-05-16T07:11:11Z

Without fanfare, the nation's nuclear power regulators have overhauled community emergency planning for the first time in more than three decades, requiring fewer exercises for major accidents and recommending that fewer people be evacuated right away.

AP: Killer of 3 says he considers requesting death

John Christoffersen, Associated Press — 2012-05-16T06:39:31Z

A man on Connecticut's death row for the murder of a suburban mother and her two daughters says he believes the only way he will be put to death is if he volunteers for the lethal injection.

RI working to keep Schilling's company afloat

David Klepper and Erika Niedowski, Associated Press — 2012-05-16T06:38:28Z

Leaders in Rhode Island are working to help former Red Sox pitcher Curt Schilling's video game company remain viable after it failed to make a scheduled $1.1 million payment to the state's economic development agency.

RI working to keep Schilling's company afloat

David Klepper and Erika Niedowski, Associated Press — 2012-05-16T06:38:28Z

Rhode Island is looking to help Red Sox pitcher Curt Schilling's video game company after it missed a scheduled $1.1 million payment to the state's economic development agency.

Mass. casino panel to hire permanent director

2012-05-16T06:08:19Z

The Massachusetts Gaming Commission is abandoning its search for an interim executive director and instead hiring a search firm to find someone to fill the position permanently.

Ex-LA detective arrested in Hawaii in wife's death

2012-05-16T05:19:54Z

Authorities say a retired Los Angeles Police Department detective has been arrested in Hawaii in the death of his wife six years ago.

Senate panel to unveil Mass. spending plan

2012-05-16T05:08:21Z

Gov. Deval Patrick and the House of Representatives have weighed in on state spending, and now it's the Senate's turn.

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2012-05-16T05:08:21Z

Winning numbers drawn in 'Mega Millions' game

2012-05-16T05:08:21Z

The winning numbers in Tuesday evening's drawing of the "Mega Millions" game were: 10-11-12-14-24, Mega Ball: 6

Report says female farmworkers suffer sex abuse

Tracie Cone, Associated Press — 2012-05-16T04:29:37Z

Female farmworkers across the United States are commonly sexually harassed and assaulted, in part because their immigration status makes them fearful of calling police, according to a report being released Wednesday by Human Rights Watch.

Report: female farmworkers suffer sex abuse

Tracie Cone, Associated Press — 2012-05-16T04:20:08Z

Farmworker women across the United States are commonly sexual harassed and assaulted, in part because their immigration status makes them fearful of calling police, according to a report being released Wednesday by Human Rights Watch.

Presbyterian churches ignore SF minister's censure

2012-05-16T04:20:07Z

Representatives of dozens of West Coast Presbyterian churches are defying their denomination's highest court by refusing to censure a retired minister who married same-sex couples in 2008.

Obama assets valued between $2.6M and $8.3M

Ken Thomas, Associated Press — 2012-05-16T04:20:01Z

President Barack Obama and first lady Michelle Obama hold assets worth between nearly $2.6 million and nearly $8.3 million, according to financial disclosure reports released Tuesday by the White House.

Ensign aide set for plea agreement hearing

2012-05-16T00:59:35Z

An aide to former Nevada Republican Sen. John Ensign is scheduled to attend a plea agreement hearing on June 7, indicating he has reached a deal with federal prosecutors who had charged him with lobbying the Senate before a one-year ban for former employees elapsed.

Tensions high after civil unions defeat in Colo.

Ivan Moreno, Associated Press — 2012-05-15T23:39:41Z

Opponents of same-sex unions rallied at the Colorado Capitol on Tuesday as tensions remained high one day after state House Republicans rejected a proposal to provide gay couples rights similar to marriage.

Deficit summit brings about more talk, no answers

Andrew Taylor, Associated Press — 2012-05-15T22:56:11Z

Government leaders past and present gathered in Washington on Tuesday to do what they do best about the nation's deficit woes: talk.

Father: Ga. student with flesh-eating bug

Russ Bynum, Associated Press — 2012-05-15T18:39:47Z

A Georgia woman fighting a rare flesh-eating disease is alert and bored enough to ask her family for a book.

April 2012 heats up as 5th warmest month globally

Seth Borenstein, AP Science Writer — 2012-05-15T15:20:15Z

Unseasonable weather pushed last month to the fifth warmest April on record worldwide, federal weather statistics show.

Three-man Soyuz crew departs for space station

Peter Leonard, Associated Press — 2012-05-15T04:49:52Z

A three-man crew blasted off from a space center in southern Kazakhstan Tuesday morning on board a Russian-made Soyuz craft for a four-and-half-month stay at the International Space Station.

After fall, insurers’ auto rates up again

Todd Wallack, Globe Staff — 2012-05-15T04:24:40Z

Auto insurance rates, which tumbled after Massachusetts opened the state to more competition four years ago, are marching steadily upward again.

Obama strikes at Romney on jobs

Tracy Jan, Globe Staff — 2012-05-15T03:54:55Z

The Obama campaign Monday unleashed its first ad attacking Mitt Romney’s record as Bain Capital executive. The two-minute ad - to begin running in the key battleground states of Iowa, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Colorado, and Virginia - is coupled with a six-minute video featuring the story of GST Steel, a 105-year-old steel mill in Kansas City, Missouri that Bain purchased in 1993, saddled with debt, and shuttered eight years later after Romney and his partners reaped handsome profits.

Roxbury college draws scrutiny for apparent gaps in crime reports

Adrian Walker, Globe Staff — 2012-05-15T03:54:20Z

Federal officials are auditing Roxbury Community College for suspected lapses in its reporting of crimes committed on campus - the latest in a series of controversies for College President Terrence Gomes. Officials with the federal Department of Education will arrive on campus Tuesday seeking to find out why the college has failed to report more serious allegations of crimes on campus. The officials have unofficially learned of at least three reports by students of such crimes, including sexual assault, over the past several years, according to a person familiar with the inquiry.

Residents say state plan for hospital site falls short

David Abel, Globe Staff — 2012-05-15T03:54:01Z

Medfield residents’ concerns about toxic waste from a former state mental hospital that closed in 2003 have spiked as state officials said they were pushing ahead with a plan that would remove only about 15 percent of an estimated 75,000 tons of toxic waste in a landfill on the site that is adjacent to the Charles River. They fear the remaining waste, on valuable property in the heart of this town of 12,000, will taint the river, wells, and aquifers.

House quietly acts to reassign Chelsea court

Frank Phillips, Globe Staff — 2012-05-15T03:53:43Z

The Massachusetts House leadership has quietly used a late-night budget amendment to remove the Chelsea District Court from the state’s district court department and place it under the auspices of the Boston Municipal Court, long a target of patronage charges. The move, in the late hours of April 25, came several months after the chief justice of the state’s district courts disciplined Chelsea’s clerk magistrate, Kevin G. Murphy, for failing to maintain custody of three handguns that were supposed to be in his custody.

Houston lawyer on quest to find missing moon rocks

Michael Graczyk, Associated Press — 2012-05-13T17:41:09Z

The dark suit and tie Joe Gutheinz wore set him apart from other customers inside a Texas eatery where the usual attire is jeans and cowboy hats.

Mitt Romney's 'hijinks' seen as bullying today

Leanne Italie, Associated Press — 2012-05-11T22:19:51Z

When Mitt Romney was a good-looking teen in the buttoned-up `60s, corporal punishment was the norm and bullying had a different, more acceptable name: hijinks.

Gay Iowa student will be honored at award ceremony

2012-05-11T20:40:54Z

A Catholic bishop and a group that promotes equal rights for gays and lesbians have agreed to present a college scholarship to a gay student during an award ceremony.

Georgia woman, 24, battles flesh-eating disease

Russ Bynum, Associated Press — 2012-05-11T20:11:06Z

Whether she was hiking in the woods, growing organic vegetables or working on her master's degree in psychology, Aimee Copeland embraced her passions with determination and a constant smile that made friends wonder if she ever had bad days.

Rubenstein gives Duke $15M for innovation effort

Brett Zongker, Associated Press — 2012-05-11T18:39:46Z

Investor and philanthropist David Rubenstein is giving $15 million to his alma mater, Duke University, following a series of high-profile gifts to projects including repairing the Washington Monument.