Nation & World

Damage reported from magnitude-5.7 quake in Calif.

GREENVILLE, Calif. (AP) — Residents in rural northeastern California assessed damage to their homes and businesses Friday from a magnitude-5.7 earthquake, one of the strongest temblors to hit the densely forested region in decades.

U.K.-bound Pakistan plane diverted, 2 men arrested

LONDON — Britain scrambled fighter jets Friday to intercept a commercial airliner carrying more than 300 people from Pakistan, diverting it to an isolated runway at an airport on the outskirts of London and arresting two British passengers on suspicion of endangering the aircraft.A British security official said the situation involving the Pakistan International Airlines flight did not appear terror-related, though police were still investigating, but the incident further rattled the U.K. just days after a soldier was killed on a London street in a suspected terror attack.

26 killed by car bombs in Niger

Surviving attacker takes a group of soldiers hostage

NIAMEY, Niger — Suicide bombers in Niger detonated two car bombs simultaneously on Thursday, one inside a military camp in the city of Agadez and another in the remote town of Arlit at a French-operated uranium mine, killing a total of 26 people and injuring 30, according to officials in Niger and France.

House backs variable rate student loans

WASHINGTON — House lawmakers on Thursday approved legislation that links student loan rates to the ups and downs of the financial markets in spite of a veto threat from President Barack Obama.

Boy Scouts approve plan to accept openly gay boys

GRAPEVINE, Texas -- The Boy Scouts of America's National Council has voted to ease a long-standing ban and allow openly gay boys to be accepted as Scouts.

Storm took town's youngest as it swept through

MOORE, Okla. — One loved the spotlight. Another was nicknamed "The Wall" because of the force he brought to the soccer field.

For Philadelphia bicyclist, a cat is his co-pilot (with video)

PHILADELPHIA — For bicyclist Rudi Saldia, you could say a cat is his co-pilot.

Obama endorses more oversight of drone strikes

WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama on Thursday defended America’s controversial drone attacks as legal, effective and a necessary linchpin in an evolving U.S. counterterrorism policy. But he acknowledged the targeted strikes are no “cure-all” and said he is haunted by the civilians unintentionally killed.

Pakistan arrested American who was killed by drone

PESHAWAR, Pakistan — An American citizen killed in a U.S. drone strike in Pakistan in 2011 was arrested by Pakistani authorities three years earlier but escaped after being released on bail, officials said Thursday.

WHO: 22 deaths worldwide from coronavirus

GENEVA — World Health Organization officials said Thursday that their probe into the deadly new coronavirus that has now claimed 22 lives is being delayed because of a dispute over the ownership rights to a sample.

U.K. attack suspects part of previous investigations

LONDON — Two men accused of butchering a British soldier had been part of previous investigations by security services, a British official said Thursday, as investigators searched several locations and tried to determine whether the men were part of a wider plot to instill terror on the streets of London.

Canada businessman's corruption trial begins in Cuba

HAVANA — A Canadian businessman caught up in a corruption probe in Cuba apparently went on trial Thursday, nearly two years after he was detained and his import company, Tri-Star Caribbean, was shuttered.

Between economy and trouble, Obama approval steady

WASHINGTON — The economy is recovering, the White House is dealing with multiple controversies, and President Barack Obama appears generally unaffected either way.

Man shot by FBI had ties to Boston bombing suspect

ORLANDO, Fla. — A Chechen immigrant shot to death in Florida after an altercation with an FBI agent implicated himself in a triple slaying that officials believe may have been connected to Boston Marathon bombing suspect Tamerlan Tsarnaev, authorities said.

Birth control coverage up for federal appeal

DENVER — In the most prominent challenge of its kind, Hobby Lobby Stores Inc. is asking a federal appeals court Thursday for an exemption from part of the federal health care law that requires it to offer employees health coverage that includes access to the morning-after pill.