ALL RECENT AP STORIES

Prosecutors say global hackers stole $45 million in cash from 27 countries using thousands of ATMs in two separate assaults. In one, on Dec. 22, hackers grabbed $5 million from 20 countries. On Feb. 19, they made off with $40 million in 24 countries worldwide. Seven people were indicted in New York. Here's how they did it: ___ Phase 1: Card processor network intrusion. Using malware, hackers breached the worldwide processors for Rakbank in the United Arab Emirates and the Bank of Muscat in Oman....

South Korea's president ended her first U.S. trip on Thursday by joining the governor of California and the mayor of Los Angeles in a toast to future trade and tourism and stronger cultural ties between the two nations. "The bonds between your country and my city are deep and rich," Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa told President Park Geun-hye in welcoming remarks. "We are linked by more than just trade and tourism. Our histories and cultures are deeply intertwined." Los Angeles is home to the largest...

Federal officials reached agreements with the University of Montana after a yearlong investigation into mishandled sexual assault reports on campus that require the university to revise its policies and adequately respond to allegations, federal officials said Thursday. Investigators heard from women who were assaulted then unfairly belittled, disbelieved or blamed for speaking up about what was done to them, said Justice Department Deputy Assistant Attorney General Roy Austin Jr. "We found a...

A request to return a 63-year-old fugitive to Arkansas is not a high priority, Gov. Rick Snyder said Thursday, citing the convicted killer's poor health and saying he has caused no trouble in Michigan. "I have heard of the situation but I haven't spent time on it because my understanding is this person is not a threat to public safety in Michigan at this point in time," the Republican governor said in response to a question about Lester Stiggers from The Associated Press during a bill signing....

New York lawmakers are eyeing each carefully, watching every word they say and making only half-joking suggestions that they should start every meeting with a mutual pat-down. It's a paranoia born of what some here see as the ultimate betrayal: Two lawmakers have gone undercover wearing recording devices as part of a growing federal corruption probe that has resulted in indictments against four lawmakers in the past month. At least a half-dozen more are known to be caught on tape. Edgy politicians...

Justices of Massachusetts' highest court heard arguments Thursday on whether special magistrates who are trying to unburden trial courts of a flood of drug cases tainted by a state laboratory scandal may release convicts on bail before they're granted new trials. Special "drug lab" court sessions began after authorities shut down Hinton state lab in Boston last summer following allegations that former chemist Annie Dookhan faked test results and tampered with evidence in narcotics cases. Dookhan,...

The Jodi Arias murder trial has drawn international attention for its graphic tales of sex and lies. The following is a timeline of some of the key events in the case: _ September 2006: Arias and Travis Alexander meet at a work convention in Las Vegas and quickly enter into a stormy long-distance relationship. Arias, an aspiring saleswoman and photographer, lives in California and visits Alexander in the Phoenix suburb of Mesa. Alexander is a Mormon and works as a salesman and motivational...

Detroit may be broke but it will soon have a first-rate motor pool, featuring 23 new ambulances and a fleet of 100 new police cars. Some city parks also are getting tender loving care. New fruit trees and shrubs have been planted, and mowing crews are beginning to make the rounds to keep the green spaces tidy. One of the surprising things about Detroit's descent toward insolvency _ so dire that a state-appointed emergency manager recently arrived to take over _ is that public services haven't...

A section of Interstate 81 near Harrisburg was expected to remain closed in both directions for the next several days after a tanker truck fully loaded with diesel fuel overturned Thursday morning and exploded into flames, sending black smoke billowing into the sky. Officials said the crash occurred on an on-ramp to Route 22-322, where the ramp curls back over the interstate and runs under another section of Route 22-322. They said the intense heat buckled steel beams on the top section and...

When Kathleen Dorsett heard her ex-husband scream in agony in the backyard of her home in 2010, she finished changing their daughter's diaper knowing that her father was carrying out their plan to kill the man by hitting him in the head with a heavy cable. She then went outside to help her father put Stephen Moore's body in the trunk of a car. Dorsett, a 38-year-old former third-grade teacher, and her parents pleaded guilty Thursday to their roles in Moore's murder and the attempted murder of...

The neighborhood watch volunteer charged with fatally shooting 17-year-old Trayvon Martin wants the jury at his trial to be sequestered and for panelists to be able to inspect the crime scene. Zimmerman's attorney filed a motion Thursday asking that jurors be kept in isolation during the trial and that their names and other personal information remain confidential because of the immense attention the case has received. Defense attorney Mark O'Mara also asks that the jurors be allowed to inspect...

The president of a helicopter company whose small copter crash-landed on a downtown Honolulu street praised the pilot Thursday, while the National Transportation Safety Board leads an investigation. No one was badly hurt when the two-seater helicopter lost power, forcing the crash landing Wednesday afternoon. The NTSB is not sending anyone to the crash site but will be investigating remotely, with help from local authorities and the Federal Aviation Administration, NTSB spokesman Keith Holloway...

Jurors are set to return for more deliberations in the murder trial of a Philadelphia abortion provider. Dr. Kermit Gosnell is charged in the deaths of four babies and a patient. The jury has been deliberating for about eight days and left Thursday without a verdict. The panel must also weigh about 250 lesser charges, including racketeering, conspiracy and alleged violations of Pennsylvania abortion law. Prosecutors say Gosnell routinely performed illegal, third-term abortions and failed to counsel...

A former New York state senator who admitted embezzling nearly $88,000 from a state-funded nonprofit she controlled has been sentenced to one year and one day in prison. Shirley Huntley apologized for her crime as she was sentenced Thursday by Brooklyn federal Judge Jack Weinstein. She pleaded guilty to mail fraud conspiracy and faced up to two years behind bars. She said she would try to use her remaining years to redeem herself to her family and community. The Queens Democrat took office in...

Sheriff's SWAT teams are proceeding extremely carefully as they search a rural part of Northern California where an ex-convict suspected of fatally shooting his wife and two young daughters is believed to be hiding out, authorities said Thursday. Given Shane Miller's knowledge of the area in Humboldt County and ability to fortify himself, deputies were very vulnerable, Shasta County Sheriff's Lt. Dave Kent said. Miller is believed to be on foot, heavily armed and have a cabin in the area where...

A judge has set a July 18 trial date for an Air Force officer who led the branch's sex assault response unit until he himself was charged with sexual battery. Lt. Col. Jeffrey Krusinski, 41, of Arlington, appeared Thursday at an arraignment in Arlington County General District Court. Arlington police say he groped a woman in a parking lot early Sunday in a section of Crystal City that is home to several popular nightspots. Krusinski and his lawyer, Sheryl Shane, declined comment after the hearing....

More than 20 months after the bodies of a retired Northern Ireland police officer and his girlfriend were found in a Philippines bedroom littered with bullet casings, authorities seeking the extradition of a former U.S. Marine say they have linked him to guns used in the killings and recovered blood-splattered jeans he tried to have burned. Timothy Kaufman, 35, was arrested last month near his grandfather's upstate New York home. He faces extradition proceedings in a federal court in Albany to...

The miraculous rescue of three missing women has given hope to many families whose loved ones have vanished. Yet hope, when searching for a long-lost child, can be a dangerous thing. Thousands of children are missing across the country. The longer they are gone, the smaller the chance they will be found alive. So when three women who had been missing for a decade or more emerged from the house where they had been held captive, it provided an extraordinarily rare happy ending. "I would definitely...

Talk about high expectations for a newborn: King and Messiah are among the fastest-rising baby names for American boys. They're just a little behind Major, the boy's name that jumped the most spots on the Social Security Administration's annual list of popular baby names. Jacob is the most popular for boys _ again _ and Sophia is the top name for girls, according to the list released Thursday. It was Jacob's 14th straight year at the top. Next were Mason, Ethan, Noah and William. Liam cracked...

Cleveland police say the two brothers of the man accused of keeping women captive in his house have been released from custody. Police announced on Thursday afternoon that 54-year-old Pedro Castro and 50-year-old Onil Castro had been released from jail. Police didn't release any more information, and the men's whereabouts were not immediately known. They were arrested Monday with 52-year-old Ariel Castro, who is being held on $8 million bond on charges rape and the kidnappings of Amanda Berry,...

A U.S. Army major and his wife pleaded not guilty Thursday to federal charges alleging the couple abused their three foster children by withholding food and water, making the children eat red pepper and assaulting them to the point of breaking their bones. Dressed in military uniform, John Jackson appeared with his wife Carolyn Jackson in federal court in Newark on 17 counts of endangerment, assault and conspiracy. A trial date was set for July 8, and each of the Jacksons was allowed to remain...

Top baby names for girls in 2012 1. Sophia 2. Emma 3. Isabella 4. Olivia 5. Ava 6. Emily 7. Abigail 8. Mia 9. Madison 10. Elizabeth ___ Top baby names for boys 1. Jacob 2. Mason 3. Ethan 4. Noah 5. William 6. Liam 7. Jayden 8. Michael 9. Alexander 10. Aiden ___ Fastest-rising baby names for girls in 2012 1. Arya 2. Perla 3. Catalina 4. Elisa 5. Raelynn 6. Rosalie 7. Haven 8. Raelyn 9. Briella 10. Marilyn ___ Fastest-rising names for boys 1. Major 2. Gael 3....

The Department of Justice is suing the hospice company founded by Florida's Senate president, accusing it of submitting tens of millions of dollars in fraudulent Medicare claims for more than a decade, including while Don Gaetz was vice chairman of the board. Vitas Hospice and Vitas Healthcare submitted claims for emergency services for patients that weren't needed, weren't provided, or were provided to patients who weren't eligible under Medicare requirements, according to the DOJ. The companies...

For more than 100 years, the cremated remains of two brothers _ Civil War soldiers from Indiana _ sat on a funeral home shelf, unclaimed and largely forgotten. On Thursday, their remains were given a final resting place at Arlington National Cemetery, which dedicated a new columbarium court designed to hold the cremated remains of more than 20,000 eligible service members and family. It is the ninth columbarium court at Arlington, where roughly 400,000 are interred. The first six remains to...

A gang of cyber-criminals operating in 26 countries stole $45 million by hacking their way into a database of prepaid debit cards, federal prosecutors in New York said Thursday. The U.S. attorney in Brooklyn, Loretta Lynch, called it "a massive 21st-century bank heist" and said the fraudsters had moved with astounding speed to loot financial institutions around the world. Seven people are under arrest in the U.S. in connection with the case, which prosecutors said involved thousands of thefts...

The daughter of Ohio kidnapping and rape suspect Ariel Castro says she's embarrassed and devastated by her father's alleged actions. Arlene Castro told ABC's "Good Morning America" on Thursday that she is extremely sorry about everything. Her father is suspected of keeping three women captive in his Cleveland home for close to 10 years and sexually assaulting them. He made his first court appearance Thursday. Arlene Castro was a friend of one of the women, Gina DeJesus. Arlene was walking home...

Authorities say a plastic surgeon in Miami attacked his girlfriend for several hours over a Facebook posting, forcing her head into a toilet and stuffing a rag in the woman's mouth at one point. Police say 41-year-old Orlando Llorente was charged Wednesday with kidnapping, attempted murder and other charges. He was being held Thursday without bail in the Miami-Dade County jail. Llorente grabbed the 36-year-old woman by the hair on April 21, took her into the bathroom and stuck her head in the...

Here's your look at highlights from the weekly AP photo report, a gallery featuring a mix of front-page photography, the odd image you might have missed and lasting moments our editors think you should see. This week's collection includes mint juleps in the rain at the Kentucky Derby, wildfires in California, a light show in Warsaw, Floyd Mayweather Jr. landing a jab in Las Vegas and a Russian Orthodox Easter service in Moscow. ___ This gallery contains photos published May 2-9, 2013. Follow...

Carol Wilkins leaned over the side of her father's wheelchair and handed him the small red box, a heart-shaped cutout revealing its contents: a weathered, bent silver dog tag. "Oh, Daddy, look," Wilkins exclaimed as her 90-year-old father opened it, his eyes beaming and smile wide. "They're back." Sixty-nine years after losing his dog tag on the battlefields of southern France, Willie Wilkins reclaimed it Wednesday after a trans-Atlantic effort to return it to him that started more than a decade...

Three Marine Corps officers at North Carolina's Camp Lejeune have been relieved of their command nearly two months after a training accident that killed seven Marines in Nevada. A battalion commander, a company commander and an infantry weapons officer have been relieved after a mortar tube exploded during a field exercise March 18 at Hawthorne Army Depot, the Marines said Wednesday. Seven Marines and a sailor also were wounded. The officers relieved were Lt. Col. Andrew McNulty, Capt. Kelby...

Investigators say a 61-year-old woman has been charged with murder after strangling her elderly husband at their home in North Carolina. Police said they were called to the home in Cary around 11 p.m. Wednesday by someone who said 77-year-old Sharad Amtey was unconscious. He died a short time later at the hospital. Authorities weren't releasing any other details about the case. Dottie Amtey was arrested after officers arrived at her home. She is being held in the Wake County jail, and it wasn't...

Commissioners at a Massachusetts cemetery have said no to profanity on headstones. Sonny Santiago, 23, was a rapper who died in a car crash in February. Commissioners at Pine Grove Cemetery in Lynn this week unanimously rejected his family's request to inscribe his gravestone with a song verse that included profanity. The commission became aware of the language when the company inscribing the 3-foot tall memorial submitted drawings to commissioners. Pine Grove Cemetery regulations posted online...

Detroit has a long history of manufacturing _ cars, steel, even popcorn. Now, the city is home to a facility devoted to the production of an item not made at this scale in the U.S. for decades: the wristwatch. The Dallas-based Shinola Company is manufacturing its Shinola brand of watches in Detroit. Shinola officials say this year's watch production target is 45,000, to be sold online, at flagship stores in Detroit and New York and at fashion and jewelry retailers and department stores nationwide....

A jury has awarded $8.8 million to the family of a robber who was shot and killed by a police officer east of Los Angeles in Culver City. The Los Angeles Times ( http://lat.ms/YK7Vya ) says a federal jury issued the verdict on Wednesday. Twenty-seven-year-old Lejoy Grissom was killed three years ago after an officer pulled over his car in a parking lot because he suspected Grissom had robbed a local electronics store. Attorneys for the family say Grissom had robbed the store but posed no threat...

The father of a child killed in December's shootings at Newtown's Sandy Hook Elementary School has been offered a 30-day sentence to resolve criminal charges he has faced since 2011. The News-Times of Danbury reports ( http://bit.ly/10umRGp ) that Neil Heslin has until July 9 to accept the plea deal. Heslin's case involves motor vehicle charges and allegations he issued bad checks to purchase building materials for his construction company. Judge Frank Iannotti on Wednesday noted that Heslin...

Your daily look at late-breaking news, upcoming events and the stories that will be talked about today: 1. EX- BUS DRIVER CHARGED WITH KIDNAPPING, RAPING THREE OHIO WOMEN Investigators say Ariel Castro, who is to appear in court today, only allowed the women outside a handful of times in disguise over a decade. 2. JODI ARIAS SAYS SHE PREFERS DEATH The penalty phase begins today for the Arizona waitress convicted of first-degree murder in the stabbing and shooting of her ex-boyfriend. 3. FIRE...

It all began when a man with black shoe polish smeared all over his face exited Interstate 25 and barreled into town one evening last winter. A witness said John Barberini didn't brake before he crashed into the Horton's Corner convenience store Dec. 30, starting a fire that burned up his sport utility vehicle, burned down the store and caused a massive lingering headache for the 200 people of Chugwater, a prairie community nestled beneath sandstone bluffs in the southeastern corner of Wyoming....

The young man known as the "Barefoot Bandit" pleaded guilty to burglary in a Washington county court, perhaps closing the lengthy saga involving a run from the law in stolen cars, boats and airplanes. Colton Harris-Moore, 22, acknowledged breaking into a small airport in Washington state in 2010 where he stole a plane during a two-year fugitive chase that ended in the Bahamas. The guilty plea Wednesday won't change the time Harris-Moore will spend in prison. As part of a plea deal with the Skagit...

Relatives of a slain Mississippi mayoral candidate are renewing their push for a federal investigation. Clarksdale mayoral candidate Marco McMillian's body was found Feb. 27. The case drew national attention after his campaign said he was the first viable, openly gay candidate for office in Mississippi. McMillian's sexuality wasn't a campaign issue, but because the 33-year-old was gay and black, some speculated his death might have been a hate crime. The suspect, who is in custody, also is black....

"Something must have clicked, and she saw an opportunity and she took that opportunity." _ Cleveland Police Deputy Chief Ed Tomba on the escape of Amanda Berry from a Cleveland home where police said Ariel Castro held her for a decade. ___ "She said, `No jury would convict me. Mark my words.' This jury convicted her. Luckily we had 12 smart jurors. They nailed it." _ Chris Hughes, a friend of Travis Alexander, after ex-girlfriend Jodi Arias was convicted of first-degree murder in his death....

After less than two years on the job, the chief of Oakland's embattled police department said Wednesday that he is stepping down for medical reasons. Chief Howard Jordan abruptly told his officers and the city administrator that effective immediately he is on medical leave and taking steps toward medical retirement. "Through my 24 years of wearing an OPD badge and uniform, I have emulated the department's core values: Honesty, respect and integrity _ values I observed in the men and women who...

Authorities across Northern California on Wednesday night were searching for a man, believed to be heavily armed, suspected of fatally shooting his wife and two young daughters at their home. Shane Franklin Miller, 45, remained on the loose, a day after the killings in Shingletown, Shasta County sheriff's officials said. "There is a manhunt for him right now," Lt. Dave Kent said. "He's a prime suspect. We're not looking for anybody else." Kent said deputies received a call from Miller's residence...

A small helicopter lost power and came crashing down on a busy downtown Honolulu street Wednesday afternoon, but no one was seriously injured, authorities said. "It's a pretty miraculous situation that no one was badly hurt by this," said Capt. Terry Seelig, a spokesman for the Honolulu Fire Department. "This is a pretty busy area." The helicopter was on a photography flight when it lost power, forcing a crash landing on Fort Street, which is home to a large apartment complex and Hawaii Pacific...

Fewer U.S. homes entered the foreclosure process or were repossessed by lenders last month, the latest indication that the nation's foreclosure woes are waning. Nationally, home repossessions fell 20 percent in April from the previous month and were down 32 percent from a year earlier, foreclosure listing firm RealtyTrac Inc. said Thursday. Foreclosure starts, the initial step in the process that can eventually lead to a home being foreclosed upon, dipped 4 percent last month from March and tumble...

A jury found Jodi Arias guilty of first-degree murder, but the case is far from over. Arias, 32, was convicted of first-degree murder in the June 4, 2008, death of her Travis Alexander, her one-time boyfriend, at his suburban Phoenix home. Testimony began in early January. Jurors reached a verdict Wednesday after deliberating for about 15 hours over four days. The trial will now move into a phase during which prosecutors will argue the killing was committed in an especially cruel, heinous and...

After four months, verdict day at the Jodi Arias trial brought a crowd to the courthouse to find out the jury's decision. Dozens of people lined up daily to try to get a seat in the courtroom, and others stood or sat outside. After it was announced Wednesday that a verdict had been reached, the crowd grew larger. Some chanted "Justice for Travis." As it drew closer to 1:30 p.m. and the verdict, people in the crowd urged others to "shhhh." At 1:49 p.m., the verdict came _ guilty of first-degree...

A judge ruled Wednesday that cheerleaders at a Southeast Texas high school can display banners emblazoned with Bible verses at football games. But the ruling might not have settled the issue of whether the banners are protected free speech, according to an attorney for the cheerleaders' school district. State District Judge Steven Thomas determined the Kountze High School cheerleaders' banners are constitutionally permissible. In the ruling, Thomas determined that no law "prohibits cheerleaders...

Police in Georgia say a 78-year-old man who had been reported missing was found dead inside his truck outside Atlanta, and his grandson and the suspect's girlfriend now face charges in connection with his killing. Cobb County Sgt. Dana Pierce said Edward Smith of Lilburn was reported missing Sunday after not being seen since Thursday. Pierce says his body was found Tuesday night. Pierce told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution ( http://bit.ly/12XgQxK ) that Smith's grandson, 30-year-old Casey Ryan...

Jodi Arias spent 18 days on the stand sharing intimate, emotional and oftentimes X-rated details of her life before a rapt television and online audience. She had hoped it all might convince a jury that she killed her one-time boyfriend in self-defense. But the eight men and four women on the panel didn't buy it, convicting Arias of first-degree murder after only about 15 hours of deliberations. Jurors will return to court Thursday to begin the next phase of the trial that could set the stage...

Convicted ex-Enron Corp. CEO Jeffrey Skilling's more than 24-year prison sentence for his role in the once mighty energy giant's collapse could be reduced by as many as 10 years if a federal judge approves an agreement reached Wednesday between prosecutors and defense attorneys. Under the agreement, which Justice Department officials say includes a previous court-ordered reduction of as much as nine years, Skilling's original sentence will be reduced to somewhere between 14 and 17.5 years. The...

Authorities on Wednesday identified two men and a woman found slain on an eastern Kansas farm and continued searching for the woman's 18-month-old daughter, who was last seen at the same property where the bodies were discovered. Franklin County Sheriff Jeffrey Richards said at a news conference Wednesday that law enforcement officials were questioning a person of interest they located in Emporia, about 50 miles southwest of the Ottawa farm where the bodies were found earlier this week. Richards...

Your daily look at late-breaking news, upcoming events and the stories that will be talked about Thursday: 1. JURY CONVICTS JODI ARIAS OF FIRST-DEGREE MURDER She says she prefers capital punishment over life in prison, explaining: "I believe death is the ultimate freedom." 2. CLEVELAND PROSECUTORS ZERO IN ON SINGLE SUSPECT Ariel Castro is charged with kidnapping and rape after allegedly holding three women captive for more than a decade. But no charges are brought against his two brothers....

In a significant victory amid a push for paid sick time laws around the country, city lawmakers voted Wednesday to make businesses provide the benefit to an estimated 1 million workers who don't have it now. Saying they hoped that requiring sick leave in the nation's largest metropolis would set an example, City Council members positioned New York to become the most populous place to approve such a law during a campaign that has scored several victories but also a number of defeats. A mayoral...

The jury has found Jodi Arias guilty of first-degree murder in the death of her one-time boyfriend in Arizona. Arias initially denied involvement and later blamed the killing on masked intruders. Two years after her arrest, she said she killed Travis Alexander in self-defense. After a four-month trial that included graphic details of their sexual escapades and photos of Alexander just after his death, jurors began deliberating Friday afternoon. This is what AP reporters on the scene Wednesday...

The widow of Boston Marathon bombing suspect Tamerlan Tsarnaev has hired a prominent criminal lawyer with experience defending terrorism cases as she continues to face questions from federal authorities. Katherine Russell added New York lawyer Joshua Dratel to her legal team, her attorney Amato DeLuca said Wednesday. Dratel has represented a number of terrorism suspects in federal courts and military commissions, including Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, detainee David Hicks, who attended an al-Qaida-linked...

The Jodi Arias murder trial has drawn international attention for its graphic tales of sex and lies. The following is a timeline of some of the key events in the case: _ September 2006: Arias and Travis Alexander meet at a work convention in Las Vegas and quickly enter into a stormy long-distance relationship. Arias, an aspiring saleswoman and photographer, lives in California and visits Alexander in the Phoenix suburb of Mesa. Alexander is a Mormon and works as a salesman and motivational...

A man suspected of keeping three women captive inside his decrepit house for a decade was charged Wednesday with kidnapping and rape, accused of holding them under conditions so oppressive they were allowed outside for only a few moments in disguise and never saw a chance to escape until this week. Investigators said the women apparently were bound with ropes and chains, and a city councilman briefed on the case said they were subjected to prolonged sexual and psychological abuse and suffered...

The defense attorney for a man arrested in what the FBI has called a thwarted terror plot in western Minnesota said Wednesday that authorities have given the public some misinformation about his client, while a local police chief said authorities continue to keep an eye on the anti-government militia group founded by his family. Buford Rogers, 24, of Montevideo appeared in U.S. District Court in St. Paul for a scheduled detention hearing Wednesday. But his attorney, Assistant Federal Defender...

An 83-year-old nun and two fellow protesters were convicted Wednesday of interfering with national security when they broke into a nuclear weapons facility in Tennessee and defaced a uranium processing plant. It took a jury about 2 1/2 hours to find the three protesters guilty of a charge of sabotaging the plant and second charge of damaging federal property in July the Y-12 National Security Complex in Oak Ridge in July. Defense attorneys said in closing arguments that federal prosecutors had...

Arkansas Gov. Mike Beebe on Wednesday defended his request to have a 63-year-old fugitive returned from Michigan, even though the convicted killer is in poor health. Beebe told The Associated Press he wasn't aware of Lester Stiggers' health issues when he sought to have him brought back to the Arkansas prison system he fled in 1970. "We can't pick and choose which laws that we like and which laws that we don't like," Beebe told the AP. "And once the Department of Correction was given information...

Law enforcement officials in Cleveland are investigating one other missing person case in the neighborhood where three women had been held captive for years. The aunt of a 14-year-old girl who disappeared in 2007 near the house where the missing women were found says the girl's mother has spoken with the FBI. But Cleveland Deputy Police Chief Ed Tomba said Wednesday that so far there is no new information linking that case to Castro. Debra Summers says her niece, Ashley Summers, was not the...

The block where horror happened has many faces. On one end, magnificent stained-glass windows rise two stories up a handsome brick church. At the other end, truck bays open into a bleak warehouse. In between are about 20 houses, some tidy, some with boards or broken glass instead of windows. Back yards melt into a block-long cemetery filled with long grass and crooked tombstones. In the middle of the Seymour Avenue block stands the home where, authorities say, three young women who vanished a...

Gov. Rick Snyder signed a bill Wednesday that clears the way to schedule Michigan's first gray wolf hunting season since the resurgent predator, reviled by some as a menace to farm animals and beloved by others as a symbol of untamed wildness, was driven to the brink of extinction in the lower 48 states a half-century ago. Michigan would become the sixth state to authorize hunting wolves since federal protections were removed over the past two years in the western Great Lakes and the Northern...

A jury of eight men and four women has found Jodi Arias guilty of first degree-murder. Jurors had several options as they considered four months of testimony and evidence in the case: first-degree murder, second-degree murder, manslaughter or acquittal. For first degree murder, jurors had to believe that Travis Alexander's June 2008 killing at his suburban Phoenix home was a premeditated act. This charge carries a possible death sentence or life in prison. Prosecutors say Arias began plotting...

Arlington County prosecutors plan to keep jurisdiction in their sexual battery case against an airman who led the branch's sexual assault response unit, even though the Air Force asked to have the case moved to the military justice system. Lt. Col. Jeffrey Krusinski, 41, of Arlington, is scheduled for arraignment Thursday in General District Court on a misdemeanor sexual battery charge. He is accused of groping a woman in a parking lot early Sunday in the county's Crystal City section. Krusinski...

A Kansas City animal shelter is caring for a puppy that authorities say survived in a locked car that was impounded for nearly a month in a city lot. The 12-week-old puppy, which has been named Kia, apparently survived by eating trash left in the car. The terrier and schnauzer mix didn't have access to water. Toni Fugate, a spokeswoman for the city's animal shelter, says the puppy was dehydrated and malnourished but is expected to survive. Records show that the car was towed to the lot April...

A Boston-based human rights group said Wednesday it will sue the United Nations in 60 days if the world body does not agree to compensate Haitian cholera victims, apologize to the Caribbean nation for introducing the disease through its peacekeeping force, and launch a major effort to improve sanitation. Lawyers for the Institute for Justice and Democracy in Haiti said they hoped to be able to settle with the United Nations but are ready to go to court in New York if that fails. The announcement...

A commanding officer in Illinois was removed from the job after hazing three reservists by ordering them to exercise and yell "I do what I want" in front of other sailors because they missed physical training, a Navy report said. Lt. Cmdr. Jack O'Neill was relieved of command of Navy Operational Support Center Rock Island in Illinois on March 19. O'Neill was upset several sailors missed physical training during a drill weekend March 9, an investigative report released by Navy Reserve Forces Command...

Jurors weighing murder charges against a Philadelphia abortion provider have reviewed hours of testimony from a former clinic employee involved in two deaths. Dr. Kermit Gosnell is facing five counts of murder in the deaths of a patient and four babies allegedly born alive at his street-corner clinic in West Philadelphia. The jury deliberated for a sixth full day Wednesday without reaching a verdict. The panel spent much of the day listening to the trial testimony of medical assistant Lynda...

A young couple who survived the Aurora theater shootings have scheduled their wedding for the anniversary of the tragedy. Eugene Han and Kirstin Davis told KMGH-TV ( http://tinyurl.com/brtdddl ) in a story Tuesday that they decided to get married on July 20 to make it a happier day. Han was shot in the hip and knee, and Davis says she suffered minor scratches during the assault on the packed movie theater. Twelve people were killed and 70 injured. Davis says the wedding date was Han's idea....

The parents of one of three missing Cleveland women found safe after years of captivity raised their arms in triumph and had a message for communities everywhere: watch your children. Felix DeJesus (deh-HAY'-zoos) and Nancy Ruiz spoke to reporters after their daughter returned home Wednesday, pumping their fists in the air in celebration as they addressed reporters. The parents thanked law enforcement and urged people across the country to take responsibility for the children in their neighborhoods....

Federal regulators are investigating whether workers at a factory that supplies parts to nuclear plants broke quality control rules and falsified records, according to regulatory filings. A dozen workers at the Shaw Modular Solutions facility in Lake Charles, La., admitted to a manager that they sometimes entered the identification codes for other workers while recording who performed welds, according to the company's legal filings. The filings do not offer further details on the incident. The...

A federal judge presiding over Casey Anthony's bankruptcy has postponed a hearing until later this month to allow time to look at issues surrounding two defamation suits against the central Florida woman. On Wednesday, Judge K. Rodney May heard from attorneys representing two people suing Anthony for defamation. The attorneys say that their suits should be exempt from the bankruptcy discharge; Anthony's attorneys say they should not. May hasn't decided whether the defamation suits should be resolved...

A lawsuit against a psychiatrist who treated Colorado theater shooting suspect James Holmes has been put on hold to avoid conflicts with the criminal case against him. The Denver Post reported Wednesday ( http://tinyurl.com/czosjfb ) a federal judge placed an administrative hold on the lawsuit at the request of both sides. The suit was filed by Chantel Blunk, whose husband was one of 12 killed. The suit claims Holmes told psychiatrist Lynne Fenton before the attack that he fantasized about killing...

Those scratch-and-sniff cards the energy company sends to customers to teach them to recognize the artificial smell added to natural gas? Turns out they work pretty well. Energy West general manager Nick Bohr tells the Great Falls Tribune ( http://gftrib.com/18u3gYG ) that workers recently discarded several boxes of expired scratch-and-sniff cards in Great Falls. But when the garbage truck picked them up and compressed the load Bohr says "it was the same as if they had scratched them." The resulting...

The pension fund for New York City employees has sold all stock it held in gun and ammunition companies. City Comptroller John Liu (loo) made the announcement about the New York City Employees' Retirement System on Wednesday. The move follows a similar one in February by the pension for city teachers. The decision to sell the stocks came after recent incidents of gun violence including the Connecticut school shooting that left 20 first-graders and six staffers dead. Liu said the fund divested...

The Food and Drug Administration warned doctors and pharmacists Wednesday to avoid drugs made by a Florida specialty pharmacy called The Compounding Shop, due to potential safety problems uncovered by health inspectors. The St. Petersburg, Fla.-based pharmacy has agreed to recall all of its sterile drugs and is in the process of notifying customers, the FDA said in a statement. The agency said health care professionals should quarantine drugs from the company and not administer them to patients....

2013 Ford C-Max Energi SEL BASE PRICE: $33,345. PRICE AS TESTED: $38,610. TYPE: Front engine, front-wheel-drive, five-passenger, all-electric and all-gasoline, plug-in hatchback. ENGINE: 2-liter, double overhead cam, Atkinson cycle, inline four cylinder with dual iVCT, 88-kilowatt electric motor and 7.6-kilowatt lithium ion battery pack. MILEAGE: Equivalent to 108 mpg (city), 92 mpg (highway). ELECTRIC RANGE: Up to 21 miles from full battery charge after 2.5 hours at 240 volts. TOP SPEED:...

Ford's newest C-Max is the ultimate plug-in gasoline-electric hatchback for fuel- and environmentally conscious drivers yearning for something new. Introduced for 2013, the C-Max Energi is an electric plug-in, tall, five-seat car that has a four-cylinder, gasoline engine as a backup. A driver can typically travel for up to 21 miles on all-electric power before the gas engine seamlessly takes over. Or, the driver can push a button to select gas-engine propulsion only _ say, if he or she is headed...

A state transportation official says a planned repair for seismic safety rods that snapped on the new span of the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge could cost between $5 million to $10 million. California Transportation Commission Executive Director Andre Boutros released the estimate at a meeting of the Bay Area Toll Authority on Wednesday morning. He said officials are still hopeful they can open the bridge on schedule on Labor Day. The repair officials plan to go ahead with for the 32 rods...

In a normal school setting, Tony Colton and Ashley Krueger probably wouldn't cross paths. He's 13. She's 18. He's short and outgoing. She's about 6 feet tall and serious. He's in middle school, she's thinking about college. But where they met _ All Children's Hospital in St. Petersburg _ nothing is normal. Here, in the halls adorned with whimsical paintings and cheery colors and masked nurses, they both faced a deadly cancer diagnosis. "We make each other laugh, which is important," said Ashley....

If Libya can conduct fair trials of the top henchmen of the overthrown Gadhafi regime, it could be "Libya's Nuremberg moment," the chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court said Wednesday. Fatou Bensounda told the Security Council that her office is still investigating allegations of serious crimes committed by former Gadhafi officials, some of whom are now outside of Libya, and said the ICC plans to make a decision soon on a second major case and on more cases of Gadhafi regime officials...

A man whose 6-year-old son was among those killed in the Newtown, Conn., elementary school massacre was scheduled to appear in Connecticut Superior Court Wednesday on larceny and other charges. Neil Heslin, who has lobbied Congress and the Connecticut legislature for increased gun control in the wake of the shooting, had five separate cases listed on the docket in Milford Superior Court. The News-Times of Danbury reports Heslin faces charges that date back to July 2011, three of which involve...

An American Eagle flight from Detroit has landed safely at New York's LaGuardia Airport after being struck by lightning. American Airlines spokesman Matt Miller says American Eagle Flight 4563 was struck twice by lightning as it approached New York on Wednesday morning. Miller says the captain declared an emergency as a precaution. The plane landed safely at 10:41 a.m. The spokesman says a maintenance team is inspecting the aircraft. It was an Embraer 135 with 20 passengers and three crew members....

Kerry Lester, an award-winning political reporter in Illinois, has been named Supervisory Correspondent for The Associated Press in Springfield, Ill. Lester, 30, joins the AP from the Daily Herald of Arlington Heights, Ill. She will join a four-person team covering state government and politics in Illinois that includes investigative reporter John O'Connor in Springfield and political reporters Sara Burnett and Sophia Tareen in Chicago. The appointment was announced Wednesday by Central Region...

A Tucson climber was found dead, hanging from a southern Arizona cliff in his climbing gear and covered with bee stings. The Santa Cruz County Sheriff's Office says 55-year-old Steven Johnson was found in the Santa Rita Mountains south of Tucson late Monday. Cause of death hasn't been determined yet, but officials say Johnson was covered with stings when he was found. Johnson was last seen Friday when he went hiking, and friends became worried when he didn't go to work on Monday. Search and...

A federal investigation is reportedly underway in the town of Anthony, which straddles New Mexico and Texas. The El Paso Times reports ( http://bit.ly/11j0tS1 ) several residents reported waking to the sound of loud bangs around 5 a.m. Wednesday. And at least two helicopters were seen flying over the town, with one shining a spotlight over some areas. A spokesman with the FBI in New Mexico told the newspaper there is a multi-agency operation being conducted in Anthony, N.M., and that more information...

Authorities say a 3-year-old Florida boy has died after shooting himself with a gun he found in his uncle's backpack. The shooting happened Tuesday night in a bedroom Jadarrius Speights shared with his uncle at an apartment complex in Tampa. Authorities say the uncle, 29-year-old Jeffrey D. Walker, has been charged with culpable negligence. It wasn't immediately clear whether Walker had an attorney. His phone number was not listed and jail records didn't give a lawyer for him. Police say he...

A man walking by a Pasco County home saw a hand waving to him from the window of a car parked in the garage. As he walked up the driveway, he heard a muffled voice. "I can't get out of my car," Justyn "Jay" Ambrozia, 90, called out. "Can you help me?" Tim Weidman called 911. Turns out Ambrozia had been stuck inside the car for three days, after falling during a shopping trip to Publix supermarket on April 30. Ambrozia fell as he rounded a corner that day, according to The Tampa Bay Times (...

From the privacy of their bedrooms to the public bustle of busy hospital wards, families and friends are struggling with the heartbreak of losing five loved ones, all nurses, killed Saturday in a burning limousine. Outside the Fruitvale HealthCare Center in Oakland, the medical center where all nine met and became fast friends, nurse Medhanit Kahassai ran sobbing out the door into the parking lot on Tuesday, overwhelmed with grief as flowers piled up in their break room. "It's hard today,"...

Investigators in Arizona have arrested a man suspected of killing a woman in Tucson more than 35 years ago. Tucson police say 66-year-old Bruce McCullough has been charged with first-degree murder in the March 1976 death of 20-year-old Donna Smith. Authorities say the two had been living together as a couple. Detectives reviewing cold cases were able to track McCullough to San Diego and arrested him at his home last week. They say he avoided law enforcement for decades by using a fake identity...

1. SUSPECT IN WOMEN'S DISAPPEARANCE HELPED LOOK FOR THEM Neighbors say Ariel Castro handed out fliers with Gina Dejesus' picture on it years ago. The woman was found in his home and police say Castro kidnapped her years ago. 2. REPUBLICANS PUSH FOR MORE ANSWERS ON BENGHAZI Three State Department officials are testifying at a House hearing today exploring the White House's actions before and after the September 2012 attack. 3. AIR FORCE SIDELINES 17 NUCLEAR LAUNCH OFFICERS The AP obtains an...

As he shivered on a narrow iron bar 220 feet above San Francisco Bay, 22-year-old Kevin Berthia heard a voice. It did not belong to the old wounds, crushing worries and inner demons that had driven him to the Golden Gate Bridge. This voice, calm and kind, patient and reassuring, belonged to California Highway Patrol Officer Kevin Briggs. And it was all that stood between Berthia and all-but-certain death. For more than an hour, Briggs kept talking as the younger man poured out his troubles....

Mikki Snyder-Hall married her partner, Claire, in California in 2008, and moved two years ago to Rehoboth, a gay-friendly Delaware beach town. Now they're looking forward to July 1, when Delaware officially becomes the 11th state in the nation to allow same-sex marriage after Gov. Jack Markell signed a gay marriage bill into law Tuesday. "As of July, we are considered married," said Snyder-Hall said. The couple said that while they don't intend to have another wedding ceremony, they may have...

Federal land managers have cited the toll of environmental litigation _ as well as budget problems and low staffing _ in postponing all oil and gas lease auctions in California until October. The U.S. Bureau of Land Management recently announced it would put off an auction planned for later this month for leases to drill almost 1,300 acres of prime public lands near the Monterey Shale, home to one of the largest deposits of shale oil in the nation. Another auction for about 2,000 acres that had...

The Dow Jones industrial average closed above 15,000 for the first time Tuesday. An improving outlook for the economy and record corporate earnings are persuading investors to buy stocks. Federal Reserve stimulus is also helping. The Dow has gained 15 percent this year. It has more than doubled since hitting a bottom at 6,547 on March 9, 2009 during the Great Recession. Now that stocks have scaled these heights, what's next? Four market experts give their views. THE BULL: James Paulsen, chief...

A panel of three judges has decided that the vast majority of the $1 million reward offered in the manhunt for rogue ex-cop Christopher Dorner will go to a couple he tied up in their Southern California mountain cabin. The Los Angeles Police Department posted a document on its website Tuesday detailing the payouts for the much-sought reward, and it said about $800,000 will go to James and Karen Reynolds. The judges wrote that they awarded the money according to the "comparative value of the...

As prom season, summer weddings and sunshine escapes beckon, here are some questions consumers may want to ask when picking a limousine company to chauffeur a special evening. Industry officials and regulators alike say there are guidelines to keep in mind when choosing among the nation's 109,300 chauffeured limousines, party buses, SUVs and other vehicles: 1. DON'T LET PRICE BE YOUR ONLY CONSIDERATION After shopping around for the best price, Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration spokesman...

"Despite different points of view, committed partners can accomplish great things together when the world needs it. And this is one of those moments." _ Secretary of State John Kerry after the U.S. and Russia agreed to try to convene an international conference this month to come to a political solution to end the two-year Syrian civil war. ___ "I don't want just more speeches or awareness programs or training, or ultimately folks look the other way. We're going to have to not just step up our...

Ukraine's foreign minister said he expects his country to sign a cooperation agreement with the European Union later this year despite the EU's objections to the jailing of former Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko. Leonid Kozhara said in an interview Tuesday with The Associated Press that the government accepts that the Tymoshenko case is a problem in relations between Ukraine and the EU. But he said a single criminal case shouldn't be an obstacle to Ukraine signing an association agreement with...