NEW BATAAN, Philippines (AP) - The Philippine government's geological hazard maps show why this farming community was largely washed away by a strong typhoon: "highly susceptible to flooding and landslides." That didn't stop some villagers from rebuilding even with bodies still lying under the mud.
WASHINGTON (AP) - The 2012 presidential election broke the $2 billion milestone in its final weeks, becoming the most expensive in American political history, according to final federal finance reports released Thursday. The reports detailed a last-minute cascade of money from mega-donors and an onslaught of spending by the Obama and Romney campaigns and "super" political action committees.
LOS ANGELES (AP) - California has transformed into a major player in stem cell research, but the taxpayer-funded institute responsible has "significant deficiencies" in how research dollars are distributed, experts said Thursday.
SEATTLE (AP) - Hundreds of same-sex couples across Washington state started picking up marriage licenses Thursday as a voter-approved law legalizing gay marriage took effect.
STOCKHOLM (AP) - This year's Nobel Prize in literature winner, Mo Yan, who has been criticized for his membership in China's Communist Party and reluctance to speak out against the country's government, defended censorship Thursday as something as necessary as airport security checks.
KEY WEST, Fla. (AP) - Mosquito control officials in the Florida Keys are waiting for the federal government to sign off on an experiment that would release hundreds of thousands of genetically modified mosquitoes to reduce the risk of dengue fever in the tourist town of Key West.
TOKYO (AP) - Influential scientists who help set Japan's radiation exposure limits have for years had trips paid for by the country's nuclear plant operators to attend overseas meetings of the world's top academic group on radiation safety.
MALIBU, Calif. (AP) - A whale carcass rotting near celebrity homes in Malibu is causing a gigantic cleanup problem as authorities try to decide who's responsible for getting rid of it.
SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) - A man who left his vehicle in search of help after he and his girlfriend got stuck in a Sierra snowstorm has been found dead, but his girlfriend survived.
CAIRO (AP) - Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi offered nothing concrete to defuse the country's worst political crisis in nearly two years in a nationally televised speech late Thursday, refusing to rescind a disputed constitution drafted by his allies or his decrees giving him near absolute powers.
CLARKSBORO, N.J. (AP) - Federal regulations require inspections of rail bridges and other infrastructure and reports on accidents, but leave it to freight railroad owners to do the work themselves.
LOS ANGELES (AP) - More than two dozen people were charged Thursday with racketeering conspiracy stemming from an investigation that targeted South Los Angeles gangs controlled by a Mexican Mafia member serving a life sentence for murder.
LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. (AP) - Derrick Weitlich and his friend Leslie Martinez arrived at the Magic Kingdom at 5:40 a.m. Thursday, wanting to be among the first to visit the park's New Fantasyland. Getting up early was worth it, said these Melbourne, Fla., Disney fans, who estimated that they have visited the park some 180 times. "I love Beauty and the Beast," said Martinez, while standing in front of the new Gaston's Tavern restaurant. ...
SOUTH PORTLAND, Maine (AP) — A mall in Maine has sacked Santa Claus after children and parents complained he was rude, grumpy and wouldn't even let one child sit on his lap. Officials at the Maine Mall in South Portland say they're looking for a jollier Santa and hope to have him in place Thursday. Jessica Mailhiot and her 6-year-old daughter, Chantel, went to see Santa this week. They tell WGME-TV (http://bit.ly/RpPkak ) he was ...
EVANSDALE, Iowa (AP) - Five months after two young cousins vanished while riding their bikes, residents of the northeast Iowa community where they were last seen are anxiously waiting to hear whether two bodies found by hunters are those of the missing girls.
PALM CITY, Fla. (AP) - Michelle Obama jokingly says a mid-life crisis is what inspired her new haircut with bangs.
MANTOLOKING, N.J. (AP) - On the surface, things look calm and placid. Just beneath the waterline, however, it's a different story.
LOS ANGELES (AP) - The CIA thrillers "Argo" and "Zero Dark Thirty" have won top screenplay honors from the Writers Guild of America.
LAKE ELSINORE (AP) - A former councilman for the Southern California city of Lake Elsinore has been found slain in his home.
ROME (AP) - An influential Italian Catholic magazine is asking its readers if disgraced former Los Angeles archbishop Roger Mahony should participate in the upcoming election for a new pope.
CHARLESTON, S.C. (AP) - Ruby-throated hummingbirds are migrating to North America weeks earlier than in decades past, and research indicates that higher temperatures in their winter habitat may be the reason.
LOS ANGELES (AP) - Jerry Buss, the Los Angeles Lakers' playboy owner who shepherded the NBA franchise to 10 championships from the '80s Showtime dynasty to the Kobe Bryant era, died Monday, his assistant said.
BUFFALO, N.Y. (AP) - Adults who've begun working toward their GED are being urged to finish up this year, before the test for a high school equivalency diploma changes and they have to start all over.
CONCORD, N.H. (AP) - Police chiefs in New Hampshire wanted more money for their youth training program. A youth hockey team in North Dakota needed more ice time.
LOS ANGELES (AP) - In mathematical terms, divide the circumference of the world by its diameter, and you have pi. In Hollywood terms, add a United Nations mix of ingredients and you have the blockbuster "Life of Pi."