ROSWELL, N.M. (AP) - Lifted by a massive balloon, extreme athlete Felix Baumgartner ascended high above Earth on Sunday in his bid to complete a death-defying 23-mile free fall that could make him the first skydiver to break the sound barrier.
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) - Former U.S. Sen. Arlen Specter, the outspoken Pennsylvania centrist whose switch from Republican to Democrat ended a 30-year career in which he played a pivotal role in several Supreme Court nominations, died Sunday. He was 82.
ROSWELL, N.M. (AP) - Extreme athlete Felix Baumgartner started his daring ascent to 23 miles above Earth on Sunday, hoping to make a death-defying free fall that could make him the first skydiver to break the sound barrier.
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - Nearly two dozen people who were enjoying a bachelor party on what's billed as San Francisco Bay's only "floating wine tasting room" are OK after their boat hit a shoal near Alcatraz Island and began sinking Friday night, officials said.
LOS ANGELES (AP) - Immigrants would get access to banking services in Los Angeles under a proposal by the mayor that would create an official city photo identification card that could also be used as a prepaid ATM card for their private bank account.
TOKYO (AP) - Despite making progress on getting its fiscal house in order, the United States still has much work to do, Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner told fellow financial leaders Saturday. The comment came just hours after the U.S. government announced that the budget deficit had topped $1 trillion for a fourth straight year despite a modest improvement thanks to stronger economic growth.
TRENTON, N.J. (AP) - A pet food company is voluntarily recalling dog treats that could be contaminated with salmonella.
RENO, Nev. (AP) - Scientists waging a war on an Asian clam infestation at Lake Tahoe are asking for patience on the part of boaters.
LOS ANGELES (AP) - At every turn of Endeavour's stop-and-go commute through urban streets, a constellation of spectators trailed along as the space shuttle ploddingly nosed past stores, schools, churches and front yards.
LOS ANGELES (AP) - Britney Spears' darkest days are about to be revisited in a Los Angeles courtroom, but not by the resurgent pop singer.
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - Nearly two dozen people who were enjoying a bachelor party on what's billed as San Francisco Bay's only "floating wine tasting room" are OK after their boat hit a shoal near Alcatraz Island and began sinking Friday night, officials said.
KINSHASA, Congo (AP) - French President Francois Hollande said his country was committed to facilitating freedom of movement, exchange and trade within the French-speaking world during a Saturday visit to Congo for the Francophonie Summit.
BEIT EL, West Bank (AP) - For Palestinians, the Israeli military coordination office on the outskirts of Jerusalem is a symbol of Israel's decades-long control over their lives. Now it has also become an unlikely source of hope for employment.
PESHAWAR, Pakistan (AP) - A car bomb tore through a crowded bazaar outside an office for anti-Taliban tribal elders Saturday in northwestern Pakistan, killing at least 17 people, officials said.
KENNEBUNK, Maine (AP) - Residents of this seaside community will have to wait at least the weekend to learn which of their friends and neighbors stand accused of giving business to a fitness instructor charged with running a prostitution operation out of her Zumba studio.
Two major sponsors, Oakley and Nike, distanced themselves from Olympic athlete Oscar Pistorius on Monday after the South African sports star was charged with murder in the shooting death of his girlfriend.
Somebody hacked Burger King's Twitter account on Monday, posting obscene messages and changing its profile picture to a McDonald's logo.
Waiting in line for the bus, a Pennsylvania kindergartener tells her pals she's going to shoot them with a Hello Kitty toy that makes soap bubbles. In Maryland, a 6-year-old boy pretends his fingers are a gun during a playground game of cops and robbers. In Massachusetts, a 5-year-old boy attending an after-school program makes a gun out of Legos and points it at other students while "simulating the sound of gunfire," as one school official put it.
PRETORIA, South Africa (AP) - Oscar Pistorius told a packed courtroom Tuesday that he shot his girlfriend to death by mistake, thinking she was a robber. The prosecutor called it premeditated murder.
LOS ANGELES (AP) - The CIA thrillers "Argo" and "Zero Dark Thirty" have won top screenplay honors from the Writers Guild of America.