WASHINGTON – A Senate committee on Thursday approved long-stalled legislation that would shield manufacturers and insurers from asbestos lawsuits (search). The measure would create a $140 billion trust fund to compensate people sickened by exposed to asbestos, a fibrous mineral commonly used until the mid-1970s in insulation and fireproofing material. …

BAGHDAD, Iraq – The bodies of at least 12 people who had been shot and killed were found buried at a garbage dump on the outskirts of Baghdad (search) on Friday, Iraqi officials said. Some of the victims were blindfolded and had been shot in the head execution-style, said Bassim …

CAIRO, Egypt – Followers of terrorist Abu Musab al-Zarqawi (search) would attack the White House or the Vatican if their leader chooses to target those sites, the Al Qaeda (search) in Iraq’s deputy chief purportedly said in an Internet statement posted Monday. The written statement, signed in the name of …

SANTA CLARITA, Calif. – California authorities are doing everything they can to downplay the story of a rash of seemingly unrelated freeway shootings — eight in Southern California alone in the last two months. But the California Highway Patrol (search) is in a tough spot. On the one hand, it …

NEW YORK – Fitch Ratings (search) reduced its credit rating for General Motors Corp. (GM) to junk status on Tuesday, citing the profit-sapping impact of sales declines and industry price competition. GM shares and bonds fell on the news, which could lead to it paying more to borrow in the …

WASHINGTON – Federal raiders. Internet pirates. Intergalactic screen adventures. The government announced a crackdown Wednesday on the theft of movies and other copyright materials that has the elements of a film plot. Federal agents shut down a Web site that they said allowed people to download the new Star Wars …

On the day he paid back a $9,000 debt owed to the city, Kwame Kilpatrick (search) defiantly announced he would be seeking a second term as mayor of Detroit. “I’m not being defensive, but the gloves are off now,” Kilpatrick said on Tuesday. But Kilpatrick, the flashy son of a …

COLUMBUS, Ga. – Following hundreds of angry phone calls and e-mails, school officials in this Army base city have reduced a suspension imposed on a student who wouldn’t give up his cell phone while talking to his mom — a sergeant on duty in Iraq. The angry calls about the …

WASHINGTON – A woman accused Pennsylvania Rep. Don Sherwood (search) of trying to choke her during an encounter at the congressman’s Capitol Hill apartment last fall, but police found insufficient evidence to file charges. According to the police report, the incident involving Sherwood, 64, a married four-term Republican congressman, and …

MARGRATEN, Netherlands – Surrounded by white crosses marking the graves of American soldiers, President Bush on Sunday remembered World War II (search) veterans who “did not live to comb gray hair” like the veterans who listened to his speech and are living through another foreign war. “Freedom is a permanent …