SENECA, Illinois – Operators at a nuclear plant declared an emergency for several hours early Monday when instruments indicated a problem during a planned shutdown, but no damage was done, officials said. There were no injuries, no radiation released and no equipment damaged at the LaSalle Generating Station in LaSalle …

GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip – Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas appointed Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh as the next prime minister, the Palestinian news agency said Tuesday. The news agency released a picture of Abbas handing Haniyeh the official letter of appointment at the beginning of their meeting earlier in the day. …

BIRIYA-AMA, Nigeria – This village of palm-frond huts in Nigeria‘s southern Niger Delta sits atop one of Africa’s richest energy deposits but has electricity only when one of its young men paddles a canoe to the nearest city to buy fuel for a generator. School is held in a cement-block …

KARACHI, Pakistan – The furor over the Prophet Muhammad drawings is a small part of an expanding divide between Islam and the West, or what international leaders such as Archbishop Desmond Tutu described as the “symptom of a more serious disease.” Attending a U.N.-sponsored conference aimed at healing the deepening …

ATLANTA – A woman accused of molesting a 15-year-old boy she later married gave birth to the couple’s child over the weekend, the woman’s lawyer said Monday. Lisa Clark, 37, gave birth to a 7-pound, 9-ounce boy Saturday, Daniel Sammons said. The baby could be put in state custody unless …

While all the world is waiting to hear what Dick Cheney might or might not have to say about accidentally shooting a friend over the weekend, a very important thing happened Tuesday in Democratic politics. A very attractive, young Democratic candidate for U.S. Senate in Ohio named Paul Hackett was …

ALEXANDRIA, Va. – Proclaiming “I am Al Qaeda,” Zacarias Moussaoui disavowed his lawyers Monday and pledged to testify on his own behalf in the trial that will determine whether he is executed for terrorist conspiracy. An often volatile figure in his proceedings, Moussaoui was removed from the courtroom during the …

RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil – Samba drums rumbled and tourists packed the streets Friday as Rio began its yearly carnival — five days and nights of partying. Though Rio’s carnival officially kicked off Friday, informal groups have been crowding the city and tying up traffic for weeks. “If you want …

WATERTOWN, Wis. – Two cargo planes collided in midair Sunday, with one of them crashing and killing three people and the other able to land in southeastern Wisconsin, aviation officials said. The multiengine, fixed-wing cargo planes departed Milwaukee on the same route and collided about 5 p.m., said Federal Aviation …

WASHINGTON – Angelina Jolie has revealed that her and Brad Pitt‘s baby is not due as early as the media’s been speculating. Jolie tells NBC that she’s not quite eight months pregnant. Some reports had her due as early as next week. She also says she knows the sex of …