WASHINGTON – A Navy officer has described for a Washington jury how she worked as a call girl while also serving as a supply officer at the Naval Academy. Lt. Cmdr. Rebecca Dickinson testified Thursday that she had sex for money while working for Deborah Palfrey’s escort service, according to …

BAGHDAD – A kidnapped British journalist was rescued by Iraqi troops on Monday after two months in captivity in the southern city of Basra, the Iraqi military said. Richard Butler, who worked for CBS News, was found with a sack over his head and his hands tied inside a house …

WASHINGTON – Vice President Dick Cheney will undergo his annual medical checkup on Saturday morning. The checkup is routine, one Cheney usually has in July, said press secretary Megan Mitchell. “Overall, I think the vice president feels fine,” she said. Cheney, 67, has a history of heart problems, including four …

The Utah Supreme Court Tuesday threw out the manslaughter conviction of a man who shot a man to death after the victim gave him a “wedgie.” Erik Kurtis Low, 40, was convicted of the 2003 shooting death of Michael Jon Hirschey, 38, after a night of drinking, drug use and …

LEXINGTON, Ky. – Firefighters in Lexington, Ky., are battling a two-alarm blaze at the offices of a pyrotechnics company in the city’s downtown area, and the mayor has ordered an evacuation of nearby city blocks. The blaze was tearing through Star Light and Magic Inc. on Jefferson Street. Mayor Jim …

Two women were charged with prostitution in Camden County on Thursday after they were arrested in a sting operation at a Lake Ozark hotel last week. Two other women were also arrested, and three of the women are pregnant. Alexandra Wells and Allysia Waldrop were both charged on Thursday. Waldrop …

SHREVEPORT, La. – Actors Josh Brolin and Jeffrey Wright, along with members of a crew filming an Oliver Stone movie, were arrested during a bar fight Saturday morning, police said. Shreveport police Sgt. Willie Lewis said Brolin, Wright and five others were arrested just after 2 a.m. at a club …

ANCHORAGE, Alaska – A volcano erupted Saturday with little warning on a remote island in Alaska, sending residents of a nearby ranch fleeing from falling ash and volcanic rock. The Okmok Caldera erupted late Saturday morning, just hours after seismologists at the Alaska Volcano Center began detecting a series of …

NEW YORK – Goose Gossage became only the fifth relief pitcher elected to the Hall of Fame, earning baseball’s highest honor Tuesday on his ninth try on the ballot. Known for his overpowering fastball, fiery temperament and bushy mustache, the Goose received 466 of 543 votes (85.8 percent) from 10-year …

LOS ANGELES – Funnyman Jack Black has another reason to smile. His wife, Tanya Haden, is pregnant with their second child, he said. “Yes, she’s expecting,” Black said at a Beverly Hills hotel during a press day for his latest project, “Be Kind Rewind,” People magazine reported Saturday on its …