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RIYADH, Saudi Arabia – Saudi police killed a suspected Islamic militant and arrested three others Sunday in a shootout in a suspected terror cell hideout in the Red Sea city of Jiddah (search) that also left one woman bystander dead. The Interior Ministry said one of those detained, who was …

CHICAGO – Jailed white supremacist Matthew Hale (search) said Thursday the slaying of a federal judge’s husband and elderly mother was a “heinous crime” that “only an idiot” would think he ordered, according to a statement released by his mother. “There is no way that any supporter of mine could …

WASHINGTON – Insurgent intimidation of Iraqi soldiers has hampered U.S. efforts to build a reliable security force, the U.S. general in charge of training Iraqi troops said Friday. Army Lt. Gen. David Petraeus (search), speaking from Baghdad to reporters at the Pentagon, said the Iraqi units had suffered “losses due …

BAGHDAD, Iraq – Some polling stations were shuttered. Others ran out of ballots. A provincial governor’s name was left off the list of candidates. And some minorities complain it is all a plot to silence them. One week after Iraq’s (search) historic election, allegations of confusion, mismanagement or worse are …

Ten members of the Food and Drug Administration advisory panel who voted that a group of powerful pain killers should continue to be sold had ties to the drug makers, a new analysis shows. A study by the Center for Science in the Public Interest (search) indicates that 10 of …

WASHINGTON – U.S. retail sales (search) dipped 0.3 percent in January, as expected, as automobile sales fell sharply, but purchases outside the volatile car sector gained a healthy 0.6 percent, a government report showed on Tuesday. While the drop in overall sales was the weakest performance in the Commerce Department‘s …

SALT LAKE CITY – Gladys Knight (search) wasn’t sitting in front of a television set watching the Grammy Awards (search). And she didn’t even know she shared a gospel performance Grammy award Sunday with the late Ray Charles (search) for their duet, “Heaven Help Us All,” until there was a …

MINNEAPOLIS – Target Corp. (TGT), the nation’s second largest discount retailer, reported slightly higher earnings for the fourth quarter, narrowly beating Wall Street’s expectations and capping a year when profits rose nearly 77 percent. Target said Thursday it earned $825 million, or 91 cents per share, in the three months …

WASHINGTON – A coalition of states confirmed plans Sunday to require tougher high school courses and diploma requirements, changes that could affect one in three students. The announcement is the most tangible sign that the nation’s governors, gathered in the capital for a summit on improving high schools, want to …

BAGHDAD, Iraq – It’s been a slow and steady return to the fold for Ahmad Chalabi (search), once disgraced and on the outs with both Iraqis and the Bush administration (search). The former Washington favorite may have lost his bid to be Iraq’s next prime minister on Tuesday, but he …