AP PHOTOS: Devastation, reunion in tornado wake
Residents sift through the remnants of their homes and parents hug children outside a demolished elementary school. Emergency workers tend to the wounded....
Man charged in death of missing Maine teenager
BANGOR, Maine (AP) -- When 15-year-old Nichole Cable left home May 12, she told her family she was heading out to see someone she'd met on Facebook....
APNewsBreak: Coast Guard deserter to be confined
HONOLULU (AP) -- A Coast Guard rescue swimmer whose disappearance led to a massive search in Hawaii pleaded guilty to desertion Tuesday, saying he left work one day, decided never to return and spent the next three months camping in the mountains. A military judge sentenced him to more than six months confinement and a bad conduct discharge....
Mysterious illness kills 2 in southeast Alabama
MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) -- A mysterious respiratory illness has left five people hospitalized and two dead in southeast Alabama, state health officials said Tuesday....
Safety Board: ATF blocking plant blast probe
WACO, Texas (AP) -- Federal agents and the state fire marshal have effectively barred a federal safety panel from the site of a Texas fertilizer plant blast that killed 15 people and injured about 200 others, hampering its investigation, the panel's chairman said....
Lawyer: Feds investigating Susan Powell case
WEST VALLEY CITY, Utah (AP) -- The lawyer for the family of missing Utah woman Susan Powell said Tuesday that even as local police close the active part of their investigation into her disappearance, federal authorities continue to review the case - a claim that was denied by the U.S. Attorney's Office in Salt Lake City....
2 FBI agents who died remembered for valor
NORFOLK, Va. (AP) -- FBI Director Robert Mueller on Tuesday praised two agents who died while training off the Virginia Beach coast last weekend for their "true and unerring valor."...
Search for Okla. tornado survivors nearly complete
MOORE, Okla. (AP) -- Helmeted rescue workers raced Tuesday to complete the search for survivors and the dead in the Oklahoma City suburb where a mammoth tornado destroyed countless homes, cleared lots down to bare red earth and claimed 24 lives, including those of nine children....
Jodi Arias asks for life term; jury deliberates
PHOENIX (AP) -- Jodi Arias begged jurors Tuesday to give her life in prison, saying she "lacked perspective" when she told a local reporter in an interview that she preferred execution to spending the rest of her days in jail....
Court strikes down Arizona 20-week abortion ban
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) -- A federal court Tuesday struck down Arizona's ban on abortions after 20 weeks of pregnancy absent a medical emergency....
Police defend officer who shot NY college student
MINEOLA, N.Y. (AP) -- The president of a New York police union defended an officer who accidentally killed a Hofstra University student during a standoff with an armed intruder, saying Tuesday the only person responsible for the woman's death was the gunman who held her hostage....
UN: Poaching threatens central Africa peace
UNITED NATIONS (AP) -- The illegal trade in elephant ivory may constitute an important source of funding for armed groups, including the Lord's Resistance Army, threatening peace and security in central Africa, U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said in a report to the Security Council....
Massive search underway for abducted teen in Iowa
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) -- A 15-year-old central Iowa girl who was abducted after getting off her school bus was still missing Tuesday, and authorities said a massive search was underway. Meanwhile, the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation said the man who is suspected of taking her and another girl committed suicide....
Hospitals treat more than 200 after Okla. tornado
OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) -- Hospital officials say they've treated more than 200 patients, including dozens of children, since a tornado hit an Oklahoma City suburb....
