Two more octuplets go home

  • March 27, 2009 7:04 am

Two more of the world’s longest surviving octuplets went home Thursday night, and Nadya Suleman’s spacious four-bedroom home is quickly filling up.

U.S. lags in high-speed rail

  • March 27, 2009 7:03 am

A China Railway high-speed train travels through Qingdao city, eastern China's Shandong province, this month.To Americans, high-speed trains evoke the gee-whiz factor of a trip to Tomorrowland: Ride futuristic cars that zoom you to a destination in a fraction of the drive time — without having to fight your way through an airport.

GOP, Experts Doubt Financial Overhaul Plan

  • March 27, 2009 6:08 am

The Obama administration’s plan for strict scrutiny of hedge funds and other freewheeling investors is drawing instant opposition from Republican lawmakers and the rules’ targets. Skeptics are questioning whether the new regulation would work anyway.

Flooding Fears: Can Fargo’s Red River Be Held Back?

  • March 27, 2009 6:08 am

ND officials keep fighting as projected crest of Red River at Fargo rises.

Asian Stocks Up Again After U.S. Rally

  • March 27, 2009 6:08 am

Asian markets mostly higher after Wall Street extends rally on earnings.

Dam Burst Leaves At Least 50 Dead

  • March 27, 2009 6:08 am

Dam bursts in outskirts of Indonesian capital, at least 50 dead, 100s homeless.

Fargo Flees as Flood Waters Top All-Time High

  • March 27, 2009 6:03 am

Fargo police ordered mandatory evacuations early Friday after a breach in flood protection created a “significant leak” as the Red River topped 40 feet, breaking a record crest set in 1897.

‘Mini-Tsunami’ Near Indonesian Capital Kills 50

  • March 27, 2009 6:03 am

Torrential rain caused an earthen dam to burst early Friday, sending a wall of water crashing into a crowded neighborhood just outside Indonesia’s capital. The flood killed at least 50 people, left dozens missing and submerged hundreds of homes.

Leak in dike prompts evacuations in Fargo (AP)

  • March 27, 2009 5:01 am

Jerry Sampson tosses down a sandbag as he and other volunteers shore up the sandbag dike as the Red River continues to rise along River Drive, Thursday, March 26, 2009 in Fargo, N.D. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)AP – A dike along the Red River is leaking, causing Fargo police to order the evacuation of 150 homes in the area.

Sources: More US troops for Afghan war (AP)

  • March 27, 2009 5:01 am

President Barack Obama takes part in an Internet town hall meeting, Thursday, March 26, 2009, in the East Room of the White House in Washington. (AP Photo/Ron Edmonds)AP – Grappling with a war gone awry, President Barack Obama plans to send thousands more U.S. forces into Afghanistan, hoping to hasten the end of a conflict that still has no clear end in sight.

Obama says automakers need ‘drastic changes’ (AP)

  • March 27, 2009 5:01 am

In this July 25, 2008 file photo, General Motors Corp. headquarters are shown in Detroit. Dreaded white-collar job cuts at General Motors Corp. started Tuesday, March 24, 2009, as the wounded automaker began to deliver on promises to the government to shrink its work force so it can be profitable at lower sales levels. (AP Photo/Paul Sancya, file)AP – President Barack Obama plans to announce a new aid package for General Motors and Chrysler in the coming days and says the carmakers must make “pretty drastic changes” to save their industry.

Japan OKs deployment of missile defense system (AP)

  • March 27, 2009 5:01 am

Japanese Prime Minister Taro Aso speaks at an Upper House committee meeting in Tokyo Friday, March 27, 2009. Japan's National Security Council, that Aso chairs, has approved a deployment of interceptors to shoot down any debris that could fall on Japanese territory if a North Korean rocket launch fails. (AP Photo/Koji Sasahara)AP – Japan’s military mobilized Friday to protect the country from any threat if North Korea’s looming rocket launch fails, ordering two missile-equipped destroyers to the Sea of Japan and sending batteries of Patriot missile interceptors to protect the northern coastline.

$150M buys you late TV producer’s L.A. mansion (AP)

  • March 27, 2009 5:01 am

In this Sept. 1993 file photo, the home of Aaron Spelling is seen in the Holmby Hills section of Los Angeles. The widow of producer Aaron Spelling is placing the 56,000 square-foot house in the exclusive Holmby Hills neighborhood on the market for a jaw-dropping $150 million, making it by far the most expensive home for sale in the U.S. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill, File)AP – The widow of producer Aaron Spelling is placing “The Manor” in the exclusive Holmby Hills neighborhood on the market for a jaw-dropping $150 million, making it by far the most expensive home for sale in the U.S.

Top bank regulator placed on leave pending review (AP)

  • March 27, 2009 5:01 am

In a March 18, 2009 file photo, Scott Polakoff, acting director, Office of Thrift Supervision testifies on Capitol Hill in Washington before the  House Capital Markets, Insurance and Government Sponsored Enterprises subcommittee hearing on AIG bonuses.   The Office of Thrift Supervision said Thursday, March 26, 2009, its acting director, Scott Polakoff, was placed on leave pending a Treasury Department investigation into regulators' approval of backdated cash infusions for troubled thrifts.  (AP Photo/Susan Walsh/file)AP – A top bank regulator has been placed on leave pending a Treasury Department investigation into regulators’ approval of backdated cash infusions for troubled thrifts.

THE INFLUENCE GAME: Obama limits stimulus lobbying (AP)

  • March 27, 2009 5:01 am

In this March 9, 2009 file photo, Dave Wenhold of Miller Wenhold Capitol Strategies is seen on Capitol Hill in Washington. Obama administration rules taking effect this week say lobbyists fighting for projects in the stimulus package can't utter a word about them to administration officials, or meet with them. 'Basically they've said, 'Look, why don't you just put that in writing and we'll look at it,'' said Wenhold, who heads the American League of Lobbyists, a trade group for the profession. 'That to me is clearly saying, 'Your input is not wanted here.''  (AP Photo/Susan Walsh, File)AP – President Barack Obama says lobbyists pushing for projects in the stimulus package can’t utter a word about them to administration officials. Lobbyists are hardly staying mum about this latest affront and are looking for ways to cope with the extraordinary speaking ban.

‘American Idol’ drills down to 9 contestants (AP)

  • March 27, 2009 5:01 am

In this image released by Fox, 'American Idol' contestant Michael Sarver is shown. (AP Photo/Fox, Chris Cuffaro)AP – Michael Sarver got a crude awakening Thursday night from his “American Idol” life.

Villanova beats Duke for first time in 50 years (AP)

  • March 27, 2009 5:01 am

Duke's Gerald Henderson (15) and Villanova forward Shane Clark go for a rebound in the second half of a men's NCAA college basketball tournament regional semifinal Thursday, March 26, 2009, in Boston.  (AP Photo/Winslow Townson)AP – Dante Cunningham scored 14 points with 11 rebounds and third-seeded Villanova beat Duke for the first time in more than 50 years, taking advantage of the Blue Devils’ poor shooting to win 77-54 Thursday night and advance to the NCAA regional final.

Tiller, Mizzou end Memphis’ 27-game winning streak (AP)

  • March 27, 2009 5:01 am

Missouri's J.T. Tiller (4) scores on Memphis' Tyreke Evans (12) during the second half of a men's NCAA college basketball tournament regional semifinal in Glendale, Ariz., Thursday, March 26, 2009. Missouri defeated Memphis 102-91. (AP Photo/Chris Carlson)AP – When freshman Marcus Denmon swished one from three-quarters court at the halftime buzzer to put his team up by 13, it sure looked like Missouri’s night.

Projected crest of Red River increased at Fargo (AP)

  • March 27, 2009 3:59 am

Jerry Sampson tosses down a sandbag as he and other volunteers shore up the sandbag dike as the Red River continues to rise along River Drive, Thursday, March 26, 2009 in Fargo, N.D. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)AP – Doubts are growing over whether the swollen Red River can be held off, but even as some residents flee their homes, officials are stepping up sandbagging operations and vowing to build the dikes higher and higher to try and save the city from flooding.

Projected crest of Red River increased at Fargo (AP)

  • March 27, 2009 3:59 am

Jerry Sampson tosses down a sandbag as he and other volunteers shore up the sandbag dike as the Red River continues to rise along River Drive, Thursday, March 26, 2009 in Fargo, N.D. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)AP – Doubts are growing over whether the swollen Red River can be held off, but even as some residents flee their homes, officials are stepping up sandbagging operations and vowing to build the dikes higher and higher to try and save the city from flooding.

Projected crest of Red River increased at Fargo (AP)

  • March 27, 2009 3:59 am

Jerry Sampson tosses down a sandbag as he and other volunteers shore up the sandbag dike as the Red River continues to rise along River Drive, Thursday, March 26, 2009 in Fargo, N.D. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)AP – Doubts are growing over whether the swollen Red River can be held off, but even as some residents flee their homes, officials are stepping up sandbagging operations and vowing to build the dikes higher and higher to try and save the city from flooding.

Sources: Obama plans to send more troops to Afghanistan (AP)

  • March 27, 2009 3:59 am

An Afghan paramedic treat a wounded Afghan police man at a hospital after he was wounded in an ambush in the outskirts of Ghazni west of Kabul, Afghanistan, Thursday, March 26, 2009. Taliban militants attacked a police convoy in central Ghazni province Thursday, wounding six policemen, said regional police spokesman Iqbal Gul Sapan. Four militants were also killed in the clash in Nani village near the provincial capital, he said. (AP Photo/Rahmat Naikzad)AP – Confronting an inherited and faltering war, President Barack Obama plans to dispatch thousands more military and civilian trainers to Afghanistan by the fall on top of the 17,000 combat troops he has already ordered, senior administration officials said Thursday.

Sources: Obama plans to send more troops to Afghanistan (AP)

  • March 27, 2009 3:59 am

An Afghan paramedic treat a wounded Afghan police man at a hospital after he was wounded in an ambush in the outskirts of Ghazni west of Kabul, Afghanistan, Thursday, March 26, 2009. Taliban militants attacked a police convoy in central Ghazni province Thursday, wounding six policemen, said regional police spokesman Iqbal Gul Sapan. Four militants were also killed in the clash in Nani village near the provincial capital, he said. (AP Photo/Rahmat Naikzad)AP – Confronting an inherited and faltering war, President Barack Obama plans to dispatch thousands more military and civilian trainers to Afghanistan by the fall on top of the 17,000 combat troops he has already ordered, senior administration officials said Thursday.

Levee Cracks Force Evacuations In Fargo

  • March 27, 2009 3:05 am

Fargo’s rush to prepare for potentially disastrous flooding on the Red River flooding got a major setback late Thursday when the National Weather Service raised its crest estimate to as high as 43 feet.

Levee Cracks Force Evacuations In Fargo

  • March 27, 2009 3:05 am

Fargo’s rush to prepare for potentially disastrous flooding on the Red River flooding got a major setback late Thursday when the National Weather Service raised its crest estimate to as high as 43 feet.

U.S. Official: Mexico Not Near Collapse

  • March 27, 2009 3:05 am

The Mexican government is not on the verge of collapse, the top U.S. intelligence official said Thursday, seeking to tamp down increasing alarm over the powerful and violent drug cartels operating near the southern U.S. border.

U.S. Official: Mexico Not Near Collapse

  • March 27, 2009 3:05 am

The Mexican government is not on the verge of collapse, the top U.S. intelligence official said Thursday, seeking to tamp down increasing alarm over the powerful and violent drug cartels operating near the southern U.S. border.

Global Warming Gives Nuclear Green Sheen

  • March 27, 2009 3:05 am

Three decades after the Three Mile Island disaster, fears of an atomic catastrophe have been largely supplanted by fears about global warming, easing nuclear energy into the same sentence as wind and solar power.

Global Warming Gives Nuclear Green Sheen

  • March 27, 2009 3:05 am

Three decades after the Three Mile Island disaster, fears of an atomic catastrophe have been largely supplanted by fears about global warming, easing nuclear energy into the same sentence as wind and solar power.

Japan Issues Order to ‘Destroy’ N. Korea Rocket

  • March 27, 2009 2:57 am

Japan’s defense minister ordered the military to prepare to shoot down any debris that could fall on Japanese territory if a North Korean rocket launch fails, mobilizing interceptor missiles and sending two warships to the Sea of Japan.

Evacuations Begin in North Dakota Amid Flood Threat

  • March 27, 2009 2:57 am

Officials ordered the evacuation of one neighborhood and a nursing home late Thursday after authorities found cracks in an earthen levee built to protect the area from the threat of the rising Red River.

Cracks in Levee Force Evacuations in Fargo, ND

  • March 27, 2009 2:02 am

Residents worked in subfreezing weatger to pile sandbags along the Red River.

Sandbags and Prayers: N. Dakota Races Against Rising River

  • March 27, 2009 1:00 am

Weather services raise crest forecast to 43 feet, the height of Fargo’s levees.

Sandbags and Prayers: N. Dakota Races Against Rising River

  • March 27, 2009 1:00 am

Weather services raise crest forecast to 43 feet, the height of Fargo’s levees.

Five Sci-Fi Ideas That Became Reality

  • March 26, 2009 11:54 pm

While we’re nowhere near being taken over by clone armies of ‘Star Wars,’ other ideas that were either created or developed by science fiction’s dreamweavers have found their way into our world.

Obama Sends More to War

  • March 26, 2009 11:54 pm

President to deploy 4,000 more troops, engage with Pakistan in strategy set to defeat, dismantle Al Qaeda
Obama Team Strikes ‘Stuart Smalley’ Diplomacy

A Bullet For Bipartisanship

  • March 26, 2009 11:54 pm

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid may all but shut GOP out of legislative process with ‘reconciliation’ tactic
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Volunteering … or Indoctrination?

  • March 26, 2009 11:54 pm

Senate votes to increase AmeriCorps — but some politically charged groups may benefit from extra funding

Japan Approves Deployment of Missile Defense System

  • March 26, 2009 11:54 pm

Japan has approved a deployment of interceptors in case debris falls onto its territory if a North Korean rocket launch fails, Japanese public broadcaster NHK reported Friday.

3 Inmates Captured in Nebraska Panhandle

  • March 26, 2009 11:54 pm

Authorities say three inmates who escaped last week from an Indiana prison have been caught in the Nebraska Panhandle.

Cracks in levee force evacuations in Fargo, ND (AP)

  • March 26, 2009 11:54 pm

Volunteers make use of a ladder and other items to assist in filling sandbags as the Red River rises Thursday, March 26, 2009 in Moorhead, Minn.  (AP Photo/Jim Mone)AP – Officials ordered the evacuation of one neighborhood and a nursing home late Thursday after authorities found cracks in an earthen levee built to protect the area from the threat of the rising Red River.

Cracks form in Fargo levee

  • March 26, 2009 11:54 pm

Volunteers get a ride out Thursday after sandbagging around a home in Fargo, N.D.Crews began setting explosives Wednesday in a huge ice jam in the Missouri River in a bid to blast open a channel, like pulling out a giant plug to drain a flood threatening Bismarck, N.D.

N.D. River Now Expected To Hit 43′

  • March 26, 2009 10:58 pm

Fargo’s rush to prepare for potentially disastrous flooding on the Red River flooding got a major setback late Thursday when the National Weather Service raised its crest estimate to as high as 43 feet.

Sources: More US troops for Afghan war (AP)

  • March 26, 2009 10:52 pm

The body of a suspected Taliban militant lies lifeless on the back of a police vehicle with his heavy machine gun after he was killed in a battle with the Afghan forces on the outskirts of Ghazni province west of Kabul, Afghanistan, Thursday, March 26, 2009.  Taliban militants attacked a police convoy in central Ghazni province Thursday, wounding six policemen, said regional police spokesman Iqbal Gul Sapan. Four militants were also killed in the clash in Nani village near the provincial capital, he said.(AP Photo/Rahmat Naikzad)AP – Confronting an inherited and faltering war, President Barack Obama plans to dispatch thousands more military and civilian trainers to Afghanistan by the fall on top of the 17,000 combat troops he has already ordered, senior administration officials said Thursday.

Sources: More US troops for Afghan war (AP)

  • March 26, 2009 10:52 pm

The body of a suspected Taliban militant lies lifeless on the back of a police vehicle with his heavy machine gun after he was killed in a battle with the Afghan forces on the outskirts of Ghazni province west of Kabul, Afghanistan, Thursday, March 26, 2009.  Taliban militants attacked a police convoy in central Ghazni province Thursday, wounding six policemen, said regional police spokesman Iqbal Gul Sapan. Four militants were also killed in the clash in Nani village near the provincial capital, he said.(AP Photo/Rahmat Naikzad)AP – Confronting an inherited and faltering war, President Barack Obama plans to dispatch thousands more military and civilian trainers to Afghanistan by the fall on top of the 17,000 combat troops he has already ordered, senior administration officials said Thursday.

Cracks in levee forces evacuations in Fargo, ND (AP)

  • March 26, 2009 10:52 pm

Volunteers make use of a ladder and other items to assist in filling sandbags as the Red River rises Thursday, March 26, 2009 in Moorhead, Minn.  (AP Photo/Jim Mone)AP – Officials in North Dakota have ordered a mandatory evacuation of one Fargo neighborhood and a nursing home after authorities found cracks in an earthen levee built around the area.

Obama seizes bully pulpit online to pitch budget (AP)

  • March 26, 2009 10:52 pm

President Barack Obama listens to a video question from Harriet in Georgia, as he takes part in an Internet town hall meeting, Thursday, March 26, 2009, in the East Room of the White House in Washington. (AP Photo/Ron Edmonds)AP – WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama seized the bully pulpit Thursday and reprised the best of his acclaimed campaign skills in an unprecedented Internet town hall from the White House — a direct sales pitch for Americans to get behind his $3.6 trillion budget and be patient as he tries to right the tottering economy.

Financial overhaul plan draws GOP opposition (AP)

  • March 26, 2009 10:52 pm

House Financial Services Committee Chairman Rep. Barney Frank, D-Mass., opens a hearing on President Obama's proposals for an extensive overhaul of financial regulations, with Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner, there to defend the plan, Thursday, March 26, 2009, on Capitol Hill in Washington.  (AP Photo/J.  Scott Applewhite)AP – The Obama administration’s aggressive plan for strict scrutiny of hedge funds and other freewheeling investors, part of the biggest expansion of financial restraints since the Great Depression, is drawing instant opposition from Republican lawmakers and the rules’ targets. And skeptics are questioning whether the new rulebook would work anyway.

Key Senate panel backs Obama’s budget blueprint (AP)

  • March 26, 2009 10:52 pm

Senate Budget Committee Chairman Sen. Kent Conrad D-N.D., left, accompanied by Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nev. gestures during a news conference on Capitol Hill in Washington, Wednesday, March 25, 2009. (AP Photo/Harry Hamburg)AP – A key Senate panel stacked with allies of President Barack Obama approved his ambitious budget blueprint Thursday, giving the president a symbolic endorsement of efforts to boost clean energy, fight global warming and improve access to health care.

Baptist preacher runs again for office he bilked (AP)

  • March 26, 2009 10:52 pm

The Rev. Henry J. Lyons preaches at the First Baptist Institutional Church Sunday afternoon, Nov. 30, 2003, in Lakeland, Fla. Lyons, the ousted former president of a national organization of black Baptist churches is running for the position again, a decade after he was sent to prison for stealing millions of dollars from the group. (AP Photo/Willie J. Allen Jr., Pool)AP – The ousted former president of a national organization of black Baptist churches is running for the position again, a decade after he was sent to prison for stealing millions of dollars from the group.