MIAMI — Testifying in his own defense, an elderly Muslim cleric who lives in South Florida is denying any connection to the Pakistani Taliban terrorist organization. Seventy-seven-year-old Hafiz … more

PRETORIA, South Africa — Oscar Pistorius told a packed courtroom Tuesday that he shot his girlfriend to death by mistake, thinking she was a robber. The prosecutor called it premeditated … more

WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama is warning that "people will lose their jobs" if across-the-board budget cuts take effect as scheduled next week. Obama says the $85 billion in cuts — known … more

BRUSSELS — Eight masked gunmen forced their way through the security fence at Brussels' international airport, drove onto the tarmac and snatched some $50 million worth of diamonds from the hold of … more

BEIJING — Cyberattacks that stole massive amounts of information from military contractors, energy companies and other key industries in the U.S. and elsewhere have been traced to the doorstep of a … more

CHICAGO — Hip replacements are slightly more likely to fail in women than in men, according to one of the largest studies of its kind in U.S. patients. The risk of the implants failing is low, … more

CHICAGO — Drew Peterson’s defense lawyers were a united, wisecracking front during most of the former suburban Chicago police officer’s 2012 trial, and rarely without their dark sunglasses. But … more

SIOUX FALLS, S.D. — A new study documents a loss of 1.3 million acres of grassland over a five-year period in the Western Corn Belt — a rate not seen since the 1920s and 1930s. The research by … more

WASHINGTON — With scant snowfall and barren ski slopes in parts of the Midwest and Northeast the past couple of years, some scientists have pointed to global warming as the culprit. Then when a … more

The last time it was this warm in Wyoming was more than 6,000 years ago. It was a time when active sand dunes moved across the state and the North Platte River disappeared at its headwaters, said … more