The Sept. 11 anniversary

Trial begins in Illinois girl's 1957 killing

SYCAMORE, Ill. (AP) - The murder of a 7-year-old Illinois girl that haunted the nation more than 50 years ago went to trial Monday, starting with a prosecutor accusing the defendant of discarding the body like "a piece of garbage." Jack McCullough, 72 and a former Washington state police officer, has pleaded not guilty to the 1957 kidnapping and slaying of Maria ...

Chicago teachers strike over contract

Agreement reached for Sept. 11 museum's completion in NY City

Panetta lauds Flight 93 passengers, crew in Pa.

Democrat drops out of congressional race

9/11 WTC health program adds 50 types of cancer

NEW YORK (AP) - The federal government has added about 50 types of cancer to the list of Sept. 11 World Trade Center-related illnesses that will be covered by a program to pay for health coverage. The National Institute for Occupational Safety announced the change Monday, the eve of the 11th anniversary of the terrorist attacks. "The publication ...

Shell begins oil drilling off Alaska coast

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) - More than four years after Royal Dutch Shell paid $2.8 billion to the federal government for petroleum leases in the Chukchi Sea, a company vessel on Sunday morning sent a drill bit into the ocean floor, beginning preliminary work on an exploratory well 70 miles off the northwest coast of Alaska.

Dorothy McGuire of McGuire Sisters dies

PHOENIX (AP) - Dorothy McGuire Williamson, who teamed with sisters Christine and Phyllis for a string of hits in the 50s and 60s as the popular McGuire Sisters singing group, has died. She was 84.

Images, not frequency, make NYC twisters notable

NEW YORK (AP) - Most people wouldn't say New York and tornado in the same breath.

Treasury to cut AIG stake below half in $18B sale

NEW YORK (AP) - The U.S. government is selling more of its shares in insurer American International Group Inc., in a move that should decrease its holdings below a majority stake for the first time since the $182 billion bailout in 2008.

President Obama cracks a birther joke

ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) - It's that birther thing again. President Barack Obama was at an Orlando sports bar, snapping a University of Florida Gators' sign, sipping a pint and working a crowd when he walked up to a table with five children. One adult pointed to one of the boys, 7-year-old Andre Wupperman of Orlando, and informed the president that the boy was born in Hawaii, the president's native state. Delighted, the president greeted the ...

Nation news briefs

• OBAMA GETS A RISE OUT OF A FLA. SUPPORTER: FORT PIERCE, Fla. (AP) - If President Barack Obama was looking for a lift in Florida, he got one from Scott Van Duzer.

WTC memorial magnificent but it comes at a steep price

NEW YORK (AP) - With its huge reflecting pools, ringed by waterfalls and skyscrapers, and a cavernous underground museum still under construction, the National Sept. 11 Memorial and Museum at the World Trade Center is an awesome spectacle that moved and inspired some 4.5 million visitors in its first year.

Status of World Trade Center site, 11 years after the attack

NEW YORK (AP) - Eleven years after terrorists attacked the World Trade Center, the new multibillion-dollar World Trade Center once again dominates the lower Manhattan skyline. Hundreds of construction workers are at the 16-acre site every day, and tourists snap thousands of photos of the two towers that are nearing completion.

Tests link deadly ricin to Obama letter suspect

Obama defends counterterrorism effort

Nation news briefs

NYC ELEMENTARY SCHOOL ADOPTS ALL-VEGETARIAN MENU: NEW YORK (AP) - A New York City elementary school has adopted an all-vegetarian menu, serving kids tofu wraps and veggie chili.

Legal tiff settled over Chicago parking meters

US assessing reported Syrian chemical use

Army amputee completes air assault school

Man arrested for letting son, 9, drive Ferrari

Pro-gun Native American billboard draws criticism

Nation news briefs

SOME LOSING JOBS AMID ALLEGED NEV. PATIENT DUMPING: CARSON CITY, Nev. (AP) - Two staff members who violated discharge policies at a Las Vegas psychiatric hospital were fired Monday and three others are being disciplined following an investigation into busing patients to other states, the governor's office and agency officials said Monday.

Lawyer: Former ricin suspect's home is unlivable

1st female Iraq war resister to be court-martialed

Abortion trial stirs debate on when life ends

Boston suspect's defense team gets major boost