1 of FBI's 10 most wanted arrested

LOS ANGELES (AP) - One of the FBI's Ten Most Wanted Fugitives was arrested Thursday in Mexico and will be returned to Los Angeles to face charges of murder, kidnapping and rape, U.S. officials said.

Gas blast levels Mass. strip club; 18 people hurt

SPRINGFIELD, Mass. (AP) - A natural gas explosion in one of New England's biggest cities on Friday leveled a strip club with a boom heard for miles and heavily damaged a dozen other buildings but didn't kill anyone, authorities said.

Movie attack suspect got guns despite psych issues

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) - A southwest Missouri man accused of plotting attacks at a movie theater and Walmart store legally bought the guns he allegedly planned to use, despite being forced to undergo a psychiatric exam three years ago after stalking a store clerk he said he planned to kill, authorities said.

Official: Man killed zoo monkey during theft try

BOISE, Idaho (AP) - A 22-year-old man clubbed a monkey to death with a tree branch, after he was bitten by the animal while trying to steal it from a Boise zoo, prosecutors allege.

NC activists angered by killing of 3-legged bear

BURNSVILLE, N.C. (AP) - A skinny, three-legged black bear had become a fixture at an upscale housing community deep in the Blue Ridge Mountains of North Carolina, rummaging through trash cans and playfully ambling along the golf course

49 female inmates sickened by gas at Pa. prison

YORK, Pa. (AP) - Nearly 50 female inmates at a central Pennsylvania prison have been treated for carbon monoxide poisoning.

Facebook proposes to end voting on privacy issues

NEW YORK (AP) - Facebook is proposing to end its practice of letting users vote on changes to its privacy policies, though it will continue to let users comment on proposed updates.

Jockeying under way to replace Rep. Jackson Jr.

CHICAGO (AP) - The jockeying to replace Jesse Jackson Jr. began before the ink was dry on the former congressman's resignation letter.

Nation news briefs

POLICE: CUSTOMER AT NM GUN SHOP ACCIDENTALLY SHOT: SILVER CITY, N.M. (AP) - An employee at a New Mexico gun shop who was unloading a handgun accidentally shot and wounded a customer in the back, authorities said Wednesday.

At public meetings, fights over whether to allow opening prayers still drag on

Drought worsens after weeks of improvement

Economy makes for tougher journeys

Drivers pay more for gas, but still give thanks

NEW YORK (AP) - Many drivers are giving more at the pump than a year ago but they still have reason to be thankful. Prices in many parts of the country have fallen recently, and AAA says gas prices could end the year lower than where they started.

US, Mexico sign rules on sharing Colorado River

Boy charged in fatal shooting on Florida bus

Miss USA crown goes to Connecticut contestant Erin Brady

Adult smoking rate dips to 18 percent

NYC aims to require composting food scraps

Nation news briefs

FBI REACHES MILESTONE IN MOST WANTED FUGITIVE LIST: WASHINGTON (AP) - The FBI has reached a milestone in its 63-year-old program of pursuing its "Ten Most Wanted Fugitives."

Nation news briefs

FBI REACHES MILESTONE IN MOST WANTED FUGITIVE LIST: WASHINGTON (AP) - The FBI has reached a milestone in its 63-year-old program of pursuing its "Ten Most Wanted Fugitives."

To ease shortage of organs, grow them in a lab?

Miss Utah latest beauty queen to botch answer

Ohio police chief takes criminals to task online via Facebook page

Ohio police chief takes criminals to task online via Facebook page

Shopper is killed chasing bank robber

WASHINGTON, Pa. (AP) - A Pennsylvania bank robber fatally shot a supermarket customer who ran after him and tried to stop his getaway car, police said. South Strabane Township police identified the dead man as Vincent Kelley, 46, of Washington, Pa. Kelley and his friend Jared Cameron, 21, were shopping at the Giant Eagle in Strabane Square when police said the man robbed an in-store Citizens Bank branch about 2:30 p.m. Sunday. "I saw him ...

Hitchhiking cat 'Mata Hairi' headed home to Oregon

HELENA, Mont. (AP) - A well-traveled cat named "Mata Hairi" will soon be reunited with her owner after spending nearly 10 months traveling thousands of miles with a hitchhiker who rescued her from the rain. The feline adventure started in Portland, Ore., when the cat's owner, Ron Buss, let her out of the house on Sept. 1. The cat, white with patches of dark gray, usually left for no more than a couple of hours ...

Still no Hoffa after 1st day of latest search

Still no Hoffa after 1st day of latest search

Texas, SD court Conn. gun makers

Nevada non-Hispanic white population shrinks

RENO, Nev. (AP) - Nevada's non-Hispanic, white population shrunk in all but three counties from 2010 to 2012, according to new U.S. Census Bureau figures. Washoe County, covering Reno-Sparks, and Humboldt County in rural north-central Nevada each had a fraction of a percentage point increase in non-Hispanic white population over the two years, the bureau said. Northeast Nevada's Elko County posted the only significant gain, about 3 percent, in a trend the Reno Gazette-Journal first ...

Jury convicts Arizona man in terrorism hoax

Perry signs 'Merry Christmas' bill into law