Soda crackdown starts Tuesday in New York

NEW YORK (AP) - At barbecue joints, coffee counters and bottle-service nightclubs, a coming clampdown on big, sugary soft drinks is beginning to take shape on tables and menus in a city that thrives on eating and going out.

Budget cuts force military jets to drop more than 190 air shows

SAVANNAH, Ga. (AP) - Even a rural festival celebrating the harvest of Georgia's famous sweet onions isn't safe from the federal budget battle 600 miles away, as automatic cuts are threatening to take away the star attraction for the Vidalia Onion Festival's popular air show: the Navy's daredevil fighter pilots, the Blue Angels.

Gay couples could see windfalls from ruling

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - For Mina Meyer and Sharon Raphael, two women in their 70s who fell in love more than four decades ago and have been married for more than four years, the U.S. Supreme Court's pending consideration of a law that prohibits the federal government from recognizing unions like theirs is about more than civil rights. It's about buying a new roof for their California home, replacing their 2005 Toyota Camry, and ensuring ...

Harvard secretly searched deans’ emails

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. (AP) - Harvard University administrators secretly searched the emails of 16 deans last fall, looking for a leak to reporters about a case of cheating, two newspapers reported.

Stress from storms, war tied to heart risks

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - Stress does bad things to the heart. New studies have found higher rates of cardiac problems in veterans with PTSD, New Orleans residents six years after Hurricane Katrina and Greeks struggling through that country's financial turmoil.

Explosions mark dangers of making hash oil

LOS ANGELES (AP) - Nicholas Broms was trying to squeeze a better high from marijuana when his Oregon condo caught on fire. An explosion knocked out a wall, blew out his sliding glass door and torched his arms.

Comstock Lode mining picking up

VIRGINA CITY, Nev. (AP) - The company that brought gold and silver mining back to the historic Comstock region around Virginia City says the operation is proving as successful as expected and new discoveries have it even more optimistic about the future.

Seven die in Kentucky fire

GRAY, Ky. (AP) - Gino Cima raced to a house as it was engulfed by flames in rural Kentucky, frantically trying to save his nephew, his nephew's pregnant fiancee and five young children inside. But he was too late: He found his nephew's body near a side door, laying in a way that suggested the man had been trying to rescue the sleeping children.

Nation news briefs

• 49ERS SELL 75 PERCENT OF TICKETS IN NEW STADIUM: SANTA CLARA (AP) - The San Francisco 49ers have already sold three-quarters of the seats at its new Silicon Valley stadium, thanks in part to the team's Super Bowl run.

Bid to dismiss rat poisoning death charge

2 Civil War sailors from USS Monitor buried at Arlington

Forest Service may let more fires burn

Hot chicks: At 60, Peeps still popular

Sen. McCain slams release of illegals

Push for mandatory gun ownership

Boy testifies against Saudi in rape case

LAS VEGAS (AP) - A 14-year-old California boy testified Monday that he was "freaked out" when a Saudi Arabian air force sergeant made sexual advances toward him in a Las Vegas casino on New Year's Eve, but he couldn't figure out how to get away before the man sexually assaulted and raped him on a hotel bathroom floor.

Vandals prompt restrictions on Nevada reservation

RENO, Nev. (AP) - A northern Nevada tribe is considering plans to protect sacred sites on its reservation after vandals spray-painted gang symbols and graffiti on a landmark feature.

Boy, 6, drowns in pool on cruise

Reid, McConnell optimistic of possible deal

WASHINGTON (AP) - Racing the clock, the Senate's Democratic and Republican leaders closed in on a deal Monday night to avoid an economy-menacing Treasury default and end the two-week partial government shutdown.

NSA collecting millions of contact lists

WASHINGTON (AP) - The National Security Agency has been sifting through millions of contact lists from personal email and instant messaging accounts around the world - including those of Americans - in its effort to find possible links to terrorism or other criminal activity, according to a published report.

Man, 38, with MD finishes marathon

CHICAGO (AP) - A Venezuelan man with muscular dystrophy was the last runner to cross the finish line of the Chicago Marathon - nearly 17 hours after he started the race. Maickel Melamed, 38, of Caracas, Venezuela, made it across the finish line of the 26.2-mile race at 1:30 a.m. Monday. About 100 people cheered him on as he finished. He received a finisher's medal. He put forth a positive message of achieving dreams and ...

News from around the nation

DCC crowd pushes through barriers to WWII Memorial

WASHINGTON (AP) - A crowd converged on the World War II Memorial on the National Mall on Sunday, pushing past barriers to protest the memorial's closing under the government shutdown.

Spending stumbling block to budget deal to avoid debt crisis

WASHINGTON (AP) - Senate Republicans and Democrats hit an impasse Sunday over spending in their last-ditch struggle to avoid an economy-jarring default in just four days and end a partial government shutdown that's entering its third week.

Dying Ohio man on gurney leads 24-year-old daughter down aisle

CLEVELAND (AP) - A terminally ill Ohio man who arrived at his daughter's wedding by ambulance gave her away, from a hospital gurney.