NEW YORK -- Families of almost 150 U.S. service members and civilians who were killed or wounded in terror attacks in Afghanistan sued a group of Western contractors involved in the nation's reconstruction for allegedly bribing the Taliban for protection.

The alleged payments ultimately helped finance a Taliban-led insurgency that led to the ...Read more

MOSCOW -- Russia, seeing prospects for multibillion-dollar deals, ruled out extending a United Nations-approved arms embargo on Iran that expires in October next year, rejecting U.S. warnings that lifting the restrictions will jeopardize global security.

"We're not ready to do the bidding of our American colleagues," Deputy Foreign Minister ...Read more

HONG KONG -- China launched a Long March 5 rocket from the island province of Hainan on Friday, a key step in its ambitions to reach Mars and cement its place as a major power in space exploration.

The country's largest carrier rocket, with a diameter of 5 meters (16 feet), blasted off from Wenchang Satellite Launch Center at 8:45 p.m. local ...Read more

MIAMI -- The day after Christmas, a Chinese man rose early because, he said, he wanted to take photographs of the sunrise on the grounds of the Naval Air Station in Key West.

It was only a matter of time before witnesses spotted Lyuyou Liao at 6:50 a.m. Thursday walking around a perimeter fence and entering the military facility from the rocks ...Read more

SAN JOSE, Calif. -- A woman has been arrested after a Christmas morning street melee in which she allegedly ran over and killed a man who shot her relative moments earlier, according to San Jose police.

Sabrina Marie Gutierrez, 22, of San Jose, was booked into the Elmwood women's jail in Milpitas on suspicion of murder and is being held without...Read more

BALTIMORE -- This holiday week brought no peace to Baltimore.

A working mother gunned down in front of her children at an East Side deli. A man who succumbed to the gunshot wounds he suffered two weeks ago. A baby believed to be shaken to death. A man shot to death inside a car.

The four killings this week push the 2019 body count to match the...Read more

Only a little more than a week after Elizabeth Warren boasted about her grassroots fundraising at a Democratic debate, her campaign admitted it is falling short.

In an email to supporters, the Warren campaign said it has raised less money than in the previous quarter.

"So far this quarter, we've raised a little over $17 million. That's a good ...Read more

SEATTLE -- Drivers in the state of Washington who have wondered whether they really have to use their turn signals every time -- even in a turn-only lane -- may want to take note of a state Supreme Court ruling issued Thursday.

In a case considering whether state law "compels drivers to use their signal every time they turn or change lanes on a...Read more

DETROIT -- He was a registered gun owner with no criminal past.

But five days before Christmas, police said, a dark side emerged.

The man went on a 90-minute crime spree in Pontiac, they said, terrorizing children, women and men with a gun in series of carjackings, home invasions and robberies. Among his victims was an Amazon driver, kidnapped...Read more

RALEIGH, N.C. -- A 66-year-old man who demanded money from a North Carolina bank isn't being charged with a crime, officials say.

The man was at a Wells Fargo in Wilmington on Thursday when he handed a teller a note with his request, according to police spokeswoman Linda Thompson.

But then the would-be robber had an apparent change of heart.

...Read more

RALEIGH, N.C. -- North Carolina voters will not have to show a photo ID in the next elections in the state after a ruling in federal court was announced Thursday.

A federal judge in North Carolina said she would stop the voter ID law temporarily as the lawsuit against the state continues. She said she will make her official ruling next week, ...Read more

The Republican establishment is starting to fall in line for Jeff Van Drew.

A week after the New Jersey congressman and longtime Democrat defected to the GOP in an Oval Office meeting where he pledged his "undying support" to President Donald Trump, the political apparatus of Van Drew's new party is going to work for him. The president has ...Read more

LOS ANGELES -- A young girl died Thursday evening after a medical emergency -- possibly cardiac arrest -- on a flight out of Los Angeles International Airport, officials said.

The plane returned to the gate and paramedics responded at 5:53 p.m. and "furiously worked to save her life," according to the Los Angeles Fire Department.

"Sadly, all ...Read more