QUITO, Ecuador -- Ecuador's defense minister on Monday defended his country's decision to allow U.S. anti-drug overflights to land in the environmentally sensitive Galapagos Islands, saying the planes will use the landing strips "no more than three days (per month) ... in situations of emergency or refueling."

Critics, however, including former...Read more

GUATEMALA CITY -- Guatemala's presidential election appeared headed for a runoff between a former first lady and a former prisons chief after none of the 19 candidates won a majority of votes in Sunday's balloting.

With 98% of the ballots counted, the country's electoral tribunal reported Monday that former first lady and businesswoman Sandra ...Read more

CHULA VISTA, Calif. -- A couple loading groceries into a car at a Costco in Chula Vista on Monday afternoon was shot several times by a gunman who then turned the weapon on himself in a deadly domestic violence ambush, police said.

The shooter died at a hospital, and the injured couple -- a man and a woman -- were in surgery after the shooting,...Read more

LONDON -- He's admitted smoking opium, pledged to revive the most unpopular plan in the history of Britain's Parliament and acknowledged that he has many weaknesses and a lot to learn.

But Rory Stewart, the rank outsider in the contest to become Britain's next leader, is suddenly winning support and giving his bigger-name rivals a reason to ...Read more

Gunman shot dead after opening fire on federal courthouse in downtown Dallas

DALLAS -- A man in a mask and combat gear was fatally shot Monday morning in downtown Dallas after he opened fire with an assault weapon outside the Earle Cabell Federal Building. No one else was injured.

FBI Special Agent in Charge Matthew DeSarno identified the ...Read more

RALEIGH, N.C. -- North Carolina Children's Hospital will stop performing complicated heart surgeries while an outside group examines its practices, hospital officials announced Monday.

The decision to temporarily suspend some child heart surgeries at the UNC-run hospital comes after a report by The New York Times about high death rates. The ...Read more

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. -- An Air Force major drowned in a Caribbean Princess cruise ship pool Friday morning, the Broward medical examiner's office said.

Stephen Osakue, 37, worked for the Air Force as a research pharmacist, according to a statement by the medical examiner's office on Monday. Osakue was based at Columbus Air Force Base in ...Read more

LOS ANGELES -- A California middle school aide died this month while climbing in Yosemite National Park, authorities said.

Patricia "Trish" Stoops, 57, died June 8 in a rappelling accident at the Central Pillar of Frenzy, one of the popular rock-climbing lines at Yosemite.

"She had taken the lead to get the team down before dark and something,...Read more

WASHINGTON -- House Democrats are likely to propose a repeal of a controversial provision in the 2017 tax overhaul that imposes a tax on some coveted benefits for employees at nonprofit organizations such as houses of worship, according to one Democratic and one Republican congressional aide.

The change, which is to be included in package of ...Read more

WASHINGTON -- Former Vice President Joe Biden told a clergy-led group focused on fighting poverty Monday that the United States could afford free community college and "total health care" if it rolled back parts of President Donald Trump's signature 2017 tax overhaul.

"We have the greatest income inequality in the ... United States of America ...Read more