By MATTHEW DALY 2010-09-04T03:24:18Z WASHINGTON (AP) -- What now for the Gulf? News of another oil rig fire in the Gulf of Mexico, so soon after the BP oil spill, has set off a wave of anxiety along the Gulf Coast and prompted calls for the government to extend its six-month ban on deepwater drilling....

By JOE MANDAK 2010-09-04T03:21:41Z PITTSBURGH (AP) -- A former US Airways Express pilot will spend nine months in prison for selling a powdered drink mix over the Internet that he claimed was "100 percent" effective in helping drug-using truck drivers, pilots and train engineers pass federally mandated drug tests....

By JENNIFER KAY and CURT ANDERSON 2010-09-04T00:12:45Z MIAMI (AP) -- The suspicions airport security officials had when they saw the metal canister grew when they learned about the man who brought it in from the Middle East: a scientist who sparked a bioterrorism scare after he reported missing vials of plague samples seven years ago....

By BOB CHRISTIE and PAUL J. WEBER 2010-09-03T14:14:35Z SAN JUAN, Texas (AP) -- When Ruth Garcia's twins are born in two months, they'll have all the rights of U.S. citizens. They and their six brothers and sisters will be able to vote, apply for federal student loans and even run for president....

By MICHAEL J. CRUMB 2010-09-03T12:34:42Z DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) -- U.S. Agriculture Department employees worked full-time at two Iowa egg farms at the center of a salmonella outbreak and massive recall, but two former workers said they ignored complaints about conditions at one site....

By 2010-09-03T07:11:34Z VENTURA, Calif. (AP) -- A 9-year-old boy ran to get cash from his mother's purse to appease an armed intruder, but when he returned the man was stabbing his parents with a kitchen knife in the bedroom, according to recently released search warrants in the triple murder case....

By TAMMY WEBBER 2010-09-03T07:30:50Z CHICAGO (AP) -- With less than two weeks before Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn awards a lucrative, first-of-its-kind contract for the private management of the state's $2 billion-a-year lottery, some are criticizing the selection process as too secretive and questioning whether it favors one powerful bidder....

By ALAN SAYRE 2010-09-03T14:44:16Z NEW ORLEANS (AP) -- Unlike the blast that led to the massive BP spill, the latest oil platform fire in the Gulf of Mexico killed no one and sent no crude gushing into the water....

By MIKE BAKER 2010-09-03T05:30:49Z BUXTON, N.C. (AP) -- A two-story Comfort Inn has become a makeshift hurricane hostel on North Carolina's Outer Banks for those who want to stay close to their homes but know they need better shelter from the onslaught of Earl....

By THOMAS WATKINS 2010-09-03T02:43:37Z LOS ANGELES (AP) -- Investigators have identified the owner of a trunk in which the mummified remains of two babies were found, bringing them a step closer to solving the intriguing international mystery....

By AUDREY McAVOY 2010-09-03T08:42:59Z PEARL HARBOR, Hawaii (AP) -- Like many other vets, Don Fosburg marked the anniversary of World War II's end reflecting on a victory dearly earned and on men who helped make that happen but never came home....

By MARK NIESSE 2010-09-04T04:32:57Z HONOLULU (AP) -- The head of a labor recruiting company accused of exploiting 400 workers from Thailand and forcing them to work on U.S. farms pleaded not guilty Friday, part of what the FBI calls the largest human-trafficking case charged in U.S. history...

By AMANDA LEE MYERS 2010-09-03T02:37:29Z PHOENIX (AP) -- A man who worked at Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport was arrested Thursday on suspicion that he stole hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of items from the luggage of passengers in a case that could include hundreds of victims from around the world....

By DEANNA BELLANDI 2010-09-03T00:33:56Z CHICAGO (AP) -- Illinois' prison chief, who became a political liability to Gov. Pat Quinn during an election year because of a secret prisoner release program he oversaw, is stepping down, the governor said Thursday....

By 2010-09-02T23:26:54Z PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) -- Bethany Storro had just bought a pair of sunglasses and was celebrating a new job when a woman walked up to her with a cup and said: "Hey pretty girl, do you want to drink this?"...

By PAUL DAVENPORT 2010-09-03T02:42:17Z PHOENIX (AP) -- It will go down as one of the most painful openings to a political debate in recent memory....

By RUSSELL CONTRERAS 2010-09-04T16:24:09Z YARMOUTH, Mass. (AP) -- In the end, Hurricane Earl wasn't even as bad as some of the no-name nor'easters that pound New England from time to time....

By JENNIFER PELTZ 2010-09-02T13:35:49Z NEW YORK (AP) -- The former television producer who tried to blackmail David Letterman over the comedian's office affairs was freed from jail Thursday, city Correction Department records show....

By SOPHIA TAREEN 2010-09-02T10:58:48Z CHICAGO (AP) -- The idea seemed simple though bold: Call reputed gang leaders to a meeting with top police and federal prosecutors and deliver an ultimatum to end killings in the nation's third-largest city....

By SUDHIN THANAWALA and TERRY COLLINS 2010-09-04T06:45:35Z PITTSBURG, Calif. (AP) -- Authorities searched a Northern California landfill Friday for signs of a missing man authorities said might be a fifth murder victim linked to a suspect who was shot and killed by police after a high-speed chase....