NEW YORK – Verizon Wireless is backing a free operating system that competes with programs from Microsoft Corp., Google Inc. and Qualcomm Inc. and expects it to become the “preferred” software on its network. It’s the first U.S. carrier to join the LiMo Foundation, which aims to unite handset makers, …

HAZARD, Ky. – A man shot and killed an elected official and a county employee at an eastern Kentucky convenience store Friday, then turned the gun on himself, a deputy coroner said. Jerry Fugate, 55, shot Magistrate Jimmy Darrell Neace and county road department employee Lewallen Caudill, deputy coroner Kyle …

NEW YORK – David Cook isn’t a rules guy. The newly crowned “American Idol” winner says he doesn’t abide by the conventional three-day wait period after a date. “I don’t really believe in any sort of theories,” the 25-year-old singer told The Associated Press on Thursday morning before performing on …

WASHINGTON – The Pentagon is recommending changes in the handling of troops’ remains, after it was revealed that a crematorium contracted by the military handles both human and animal cremations. A military official said there have been no instances or charges that human and pet remains were mixed. But officials …

BEIRUT, Lebanon – Hezbollah’s leader says a Lebanese government decision to declare the Shiite militant group’s telecommunications network illegal amounts to a “declaration of war.” The U.S.-backed government on Tuesday declared the military telecommunications network illegal and said it was a threat to state security. The government also said it …

An ancient Egyptian necklace was stolen from a museum in Dayton, Ohio, according to WHIO TV. The Boonshoft Museum of Discovery artifact, made from carnelian gems, has been estimated to be several thousand years old, the station reported. The thief damaged the case that held the necklace, which has been …

NEW YORK – The NBA wants to financially “destroy” disgraced referee Tim Donaghy for embarrassing the league during the playoffs with allegations that outcomes of previous games were purposely manipulated by bad calls, his lawyer charged Monday. The attorney, John Lauro, asked a federal judge to force the league to …

WASHINGTON – The House on Thursday approved an extra three months of jobless benefits for all unemployed Americans, knowing the plan’s chances are slight in the Senate and almost nonexistent at the White House. After failing to get a veto-proof two-thirds margin Wednesday, Democrats said they pushed the legislation through …

SKOPJE, Macedonia – International monitors said Monday that serious violations marred a national election in Macedonia that gave the center-right government a landslide victory. The monitoring mission of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe said Sunday’s vote failed to meet international standards and was marked by violence, intimidation …

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. – A team of researchers representing government, industry and academia has launched a test project in which carbon dioxide produced by a natural gas processing plant is being disposed of by injecting it far beneath the ground. Officials announced Thursday that the test is under way at …