EAST ST. LOUIS, Illinois – Murder warrants were issued for a couple accused of kidnapping the woman’s 9-month-old son from a social worker who was later found dead, authorities said. Renee Terrell and her boyfriend, Christopher Wayne Luttrell, were charged Friday with fleeing Kentucky to avoid prosecution, which is punishable …

PIKESVILLE, Md. – A student fired a pellet gun in a courtyard during lunch at a high school Wednesday, leaving six boys with minor injuries, police said. The boys, ages 14 to 16, reported hearing six popping sounds and then feeling a stinging sensation where they were struck by the …

BANGKOK, Thailand – “Rambo” is preparing to return from retirement in Thailand early next year, and Oscar-winning actor Denzel Washington will also come here next month to play a drug lord in the upcoming film “American Gangster,” a Thai film official said Thursday. Sylvester Stallone will spend several weeks in …

EVANSVILLE, Ind. – An embattled Indiana congressman has launched a new campaign ad that warns a vote for his Democratic opponent could trigger a shift in House leadership and advance a “homosexual agenda.” In the one-minute radio ad paid for by Friends of Rep. John Hostettler, an announcer impersonating Clint …

NEW YORK – U.S. stocks were little changed Friday after industrial bellwether Caterpillar Inc. (CAT) missed earnings expectations and the heavy equipment maker lowered its outlook, offsetting a strong profit from Google Inc. (GOOG) and the benefit of falling oil prices. The Dow Jones industrial average closed down 9.36 points, …

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico – Bahamian police investigating the death of Anna Nicole Smith’s 20-year-old son recently traveled to California, where they interviewed the young man’s doctor and other people, an officer said Monday. The four officers, who returned from the U.S. on Sunday, were seeking information about the days …

PANMUNJOM, Korea – North Korean troops in the Demilitarized Zone dividing the two Koreas have been more boldly trying to provoke guards on the other side since Pyongyang claimed to have detonated a nuclear bomb, a U.S. military spokesman said Wednesday. The North Koreans have stepped up their usual attempts …

JERICHO, West Bank – Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice called on Israelis and Palestinians Thursday to step up efforts to achieve a long-stalled peace deal, saying neither side should take actions that would prejudge a final accord. “Hopefully we can take this moment to accelerate our efforts and intensify our …

NEW DELHI – Indian and Pakistani officials held extensive talks Tuesday on terrorism and Kashmir — the two key issues that have fueled decades of hostility between the two nuclear-armed South Asian neighbors. Indian Foreign Secretary Shiv Shanker Menon and his Pakistani counterpart, Riaz Mohammed Khan, reviewed the gamut of …

NORWALK, Ohio – A couple on trial for putting some of their 11 adopted children in cages are guilty only of loving them, a defense attorney said Tuesday in his opening statement. “Eleven is a strain, a huge strain, but they did it for the right reason,” said defense attorney …