WASHINGTON – House Speaker Dennis Hastert accused the Justice Department Thursday of trying to intimidate him in retaliation for criticizing the FBI’s weekend raid on a congressman’s office, escalating a searing battle between the executive and legislative branches of government. “This is one of the leaks that come out to …

NEW YORK – With home sales slumping and inventories on the rise, experts say getting your home sold depends a lot on pricing it correctly. One tool sellers can fall back on when the market is shifting is a home appraisal. You can have an appraisal done before you contact …

BEIJING – China accused the Dalai Lama on Wednesday of stirring religious conflicts in Tibet, pressing its criticisms of the exiled leader even amid sensitive negotiations on establishing a more permanent dialogue. A report by the official Xinhua News Agency cited officials in Tibet as saying the Dalai Lama inspired …

VIENNA, Austria – Bolivian President Evo Morales on Thursday said he would defend his decision to nationalize his country’s energy sector, as well as other natural resource industries, at summit talks with the European Union and other Latin American leaders. “We don’t have to negotiate, dialogue or talk (with other …

Everyone knows that women enjoy a longer life expectancy than men, but new research into why the gap in male and female life spans exists suggests that a natural male propensity toward risky and daredevil behavior may be one reason men don’t live as long as women. Evolution may play …

WASHINGTON – Pause: n. a temporary stop in action. Stop. v. to bring to an end. After a widely expected interest rate increase Wednesday, the Federal Reserve may opt to take a pause in its two-year rate-raising campaign. But that doesn’t necessarily mean the central bank is finished, says Chairman …

NAIROBI, Kenya – Somalia “Foreigners were fighting alongside the local terrorists and were killed,” said Hussein Gutale Ragheh, a spokesman for the secular alliance. No one was caught alive, he said, but among the dead were Arabs and others who looked like Pakistanis, Sudanese and Oromo fighters from neighboring Ethiopia. …

CONWAY, S.C. – An 18-year-old woman was stabbed to death in a school parking lot as students were arriving for class Thursday, police said. Students and school employees saw the attack shortly before 8 a.m. in a lot shared by Carolina Forest Middle School and Carolina Forest High School, Horry …

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. – Eileen Collins, the first woman ever to pilot and command a space shuttle, said Monday she will leave the U.S. space agency. Collins, 49, said she wants to spend more time with her family and pursue other interests. Last July she added to her string of …

BELGRADE, Serbia-Montenegro – Serbia’s prime minister said Wednesday a crackdown on the support network of war crimes fugitive Ratko Mladic has left him “hiding all alone,” and he urged the former army general to surrender. But the chief U.N. war crimes prosecutor in The Hague, Netherlands, accused Serbia of misleading …