Earl was downgraded to a tropical storm as it spread wind and rain over Long Island and part of New England. Earl still had maximum sustained winds of 70 mph.

The sham marriage trial of actress Fernanda Romero, which the judge has likened to a soap opera, appeared threatened with a mistrial Friday after a dramatic turn a day earlier.

The mother of a 4-year-old girl, found dead in her Brooklyn home Thursday morning, was charged Friday with second-degree assault, reckless endangerment and endangering the welfare of a child, according to police.

An American's cartoon showing the eagle in the Mexican flag dead in a pool of blood is drawing criticism.

A powerful predawn earthquake hit New Zealand, causing water mains to break and some buildings to crumble, though there were no immediate reports of deaths.

A Florida judge sentenced Rachel Wade, the 20-year-old woman convicted of second-degree murder for fatally stabbing her romantic rival in a fight last year, to 27 years in prison Friday.

Bethany Storro doesn't usually wear sunglasses, but she got a surprise paycheck and bought a pair earlier this week. Those sunglasses, she is convinced, saved her eyesight when a woman threw a cup of acid in her face 20 minutes later.

When the month of Ramadan began, I received a letter from Laura Fattal, the mother of one of the three young American hikers detained in Iran. In it, Fattal appealed to me, the first Muslim scholar she had contacted, to intervene on behalf of her son and his two friends.

A cargo plane has crashed in an uninhabited area near the Dubai airport, according to the official WAM news agency in the United Arab Emirates.

Now that we are a week removed from the march on Washington organized by the self-proclaimed rodeo clown, Glenn Beck, it's clear that the event was nothing more than an exercise in ego worship.

BP began operations to remove its failed blowout preventer from atop its well deep below the Gulf of Mexico, the company said Friday.

After physicist Stephen Hawking's claim that God didn't create the universe, the head of the Church of England says that "physics on its own will not settle the question of why there is something rather than nothing."

Six job recruiters have been indicted in federal court in what the FBI has called the largest human-trafficking operation ever to result in charges in the United States.

After two days of meetings and talks led by President Barack Obama and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, Israeli and Palestinian leaders leave Washington deadlocked over the contentious issue of Israeli settlements.

Travelers with Labor Day weekend plans along beaches in Hurricane Earl's path should proceed with caution, check road conditions and confirm lodging plans before starting out, safety and tourism officials say.

Bomb squad investigators were at Miami International Airport on Friday after a suspicious item was spotted in a baggage screening area, authorities said.

President Obama promised to lay out a broad package of ideas for job creation next week and slamming Senate Republicans for blocking his small business aid legislation.

Business hiring is picking up, but not enough to make up for the massive losses of temporary government jobs.

European scientists say they've figured out the recipe for water in space: Just add starlight.

A suicide bomber blew himself up outside an Ahmadi worship place in northwestern Pakistan Friday, killing a pedestrian, police said.