U.S. National News

This is an updated composite drawing of the suspected serial killer in Cherokee County, South Carolina made available on Friday, July 3, 2009. Sheriff's deputies searched Friday, July 3, 2009 for a serial killer blamed for four deaths over the past six days as terrified residents wondered who might be next. (AP Photo/Cherokee County Sheriff's Department via Spartanburg Herald Journal)
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AP

Coroner: Teen 5th killed by apparent serial killer

AP - 48 minutes ago

GAFFNEY, S.C. - A teenage girl shot while helping her father in their family's small furniture and appliance store died Saturday, becoming the fifth victim of a suspected serial killer terrorizing a small South Carolina community, authorities said.

  • FILE - In this May 11, 2009 file photo, soldiers from the U.S. Army First Battalion, 26th Infantry take defensive positions at firebase Restrepo after receiving fire from Taliban positions in the Korengal Valley of Afghanistan's Kunar Province. Spc. Zachary Boyd of Fort Worth, Texas, far left was wearing 'I love NY' boxer shorts after rushing from his sleeping quarters to join his fellow platoon members. From far right is Spc. Cecil Montgomery of Many, La. and Jordan Custer of Spokan, Wash, center. Defense Secretary Robert Gates says American soldiers have more than their military might and training on their side in the war in Afghanistan. Some have pink underwear. (AP Photo/David Guttenfelder, File)
    Soldier who fought in pink boxers home for the 4th AP - Sat Jul 4, 7:04 PM ET

    FORT WORTH, Texas - The soldier who was photographed fighting the Taliban in his pink boxer shorts said Saturday he was glad to be back home in Texas after his yearlong deployment to Afghanistan — especially for the Fourth of July.

  • Sarah Palin along with daughter Bristol, left watch the Juneau Fourth of July parade, as husband Todd, looks over son Trig and grandson, Tripp, Bristol's son, Saturday, July 4, 2009 in Juneau, Alaska. Where is Sarah Palin? A day after surprising even her closest friends by announcing she would step down as Alaska governor more than a year before her term was up, the controversial hockey mom was keeping a low profile. Her spokesman, David Murrow, said Palin told him she was flying to Juneau, the state capital, for the Fourth of July weekend, but he wasn't sure what activities she planned to attend. (AP Photo/Claire Richardson)
    Palin links resignation to 'higher calling' AP - 50 minutes ago

    JUNEAU, Alaska - Outgoing Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin on Saturday laid the groundwork to take on a larger, national role after leaving state government, citing a "higher calling" with the aim of uniting the country along conservative lines.

  • Aaron Weisinger, 26, surprises his girlfriend Erica Breder, 25, both of Walnut Creek, Calif., with a wedding proposal while visiting the crown of the Statue of Liberty in New York, Saturday July 4, 2009. The first visitors were allowed into the Statue of Liberty's crown Saturday in nearly eight years after it was closed to the public after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks. The base, pedestal and outdoor observation deck were reopened in 2004, but the crown remained off-limits. (AP Photos/David Goldman)
    Lady Liberty's crown reopens on July Fourth AP - Sat Jul 4, 4:16 PM ET

    NEW YORK - The first visitors allowed into the Statue of Liberty's crown in nearly eight years made the arduous climb Saturday on an Independence Day journey laden with symbolism of freedom, national pride — and for one couple, romance.

  • Joey Chestnut, left, of San Jose, Calif., defending champion of the Nathan's Famous July 4th Hot Dog Eating Contest, celebrates his victory over former champion Takeru Kobayashi of Nagano, Japan, Saturday, July 4, 2009, in New York. Chestnut logged his third consecutive win in Coney Island's annual hot dog eating contest with a world-record 68 franks. (AP Photo/Craig Ruttle)
    Chestnut wins NY hot dog eating match, 3d in row AP - Sat Jul 4, 5:41 PM ET

    NEW YORK - Joey Chestnut chomped down a record 68 hot dogs, capturing his third straight July Fourth hot-dog eating contest at Coney Island, an annual showcase for flamboyant hot dogging contestants eager to show they really are what they eat.

  • Menlo Park Vice Mayor Richard Cline walks next to an arriving train at the CalTrain station in Menlo Park, Calif., Wednesday, May 20, 2009. Last November, more than 60 percent of voters on the San Francisco Peninsula supported a $9.9 billion bond measure to help pay for a high-speed rail line between San Francisco and the Los Angeles area. (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez)
    Calif. bullet train hits criticism on SF Peninsula AP - Sat Jul 4, 2:56 PM ET

    MENLO PARK, Calif. - Last November, more than 60 percent of voters on the San Francisco Peninsula supported a $9.9 billion bond measure to help pay for a high-speed rail line between San Francisco and the Los Angeles area.

  • Michael Navarro, left, Michael Navarro, Jr., 7, center, and Gina Rodriguez, all from Los Angeles, sign and photograph a large poster at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, Saturday, July 4, 2009, which will be the site for the late pop star Michael Jackson's memorial service taking place Tuesday, July 7, 2009. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)
    More than 1 million seek tix for Jackson memorial AP - Sat Jul 4, 5:29 PM ET

    LOS ANGELES - More than 1.2 million people have now registered to get tickets for Michael Jackson's memorial service next week.

  • Brewmaster Jimmy Mauric holds samples of the Shiner beers produced at Spoeltz Brewery in Shiner, Texas, Thursday, June 25, 2009. The brewery is celebrating 100 years of brewing beer. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)
    Texas brewer, once near defeat, shines again AP - Sat Jul 4, 10:35 AM ET

    SHINER, Texas - By all accounts, Shiner beer shouldn't have made it this long. The Spoetzl Brewery ferments its brew in a one-stoplight town that's not on the way to anywhere, and much larger regional brewers long ago succumbed to consolidation and the muscle of national brewers.

  • A card signed by fans is shown at the gates of the late Michael Jackson's former residence, Neverland Ranch, in Los Olivos, Calif., Friday, July 3, 2009. (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer)
    Jackson kids face hurdles to coping with his death AP - Sat Jul 4, 6:12 AM ET

    CHICAGO - No matter how unusual their lives may have been so far, Michael Jackson's children now face a universal trauma felt by all kids who suddenly lose a parent.

  • Macky Dancy Jr., 7, looks at a rarely seen portrait of Michael Jackson on display at the Dancy-Power Automotive Group, a showroom that sells luxury cars to celebrities, in the Harlem neighborhood of New York Thursday July 2, 2009. Owner Marty Abrams says the oil painting titled 'The Book' is the only portrait Jackson sat for because he was friends with Australian painter Brett-Livingstone Strong. The 40-inch-by-50-inch portrait was sold for $2.1 million in 1990. Abrams chose the showroom because it is near the Apollo Theater, where the Jackson 5 won Amateur Night in 1967. (AP Photo/David Goldman)
    Jackson was loving and attentive father, many say AP - Sat Jul 4, 6:17 AM ET

    NEW YORK - When Rabbi Shmuley Boteach brought his children to play with Michael Jackson's kids at Neverland Ranch some eight years ago, the rabbi's youngsters naturally made a beeline for the fabulous rides — the Ferris wheel, the roller coaster, the bumper cars.

  • Calif. regulators warn of pot's cancer capability AP - Sat Jul 4, 5:18 AM ET

    SAN FRANCISCO - It might take Californians a puff or two to get their heads around an apparent contradiction recently enshrined in state law. The same marijuana smoke that doctors can recommend to ease cancer patients' suffering must soon come with a warning saying it causes the disease.

  • An undated file photo, Ma Barker is shown. Cynthia Mary Roberson is an unemployed mother who Phoenix, Ariz., police say recently led her 12- and 14-year-old sons and their young friends to commit at least 20 armed robberies and aggravated assaults in the Phoenix area, including the beating of a teenage boy who had nothing more than an orange lollipop. When Phoenix police arrested her with most of the young suspects on May 29, they dubbed Roberson 'Ma Barker,' the infamous mother who led her four young sons to commit robberies in the early 1900s. (AP Photo, File)
    Police: Arizona woman led sons on crime spree AP - Sat Jul 4, 2:26 PM ET

    PHOENIX - Cynthia Mary Roberson is an unemployed mother who police say led her 12- and 14-year-old sons and their friends to commit at least 20 armed robberies and assaults, including the beating of a teenage boy who had nothing more than an orange lollipop.

  • AP Source: Detroit mayor firing police chief AP - Fri Jul 3, 10:38 PM ET

    DETROIT - The mayor of Detroit is firing the city's police chief, a person familiar with the situation said Friday.

  • Christopher Tomlinson with the Bucks County department of health blows off a mosquito from his arm while he spreads biological larvicide into stagnant water to help control mosquito population at a public golf course in Fairless Hills, Pa., Friday, June 26, 2009. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)
    Communities bug out over cuts to mosquito control AP - Fri Jul 3, 6:09 PM ET

    Millions of mosquito eggs laid across southern Texas after Hurricane Ike hit the coast last summer are waiting for the little bit of rain and hot summer days they need to hatch. That's got the man whose job it is to fight the bugs worried — he's already running out of money.

  • Civil rights activist Joan Trumpauer Mulholland discusses May 12, 2009 in Jackson, Miss., the events that surrounded her being photographed as she and other Tougaloo College students were being abused by white youth as they tried in 1963 to integrate a Woolworth Department Store lunch counter in Jackson, Miss. The photograph of her and other protestors being covered with condiments, and an earlier booking photograph taken after being arrested as a Freedom Rider have help influence a composition for wind ensemble written by Southern Mississippi music student Corey Carter. (AP Photo/Rogelio V. Solis)
    4 decades later, freedom rider returns to Miss. AP - Fri Jul 3, 3:58 PM ET

    JACKSON, Miss. - Corey Carter could hear snippets of music in his head — a calm and subtle melody that hadn't found its shape. The 19-year-old college student simply needed a hero to visualize before he could finish his composition for wind ensemble.

  • South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford leaves the Governor's Mansion Friday, July 3, 2009 in Columbia, S.C. A day earlier, his spokesman said Sanford planned to fly to Florida accompanied by state security for the long holiday weekend. (AP Photo/Mary Ann Chastain)
    SC residents mixed over fate of cheating gov AP - Fri Jul 3, 3:30 PM ET

    COLUMBIA, S.C. - After a week that offered the world a glimpse into the conflicted mind of philandering South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford, his constituents differed Friday on whether he should leave office.

Crimes and Trials News

  • This is an updated composite drawing of the suspected serial killer in Cherokee County, South Carolina made available on Friday, July 3, 2009. Sheriff's deputies searched Friday, July 3, 2009 for a serial killer blamed for four deaths over the past six days as terrified residents wondered who might be next. (AP Photo/Cherokee County Sheriff's Department via Spartanburg Herald Journal)
    Coroner: Teen 5th killed by apparent serial killer AP - 48 minutes ago

    GAFFNEY, S.C. - A teenage girl shot while helping her father in their family's small furniture and appliance store died Saturday, becoming the fifth victim of a suspected serial killer terrorizing a small South Carolina community, authorities said.

  • FILE - In this July 17, 2008 file photo, Aafia Siddiqui, possible al-Qaida associate is seen in the custody of Counter Terrorism Department of Ghazni province in Ghazni City, Afghanistan. In newly filed court documents, a psychologist disputes Siddiqui's claim that she was held captive overseas from 2008 to 2008. The American trained scientist is charged with shooting at U.S. soldiers and FBI agents in Afghanistan after her arrest as a suspected al-Quida operative. She was shot and wounded by U.S. Army officer after point a rifle at an Army Captain. ( (AP Photo/ File)
    Details emerge on woman accused of al-Qaida ties AP - Sat Jul 4, 6:49 PM ET

    NEW YORK - A U.S.-trained scientist accused of being an al-Qaida operative was living freely in Pakistan and Afghanistan for portions of the five years before her arrest last year, a psychologist says, disputing claims that the scientist had spent those years in the custody of foreign authorities.

  • Specter, Wecht's lawyers criticize US attorney AP - Sat Jul 4, 2:31 PM ET

    PITTSBURGH - Defense lawyers and a U.S. senator are criticizing comments made by Pittsburgh's U.S. attorney last month as her office dismissed fraud and theft charges against a noted pathologist.