WASHINGTON – A massive effort by Internet users to prohibit telephone and cable companies from providing better service and prices to preferred customers failed to get through a Senate committee on Wednesday. After three days of debate, the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee approved a bill intended to let …

KABUL, Afghanistan – Coalition forces attacked a Taliban safe house and killed 14 militants Friday in eastern Afghanistan, the military said. Soldiers tracked a group of militants carrying AK-47 submachine guns and rocket-propelled grenades to a compound in the Kamdesh district of Nuristan province, a coalition statement said. “The extremists …

FORT MEADE, Maryland – A military jury sentenced an Army dog handler to 90 days hard labor and a reduction in rank Friday for allowing his Belgian shepherd to bark within inches of an Iraqi detainee’s face at Abu Ghraib prison. Army Sgt. Santos A. Cardona was the 11th soldier …

CAIRO, Egypt – Police seized 2,000 pirated DVDs of “The Da Vinci Code” Saturday as an official from the Egyptian Coptic Christian church demanded that the Hollywood film be banned from the country’s movie theaters. The film has not been shown at Egyptian cinemas and the government has not decided …

ARTESIA, N.M. – With lawmakers preparing for the contentious work of negotiating a compromise on immigration reform legislation, President Bush tried to stress areas of agreement during a visit to New Mexico Tuesday. “We’re making progress toward a comprehensive bill,” Bush insisted, noting that since his last visit to the …

MAYER, Ariz. – Residents of a central Arizona subdivision were ordered to evacuate Wednesday morning as a brush fire threatened their homes, authorities said. The blaze was started by lightning early Wednesday and had spread to about 200 acres by late morning, officials said. The U.S. Forest Service ordered all …

WASHINGTON – The U.S. trade deficit resumed rising in April after two months of rare declines, pushed higher by surging oil prices and a flood of imported furniture, televisions and toys from China. The gap between what the United States sells abroad and what it imports rose to $63.4 billion …

GROZNY, Russia – Police killed the Chechen rebel leader Saturday acting on a tip from within his network, a possible blow to efforts to spread the increasingly Islam-inspired insurgency throughout southern Russia. Abdul-Khalim Sadulayev was shot during a raid on a hideout in his Chechen hometown of Argun, nine miles …

CALEDONIA, Mich. – Whitney Cerak and Laura VanRyn looked remarkably alike, both attractive young women with blond hair, similar facial features and the same build and height. They were together the night of April 26, returning from banquet preparations with a group from Taylor University, when a tractor-trailer slammed into …

SAN FRANCISCO – Western Digital Corp. is offering free software to about 1 million consumers to resolve a class-action lawsuit alleging that its computer hard drives stored less material than promised — a discrepancy stemming from the high-tech industry’s differing standards for sizing up digital data. Under the settlement announced …