BEIRUT (AP) — The leader of Syria’s main opposition group rejected calls today by U. N. envoy Kofi Annan for dialogue with President Bashar Assad’s government, saying they were pointless and unrealistic as the regime massacres its own people. As the prospects for diplomacy faltered, Turkey’s state-run television TRT said two Syrian generals and a […]

ISLAMABAD ( AP) — Al- Qaida has confirmed an American drone strike killed one of its commanders in Pakistan last month — a success in a CIA-led campaign that is a major source of tension stalling the relationship between Washington and Islamabad. The death of Badr Mansoor in the strike along the border with Afghanistan […]

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) — Scientists say there’s been a small explosion at a remote Alaska volcano. The Alaska Volcano Observatory says the explosion happened just after 7 p. m. Wednesday at Cleveland Volcano. The observatory says in a statement that it was detected by distant seismic stations and infrasound array since there’s no nearby seismic […]

NEW YORK (AP) — Coca- Cola Co. and PepsiCo Inc. are changing the way they make the caramel coloring used in their sodas as a result of a California law that mandates drinks containing a certain level of carcinogens come with a cancer warning label. The companies said the changes will be expanded nationally to […]

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — Traffic officers along Interstate 84 in Oregon’s Columbia River Gorge say a lead-footed driver was in such a hurry to make a court date on a meth possession charge that he racked up $ 2,000 worth of speeding tickets in an hour. Police say 34-year-old Jose Romero- Valenzuela of Las Vegas, […]

SAN DIEGO (AP) — A California condor chick is about to hatch at San Diego Zoo Safari Park, and a webcam is offering a bird’s-eye view. Zoo officials said Thursday that the egg has begun to pip — the process of the chick breaking through the shell from the inside. The pipping period can take […]

MOBILE, Ala. (AP) — U.S. Coast Guard officials say they have recovered the body of the fourth crewmember that had been missing since a helicopter crashed in Mobile Bay in Alabama. Officials said in a news release that the body of Petty Officer 3rd Class Drew Knight, of Thomasville, Ala., was recovered Thursday about 2 […]

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. ( AP) — An Albuquerque woman who had been missing for nearly a month has been found alive in New Mexico’s Gila National Forest, authorities said Thursday. Search and rescue crews found 41-year-old Margaret Page on Wednesday in the forest in the state’s southwest after her car was spotted in the area, Albuquerque […]