WASHINGTON (AP) — The number of people applying for U.S. unemployment benefits rose 16,000 last week to a seasonally adjusted 360,000, although the level remains consistent with steady hiring. The Labor Department said the less volatile four-week average increased 6,000 to 351,750. The weekly applications data can be volatile in July because some automakers briefly […]

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Nearly a week after Asiana Flight 214 collided with a rocky seawall just short of its intended airport runway, investigators have pieced together an outline of the event — what should have been a smooth landing by seasoned pilots turning into a disaster. With each new bit of information, the picture […]

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Country music stars and fans joined together to urge prayers for Randy Travis on Thursday after he underwent brain surgery following a stroke at a Texas hospital. Travis remained in critical condition Thursday after surgery to relieve pressure on his brain Wednesday night, publicist Kirt Webster said. The 54-year-old Grammy Award-winning […]

WASHINGTON (AP) — Parents who have been fretting over the low levels of arsenic found in apple juice can feel better about buying one of their kids’ favorite drinks. The Food and Drug Administration is setting a new limit on the level of arsenic allowed in apple juice, after more than a year of public […]

WASHINGTON (AP) — House approval of a scaledback farm bill is setting up what could be an even bigger fight over food stamps and the role of domestic food aid in the United States. Food stamps have been a part of farm bills since the 1970s to gain urban Democratic votes for the rural measure. […]

DUBLIN (AP) — Lawmakers overwhelmingly voted today to back Ireland’s first bill on abortion, legalizing the practice in exceptional cases where doctors deem the woman’s life at risk from her pregnancy, as the predominantly Catholic country took its first legislative step away from an outright ban. Exhausted legislators applauded today’s 127- 31 vote, while outside […]

CAIRO (AP) — Prosecutors will investigate allegations that Egypt’s ousted president escaped from prison during the 2011 revolution with help from the Palestinian militant group Hamas, officials said. Chief prosecutor Hesham Barakat has received testimony from a court in the Suez Canal city of Ismailia that will be the base for an investigation by state […]

LAC-MEGANTIC, Quebec (AP) — The first victim of a runaway oil train’s explosive derailment in a Quebec town was identified Thursday, more than five days since the disaster, which left behind a scorched scene so dangerous that it slowed the search for 50 people presumed dead. Quebec’s premier toured the traumatized town and sharply criticized […]

BELFAST, Northern Ireland (AP) — Shouting “No surrender!” and singing anti- Catholic songs, Protestant hardliners across Northern Ireland burned midnight bonfires topped with Irish flags and prepared to parade past Catholic areas today in an annual test for the British territory’s peace process. Northern Ireland leaders appealed for calm and police braced for trouble on […]

MOSCOW (AP) — A Russian official of Amnesty International says he plans to meet with Edward Snowden, the leaker of U.S. National Security Agency secrets. Sergei Nikitin, head of the rights organization’s Russia office, told The Associated Press the meeting would take place today, but he declined to say where. However, the head of the […]