CANCUN, Mexico A judge in Mexico has ordered a U.S. man to stand trial in the death of his American girlfriend in the Caribbean resort city of Playa del Carmen. A prosecutor’s office employee said Thursday the judge ordered John Loveless to stand trial for allegedly killing Tamra Turpin. The employee was not authorized to […]

WASHINGTON A rare letter written by the poet Walt Whitman for a wounded Civil War soldier has been found in the National Archives. The Washington Post reports it was discovered last month by an archives volunteer on a team preparing Civil War widows’ pension files to be digitized and placed online. It’s one of only […]

STOCKHOLM Gillis Lundgren, who designed some of Ikea’s bestselling furniture and played a role in developing the company’s self-assembly concept, has died. He was 86. Kajsa Johansson, a spokeswoman for the Swedish furniture giant, confirmed Thursday that Lundgren had died but couldn’t give any other details. Lundgren joined Ikea as one of its first employees […]

WASHINGTON Americans’ household wealth jumped in the final three months of last year, pushed higher by rising stock prices and greater home values. That leaves many households, particularly wealthy ones, with more money to spend — a potential boost to economic growth. The Federal Reserve said Thursday that U.S. household net worth increased 1.9 percent […]

LAKE WALES, Fla. A central Florida school bus driver and attendant are accused of negligent child abuse after officials say they left a 13-year-old special needs child on the bus on two separate occasions. Polk County Sheriff ’s officials announced the arrests of 51-year-old Gale Brown, the driver, and 57-year-old Gwendolyn Simmons, the attendant, on […]