KABUL, Afghanistan The Taliban overran a base in northern Afghanistan, killing 17 soldiers, even as Afghan forces battled the insurgents for the fifth straight day in the eastern provincial capital of Ghazni today, trying to flush them out of the city’s outskirts, officials said. There were fears for the fate of the other troops from […]

Marine mammal experts are at a loss to explain why a large number of harbor seals have turned up dead on beaches in southern Maine this summer. The most recent cluster of deaths was reported Monday when the carcasses of 11 harbor seals, mostly pups, were discovered on Bayview and Kinney Shores beaches in Saco. […]

BOGOTA, Colombia (AP) — Ecuadorean officials say at least 23 people died and another 14 were injured when a long-distance bus overturned on a highway near Ecuador’s capital. The Colombian-registered bus was traveling to Quito and hit another vehicle in an area known as dead man’s curve at about 3 a.m. Tuesday. Quito district security […]

ACKLEY, Iowa (AP) — A man accused of torturing his 8-year-old son by locking him in a basement, withholding food and making him endure dog bites has pleaded not guilty. Hardin County District Court records say 30-year-old Alex Shadlow on Monday entered a written plea to a kidnapping charge. A trial date hasn’t been set. […]