MYRTLE BEACH, S.C. – Tropical Storm Hanna cruised toward the Carolinas on Friday, forecast to hit land overnight and promising to deliver gusty winds and heavy rain during a dash up the Eastern Seaboard that could wash out the weekend for millions of people. Not far behind was a much …

JACKSONVILLE, N.C. – A North Carolina sheriff said a Marine held in Mexico on a charge of murdering a pregnant colleague will be treated as well as other inmates in the county jail when he is returned to the United State for trial. But it still isn’t known when Cpl. …

ALGER, Wash. – A somber police motorcade carried a slain deputy’s body away from the scene of a bloody rampage Wednesday as investigators tried to determine what set off a shooting and stabbing spree that left six people dead and four wounded. The mother of suspect Isaac Zamora, who was …

NORWICH, N.Y. – A jury says a 39-year-old upstate New York man is guilty of killing his wife in 2002 and staging it to look like she crashed into a lake and drowned. It was the second time Peter Wlasiuk was convicted in the death of his 35-year-old wife, Patricia. …

LOS ANGELES – David Letterman wants to stick with CBS’ “Late Show” through his contract — and maybe longer — as rival late night talk show host Jay Leno prepares to surrender the “Tonight” reins next year. “The way I feel now, I would like to go beyond 2010, not …

Anti-American Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr is planning to disarm the Mahdi Army by turning the militia into a civic and social service organization, a significant strategic shift, according to a report by the Wall Street Journal. In a brochure obtained by the paper and confirmed by Sheikh Salah al-Obeidi, Sadr’s …

BEIJING – The U.S. men’s volleyball team won the Olympic gold medal Sunday, defeating defending champion Brazil to complete a perfect run through a tournament shadowed by a grisly attack at a Beijing tourist site. The Americans captured their third gold medal in the sport with a 20-25, 25-22, 25-21, …

TORONTO – The animal rights group PETA has tried unsuccessfully to run a newspaper ad comparing the beheading and cannibalizing of a passenger on a Greyhound bus in Canada last week to the treatment of animals by the meat industry. People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals said on its …

BEIJING – Protesters at the Beijing Olympics will have to apply for permission to demonstrate five days in advance and may not harm national interests, Beijing’s Olympic organizers said. Chinese citizens will be required to submit a written application to police, while foreigners must file with customs officials, said a …

BEIJING – Chinese customs officials confiscated more than 300 Bibles on Sunday from four American Christians who arrived in a southwestern city with plans to distribute them, the group’s leader said. The Bibles were taken from the group’s checked luggage after they landed at the airport in the city of …