A suicide bomber drove his car into the gate of an army base in southern Afghanistan on Friday and detonated his explosives, killing three civilians, a provincial official said.The bombing in Shajoy district of Zabul province also seriously wounded four Afghan army soldiers, Deputy Gov. Gulab Shah Alikhail said. The attacker died in the explosion, he added. more >>
Lawyers seeking to halt the indictments brought against Vice President Dick Cheney, former Attorney General Alberto Gonzales and others are accusing the prosecutor of trying to end his tenure with a bang and even scores with political enemies. Willacy County District Attorney Juan Angel Guerra noted that the decision to return the eight high-profile indictments earlier this week was a grand jury's. He said backlash against him is in response to his persistent investigation of ties between politicians and the private companies that run federal detention centers. more >>
A French judicial official says preliminary terrorism charges have been filed against the suspected leader of the Basque separatist group ETA. The official says a French judge filed preliminary charges of "association with a terrorist enterprise" against Mikel Garikoitz Aspiazu, known as Txeroki. more >>
A Chinese writer and journalist who was arrested after protesting against a power plant in southwest China was sentenced Friday to three years in prison on charges of subverting state power, his lawyer said. Chen Daojun was sentenced in Chengdu, the capital of Sichuan province, in a trial lasting a little more than 30 minutes, said Beijing-based lawyer Zhu Jiufu. more >>
The U.S. dollar was mostly lower against other major currencies in European trading Friday morning. Gold rose. The euro traded at $1.2590, up from $1.2507 late Thursday in New York. more >>
Kenya's foreign minister says Somali pirates have collected more than $150 million in ransoms over the past year. Moses Wetangula is calling on ship owners not to pay ransom when their vessels are hijacked off the lawless coast of Somalia because such payments are what have emboldened the pirates. more >>
Courts in military-ruled Myanmar have handed long prison sentences to a prominent monk and a popular comedian active in the country's pro-democracy movement. Khin Htay Kywe, the lawyer for the comedian and activist Zarganar, says her client was sentenced Friday to 45 years under the country's Electronics Act. The act regulates all forms of electronic communication. more >>
American farmers have long worried about the declining population of honeybees, a key crop pollinator. But honeybees originally came from Europe, so can't U.S. farms get by without them - with a little help from good old American bugs whose ancestors were here before Columbus? A reader's curiosity about native and non-native pollinators inspired one of three questions in this edition of "Ask AP," a weekly Q&A column where AP journalists respond to readers' questions about the news. more >>
A security official says a shootout between Lebanese soldiers and a group of gunmen in the northern port city of Tripoli has left one of the gunmen dead and two wounded. The official says the shooting occurred early Friday in the mostly Sunni Bab el-Tabaneh neighborhood. A woman who was passing by was also wounded. more >>
The lower house of Russia's parliament has given its final approval to a bill extending the presidential term from four to six years. Russian President Dmitry Medvedev proposed the bill seen by many as a step toward Vladimir Putin's return to power. more >>
Israeli police say Palestinian militants have fired a rocket at an Israeli town near the Gaza Strip. No casualties have been reported. Police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld says the rocket launched from Gaza early Friday landed in an industrial zone in the town of Ashkelon. more >>
A Malaysian technology conglomerate pledged Friday to repay $900,000 to Hollywood star Bruce Willis, but denied any wrongdoing after he took legal action to demand a refund of his investment. The Kuala Lumpur-based Petra Group environmental technology company said Willis invested $2 million in its subsidiary, Green Rubber, a developer of technology that can recycle rubber in old tires, in 2007. more >>
Four Camp Pendleton-based Marines, including one known as "Psycho," have pleaded not guilty in the execution-style slayings of a fellow Marine and his wife. Sgt. Jan Pietrzak, 24, and his wife, Quiana Jenkins-Pietrzak, 26, were found gagged, tied and shot in the head in the living room of their Winchester home on Oct. 15. Investigators said the house had been ransacked and a fire had been set, an apparent effort to destroy evidence. more >>
A blast killed at least eight mourners Friday at the funeral of a Shiite cleric in northwestern Pakistan who was gunned down hours earlier, police said. At least 28 others were wounded. After the explosion, a mob burned several shops and vehicles near the blast site in Dera Ismail Khan, police officer Saadullah Marwat said. more >>
Lawmakers are poised to close a loophole that led to troubled teens being abandoned at Nebraska hospitals, but they aren't stopping there. Instead, they're vowing to make sure families can get help in a crisis. Six state senators formed a task force Thursday that promises to hand the Legislature proposals by the time it reconvenes in January. more >>
As more Americans turn to charity amid worsening economic gloom, operators of food banks and other aid groups are relying on the surprisingly resilient generosity of their neighbors and finding that even when times are tough, people still give. In Seattle, Boeing Co. employees tripled their cash donations this year to Northwest Harvest, operator of Washington's largest food bank. And every week, Northwest Harvest spokeswoman Claire Acey says, companies call to say their employees have decided to skip their holiday party and buy food for the hungry instead. more >>
Gov. Charlie Crist's plan for Florida's public universities veers away from his previous opposition to raising tuition, allowing for increases of up to 15 percent a year. But a top Democratic lawmaker said it's the wrong time for that course as people struggle with foreclosures and layoffs. Crist, a Republican, vetoed a 5 percent tuition increase last year at all universities as students and their families dealt with higher living expenses. more >>
The U.S. military says an American soldier has died of non-combat-related causes in Iraq. A statement says Multi-National Division - Center soldier died Thursday but gives no other details. The brief statement doesn't give a location but Multi-National Division - Center soldiers operate in areas south of Baghdad. more >>
Texas Tech gave coach Pat Knight something his famous father never received from the Red Raiders: 167 points. Trevor Cook scored a career-high 20 and was one of 10 players in double figures for Texas Tech, which shattered the school record for points Thursday night in a 167-115 victory over East Central. more >>
Kobe Bryant scored 24 points and Vladimir Radmanovic made all five of his 3-pointers to lead the Los Angeles Lakers past the Phoenix Suns, 105-92 on Thursday night. Bryant shot only 8-of-23, but the Lakers overwhelmed Phoenix with their depth. Six players reached double figures as Los Angeles improved its record to a league-best 9-1. more >>
