NATIONAL NEWS
Evacuations under way for LA-area foothills
LA CANADA FLINTRIDGE, Calif. (AP) -- Homeowners in mud-ravaged foothill towns north of Los Angeles packed their cars and fled Tuesday as evacuation orders took hold and a new winter storm approached....
Pa. ex-aide discusses sex life in corruption trial
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) -- A former state legislative aide testifying in a public corruption trial delved into his sex life Tuesday, saying under cross-examination that he had been having problems with sexual performance for which he received medical treatment....
Police debate use of family DNA to ID suspects
DENVER (AP) -- Police in at least two states are increasingly using a DNA crime-solving technique that some legal experts say amounts to guilt by association: If your brother, father, uncle or son has been in trouble with the law and is in a DNA database because of it, you, too, could fall under suspicion....
Cops search San Antonio landfill for missing baby
SAN ANTONIO (AP) -- Police began excavating a landfill Tuesday in search of a body or other evidence in the disappearance of an 8-month-old Arizona boy who was last seen with his mother at a San Antonio hotel on the day after Christmas....
Fellow NY Democrats offer Paterson little support
ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) -- Silence emanated Tuesday from top Democrats in New York as Gov. David Paterson, already fighting to remain politically viable, fought to lay to rest unconfirmed rumors and news reports of womanizing and drug use....
LAPD: Arrest made in killings of anti-gang worker
LOS ANGELES (AP) -- A suspect was arrested Tuesday in the killing of a well-known anti-gang counselor who was shot to death when he confronted a tagger writing graffiti in Los Angeles, police said....
Another major storm headed to snowy Mid-Atlantic
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Snow blew across the Midwest on Tuesday and headed for the hard-hit Mid-Atlantic region, where federal government offices have been closed since last week and utility workers struggled to restore power already knocked out by a weekend blizzard....
Man charged in 5 California murders testifies
SANTA ANA, Calif. (AP) -- A man with a genius IQ who is charged with killing five females has donned an earring and taken the witness stand in Southern California....
State: Birth defect rate in Calif. town is normal
HANFORD, Calif. (AP) -- State officials say there's nothing unusual about the rate of birth defects in a central California town near the largest toxic waste dump in the West....
ATF blames Texas church fires on serial arsonist
TYLER, Texas (AP) -- Recent fires that destroyed or damaged several churches in eastern Texas were likely set by one person or group of people, federal authorities said Tuesday....
Newark airport breach suspect pleads not guilty
NEWARK, N.J. (AP) -- A Rutgers University graduate student accused of triggering worldwide flight delays has pleaded not guilty to charges stemming from a security breach at Newark Liberty International Airport....
Suspect in death of Md. girl indicted for murder
ANNAPOLIS, Md. (AP) -- A registered sex offender has been indicted on murder charges in the death of an 11-year-old Maryland girl whose body was found on Christmas day....
WORLD NEWS
Irish abuse victims ask pope to replace bishops
DUBLIN (AP) -- Irish victims of Catholic sexual abuse have written to Pope Benedict XVI asking him to take responsibility for the church's concealment of child molestation by forcing out bishops implicated in the decades of coverup....
Russian military calls US missile defense a threat
MOSCOW (AP) -- U.S. missile defense plans are a threat to Russian national security and have slowed down progress on a new arms control treaty with Washington, Russia's top military officer said Tuesday....
Uruguay floods prompt more than 5,000 to evacuate
MONTEVIDEO, Uruguay (AP) -- Flooding in Uruguay has swamped roads and homes, forced thousands to evacuate and cut power and water service....
Sri Lankan parliament dissolved ahead of new vote
COLOMBO, Sri Lanka (AP) -- Sri Lanka's president dissolved parliament Tuesday to make way for spring elections a day after authorities arrested a key opposition leader, crippling the only serious threat to the ruling party's stifling grip on power....
It's a wrap! Hospitals test new, more modest gown
LONDON (AP) -- The British government is getting behind a plan to replace drafty open-backed hospital gowns with versions that preserve patients' modesty....
Netanyahu's government tries to save settler house
JERUSALEM (AP) -- The Israeli government has stepped in to save a house built illegally by Jewish settlers in a volatile Palestinian neighborhood in east Jerusalem, complicating already troubled U.S. efforts to renew Mideast peacemaking....
Over 60 feared dead, 400 hurt in Afghan avalanches
KABUL (AP) -- A series of avalanches engulfed a mountain pass in Afghanistan, trapping hundreds of people in their buried cars and killing as many as 64 people so far, authorities said Tuesday....
Gates wants Iran sanctions in 'weeks, not months'
PARIS (AP) -- U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates wants to see the United Nations slap sanctions on Iran in "weeks, not months."...
A meal fit for a King? No, but the plate is!
LONDON (AP) -- A British woman says she's shocked that a dusty dish on her shelf has been identified as a very valuable 260-year-old antique made for the King of Prussia....
UN slams Haitian hospitals for charging patients
PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (AP) -- The United Nations has warned that it will cut off shipments of free medicine beginning immediately to any Haitian hospitals that it finds are charging patients....
Ivory Coast opposition protests voter list probe
ABIDJAN, Ivory Coast (AP) -- Protesters torched a police station in western Ivory Coast while claiming their names had been removed from voter rolls in advance of this year's presidential election....
2nd German traveler camps out in Brazil airport
BRASILIA, Brazil (AP) -- A German man who went to Brazil for a woman he met on the Internet has been camping out in an airport for more than a month after thieves took all his money and possessions, authorities said Tuesday....
