AP - An attorney for a sergeant on trial for murder in the death of three Iraqi detainees characterized one of the deaths as a 'mercy killing.'

AP - Linc Morris admits it took him a while to get used to the idea of being adopted — which probably explains why he was 42 years old by the time it happened.

AP - Legislation to make English the state's official language has run into opposition from American Indians, who say their native tongues are dying fast enough without any help from lawmakers.

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Top coal-burning countries like the United States should start burying carbon dioxide emissions from power plants as a wider crackdown on greenhouse gases looks increasingly likely, according to a study.

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Publisher Scholastic Corp. said on Wednesday it would release a record-breaking 12 million copies for the first U.S. printing of 'Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows,' which hits stores on July 21.

HOUSTON (Reuters) - The Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo began 75 years ago as a tribute to Western culture and heritage, but has morphed into a slick extravaganza aimed at luring urban cowboys and cowgirls with pop concerts and wine auctions.

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Americans love rich foods and are finding a new way to indulge in them -- by smearing their bodies with the scents.

NEW YORK (Reuters) - NBC Universal said on Wednesday it will sell prime-time television shows like 'The Office' and 'Heroes' on demand over cell phone networks in the United States.

AP - Teachers demanding better pay refused to show up for work Wednesday and forced the cancellation of classes in at least 12 counties.

AP - Three boys ages 7, 10 and 11 sat wide-eyed and looked scared during their initial court hearing on charges of starting a fire that destroyed several homes.

AP - Federal agents raided New Haven police headquarters Tuesday and charged the head of the narcotics division with stealing thousands of dollars planted by the FBI during sting operations.

AP - A woman told investigators that she was trying to warm her feet by lighting a dollar bill on fire when the blaze spread through an apartment building and killed four people, a prosecutor said Tuesday.

AP - A state lawmaker removed two pieces of art from a Capitol exhibit organized by a group opposed to the death penalty because he found the images inappropriate and objectionable.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Homeowners with subprime mortgages struggling under payments need federal government help to ease them through the crisis, a leading consumer advocacy group said on Wednesday.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Food and Drug Administration on Wednesday ordered sleep disorder drugs to carry stronger warnings about their risks, such as drowsy driving and severe allergic reactions.

AP - The search for a missing 6-year-old boy last seen when he went out to play nearly a week ago continued Wednesday, and two men were arrested on charges they lied to investigators by claiming to have buried the child's body.

AP - City officials were on alert Wednesday and extra officers were on standby in anticipation of a decision by a grand jury on the blaze of police gunfire that killed an unarmed man on his wedding day and wounded two of his friends.

AP - A staff sergeant gave soldiers the option of taking part in the shooting of three Iraqi detainees before the killings took place, a soldier testified Wednesday.

AP - University of Massachusetts trustees unanimously approved U.S. Rep. Martin Meehan to become chancellor of the system's Lowell campus on Wednesday.

AP - The Navy temporarily lost communication with a submarine off Florida's coast and sent ships and aircraft to search for the USS San Juan before the vessel was contacted early Wednesday, military officials said.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Two leading congressional Democrats on Wednesday unveiled legislation intended to ensure that the 9 million U.S. children who currently have no health insurance can get it through existing government programs.

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - A U.S. government effort to convict marijuana rights advocate Ed Rosenthal with tax evasion and money laundering was vindictive and thus should be dismissed, a federal judge ruled on Wednesday.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Gay-rights groups accused the U.S. military of hypocrisy on Wednesday after it disclosed a sharp reduction in the dismissal of gays since the beginning of wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - A California woman with an inoperable brain tumor may not use marijuana to ease her pain even though California voters have approved medical marijuana, a U.S. appeals court ruled on Wednesday.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Popular sleep drugs such as Ambien and Lunesta can cause odd and potentially dangerous behaviors such as driving while asleep as well as severe allergic reactions that warrant stronger warnings, U.S. health officials said on Wednesday.

NEW YORK (Reuters) - The majority of U.S. homeowners expect no change in the value of their homes in the year ahead, a Reuters/University of Michigan survey conducted in January and February shows.

AP - Louisiana Gov. Kathleen Blanco lashed out at the Army Corps of Engineers on Wednesday for installing defective pumps at three major drainage canals just before the start of last summer's hurricane season.

AP - Frustrated by Congress' lack of progress on immigration reform, pro-immigrant activists want to tap into growing anti-war sentiment this spring by combining the two issues at dozens of rallies nationwide.

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Lawyers for investors hurt by the meltdown of mortgage lenders that cater to risky borrowers are likely to file a wave of class-action lawsuits against the lenders and possibly their auditors and bankers as well.

BOSTON (Reuters) - People who have heart attacks on weekends are more likely to die and get poorer care than those stricken on weekdays, U.S. researchers reported on Wednesday.

CHICAGO (Reuters) - Prospective jurors who would decide whether toppled media mogul Conrad Black and his associates stole millions of dollars were quizzed on Wednesday about their attitudes on big business and big wealth.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - It is unlikely that a sick bird would be able to carry the deadly H5N1 avian influenza virus into the United States through the Pacific and Atlantic flyways, U.S. officials said on Wednesday.

BOSTON (Reuters) - The recent death of Brad Delp, lead singer of the rock band Boston, has been ruled a suicide, police in New Hampshire said on Wednesday.

ORLANDO, Florida (Reuters) - Tiger Woods is the recipient of the 2006 Mark H. McCormack Award after dominating last year's world rankings, Official World Golf Ranking's governing board said on Wednesday.

AP - The president of the leading Southern Baptist seminary has incurred sharp attacks from both the left and right by suggesting that a biological basis for homosexuality may be proven, and that prenatal treatment to reverse gay orientation would be biblically justified.

AP - Police searched for a missing 6-year-old boy Wednesday in a thicket of dense pines where two men told investigators they had buried the boy's dead body, but several hours of searching failed to turn up any sign of the child.

AP - The city anxiously awaited a decision Wednesday by the grand jury weighing whether to charge five officers who unleashed the 50-shot barrage that killed an unarmed man on his wedding day.

MIAMI (Reuters) - Florida has agreed to pay $5 million to the family of a 14-year-old boy who died after he was beaten by guards in a juvenile boot camp, Gov. Charlie Crist said on Wednesday.

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - A California woman with an inoperable brain tumor may not smoke marijuana to ease her pain even though California voters have approved its medicinal use, a U.S. appeals court ruled on Wednesday.

MONT VERNON, New Hampshire (Reuters) - Nearly 90 New Hampshire towns have passed resolutions urging Washington to act on climate change, hoping to use the state's powerful role in the presidential race to bring attention to global warming.

AP - Gov. Charlie Crist said Wednesday the state should give $5 million to the family of a teenager who died last year after he was manhandled by juvenile boot camp guards.

AP - Some had to come in wheelchairs or on crutches, but Enterprise High students resumed classes Wednesday at a temporary site, nearly two weeks after a tornado ripped apart their school and killed eight classmates.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A far-reaching education law President George W. Bush hails as one of his signature achievements is being reviewed by Congress this year amid widespread demands for it to be reformed.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Only a few weeks ago, a borrower in Southern California could qualify for 100 percent financing for a house, with no proof of income or assets.

AP - Nearly a year after a city doctor said an amputated leg was the only reason Isaac Feliciano wasn't fit to become a firefighter, he got clearance to pursue his boyhood dream.

AP - An assistant high school principal and his wife, a middle school teacher, are accused of holding a keg party where students paid $5 to drink, a prosecutor said Wednesday.

NEW YORK (Reuters) - A New York restaurateur has cooked up the world's most extravagant pizza -- a $1,000 pie topped with six kinds of caviar and fresh lobster.

HOUSTON (Reuters) - Republican presidential hopeful Rudy Giuliani's law firm lobbies for Citgo Petroleum Corp., which is controlled by the Venezuelan state oil company and President Hugo Chavez, but the firm said on Wednesday that Giuliani has never worked on the account.

AP - The bidding for the black pony started at $500, then took a nosedive. There were no takers at $300, $200, even $100. With a high bid of just $75, the auctioneer gave the seller the choice of taking the animal off the auction block. But the seller said no.

AP - An elevator exploded in an office building Wednesday, and authorities began investigating it as a murder-suicide after they found the bodies of a man and woman inside.

AP - Regulations for the bicycle taxi industry were stalled Wednesday when Mayor Michael Bloomberg had second thoughts just before he was to sign them into law.