Missile experts see Soviet parts in NKorean rocket

By Lee Jin-man (AP)

With concerns rising about a possible North Korean long-range missile test this weekend, two independent scientists say the rogue regime may be using an old Soviet ballistic missile to boost a rocket capable of reaching the West Coast of the United States.

North Korea is not known to have nuclear warheads and faces years of research and testing before building such a reliable weapon.

But the scientists say that if North Korea does have such a Russian-made ballistic missile in its arsenal, it could modify the rocket into a two-stage missile that could reach Seattle, Wash.,...

US News

SC govs wife may be able to forgive affair

By Alice Keeney (AP)

South Carolina first lady Jenny Sanford says she may be able to forgive her husband\'s much-publicized affair with an Argentine woman, but true reconciliation will take more time.

In a statement e-mailed to reporters Thursday, Jenny Sanford called her husband\'s behavior inexcusable but said she may be able to give him another chance. It was her first public remark since Gov. Mark Sanford told The Associated Press that Maria Belen Chapur is his soul mate but he is trying to fall back in love with his wife.

\"Forgiveness opens the door for Mark to begin to work privately,...

Global News

Marines suffer first casualties in Afghan campaign

By David Guttenfelder (AP)

U.S. Marines suffered their first casualties of a massive new military campaign Thursday as they engaged in sporadic gunbattles along 55 miles of Taliban-controlled heartland in southern Afghanistan.

One Marine was killed and several others were injured or wounded on the first full day of the assault, the largest military operation in Afghanistan since the fall of Taliban government in 2001.

The offensive will test the Obama administration\'s new strategy of holding territory and letting the Afghan government sink roots in Helmand province. The insurgency has proven...

Political News

Obama Court leaves room for affirmative action

By Pablo Martinez Monsivais (AP)

President Barack Obama said Thursday the Supreme Court is \"moving the ball\" to limit affirmative action, but he stressed that its ruling in favor of white firefighters still allows employers and educators to take race into account in hiring, promotions and admissions.

The president, a former constitutional law professor, avoided criticizing this week\'s 5-4 ruling even though it reversed a decision his own high court nominee, Sonia Sotomayor, had endorsed as an appeals court judge.

\"This was a very narrow case, so it\'s hard to gauge where they will take it,\" Obama said...

French investigators release report on Flight 447     By Otavio de Souza (AP)

French investigators on Thursday will present their initial findings into what caused Air France Flight 447 to drop out of the sky in the middle of the Atlantic a month ago, prompting one of history's most challenging plane crash investigations.

The Airbus A330-200 plane flying from Rio de Janeiro to Paris went down with 228 people on board in a remote area of the Atlantic, 930 miles (1,500 kilometers) off Brazil's mainland and far from radar coverage.

A burst of automated messages emitted by the plane before it fell gave rescuers only a vague location to begin their search, which has failed to locate the plane's black boxes. The chances of finding the flight recorders are falling as the signals they emit fade. Without them, the full causes of the tragic accident may never be known.

The French air accident investigation agency, the BEA, will present its preliminary report to journalists at its headquarters in Le Bourget, outside Paris.   Read More...