KANDAHAR, Afghanistan – A militant ambush of an opium poppy eradication force sparked clashes that killed 25 Taliban fighters and a policeman, a provincial authority said Thursday. Four other militants died when a bomb went off. Insurgents ambushed the drug eradication force Wednesday in Marja district of Helmand province, killing …

KATMANDU, Nepal – Police arrested the alleged mastermind of an India-based kidney transplant racket at a resort in southern Nepal, officials said Friday. Authorities said Amit Kumar ran the ring from a New Delhi suburb that allegedly removed kidneys from up to 500 poor laborers and sold their organs to …

LOS ANGELES – When Aretha Franklin is unhappy, she does not mince words. On Tuesday, the longtime Queen of Soul slammed Beyonce Knowles’ intro to Tina Turner at Sunday’s Grammy Awards, in which Knowles called Turner, not Franklin, “the queen.” “I am not sure of whose toes I may have …

TOPEKA, Kan. – An Army specialist refiled a religious freedom lawsuit Wednesday, alleging among other violations that his promotion was blocked after Fort Riley’s commanding general sent a post-wide e-mail about him. Attorneys for Spc. Jeremy Hall and the Military Religious Freedom Foundation filed the new complaint in U.S. District …

LOS ANGELES – Los Angeles Police on Tuesday said they had arrested a reputed gang member in the case of a high school football star who was killed in an act of random violence while his mother was serving in Iraq, sources told FOX News. Police said Jamiel Shaw, 17, …

NEW YORK – A five-story vacant apartment building partially collapsed in upper Manhattan, leading to the suspension of dozens of rush-hour suburban trains. There were no immediate reports of injuries. Metro-North spokeswoman Suzanne Lopez said the collapse occurred near 124th Street and Park Avenue in East Harlem. She said trains …

WASHINGTON — When Democrats gibber about Republicans’ writhing in a culture of corruption, they’re on to something — but not what they think. The Republican Party in Washington is in trouble not because it’s overrun by crooks, but because it’s packed with cowards — and has degenerated into a caricature …

SANTIAGO, Chile – A Socialist single mother will face a conservative millionaire in a presidential runoff next month after failing to win an outright majority in her bid to become Chile’s first female leader. Michelle Bachelet easily defeated two feuding right-wing candidates with 46 percent of the vote, but fell …

KUWAIT CITY – The U.S. military Wednesday handed back to the Kuwaitis most of a camp that served as the headquarters for the buildup to the invasion of Iraq. Camp Doha, 12 miles west of Kuwait City, was the location for command and control of the massive buildup of forces …

NEW YORK – Joining the trend of TV shows migrating to the Internet, a pair of episodes from the CBS comedies “Two and a Half Men” and “How I Met Your Mother” are being offered for free video streaming this week from the Yahoo! Web site. Available through next Monday, …