Children often ask the question "Who am I?" as they come of age, but that's nothing like the identity crisis now confronting the sons and daughters of four couples accused of spying for Russia.

In a major step toward containing a massive Gulf of Mexico oil leak, BP said a mile-long tube was funneling crude Sunday from a blown well to a tanker ship after three days of wrestling to get the stopgap measure into place on the seafloor.

One man, no vote? That's the case in the Senate, where it takes just one peeved lawmaker to prevent a yes-or-no tally, often silently and anonymously.

Connecticut Sen. Christopher Dodd, a five-term Democrat whose political stock began falling after the financial meltdown and his failed 2008 presidential bid, has decided not to seek re-election in November, Democratic officials told The Associated Press early Wednesday.

An Indiana 17-year-old who told authorities he identified with a television serial killer said strangling his 10-year-old brother satisfied a craving like a hungry person eating a hamburger, according to court documents.

Ignoring his younger brother's plea of "Andrew, stop," a 17-year-old who told authorities he identified with a television serial killer strangled the boy, dragged the body to his car and drove to see his girlfriend, an Indiana prosecutor said Thursday.

The Pacific Northwest will welcome home an accomplished native athlete Saturday night when Randy Couture (16-9) meets Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira (31-5-1) at Portland's Rose Garden in the main event of UFC 102, the league's first major show in Oregon.

Canadian authorities on Saturday intensified the manhunt for the millionaire reality TV star accused of murdering a former swimsuit model and stuffing her naked, mutilated body in a suitcase.

When it comes to dealing with gay personnel in the ranks, the contrasts are stark among some of the world's proudest, toughest militaries - and these differing approaches are invoked by both sides as Americans renew debate over the Pentagon's "don't ask, don't tell" policy.

Sen. Roland Burris said Wednesday he did not tell an Illinois House impeachment committee that he promised to help then-Gov. Rod Blagojevich's campaign while also pushing for a Senate appointment because, like any good lawyer, he did not want to volunteer information he was not asked about.

Transcripts from a call taped by the FBI show Sen. Roland Burris pleaded to be appointed to the U.S. Senate and promised to "personally do something" in response to a fundraising appeal on behalf of then-Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich.

The captain and co-pilot in an air crash that killed 50 in upstate New York were distracted and might have realized they were traveling at dangerously low speeds if they had a warning system, safety officials said Thursday.

A mother of three and a toddler on a family shopping trip are counted among the dead. Among the survivors: a group of schoolkids from New York and a teacher from New Zealand. All these days into the global swine flu scare, what do we know about the victims, living and dead?