BEIRUT – A senior Lebanese army officer says a ship carrying 83 crew members has sunk off the Lebanese coast in stormy weather. The officer says the Panama-flagged ship sent a distress call Thursday afternoon and a Lebanese navy ship was dispatched, but by the time rescuers arrived the ship …

NEW YORK – Disgraced former NBA referee Tim Donaghy says he refused to make calls to affect games even if it meant he lost money and it angered the mob. In one game where he bet on San Antonio, he ejected coach Gregg Popovich midway through the first quarter and …

KABUL – Ten civilians, including eight students, were killed in fighting involving international forces in the country’s remote east, Afghan President Hamid Karzai said Monday. He condemned the deaths and called for an investigation. Civilian deaths are one of the most sensitive issues for foreign troops in Afghanistan. Although United …

An Australian politician is being treated by a plastic surgeon after two huge holes suddenly appeared in his face. Newly elected Northern Territory representative Ross Bohlin will be scarred for life after contracting folliculitis, an infection of his hair follicles — but the former police officer is still surprisingly cheerful, …

CONAKRY, Guinea – The No. 2 of Guinea’s military junta on Wednesday made his first public speech since last week’s assassination attempt on the country’s military strongman. New footage on state TV showed Gen. Sekouba Konate talking to soldiers during a morning visit to one of the capital’s military barracks. …

BURNEY, Calif. – An accused bank robber held three bank employees hostage and shot two customers before police shot and killed him in a rural Northern California town. Shasta County sheriff’s Capt. Mike Ashmun says two SWAT team deputies shot down the 47-year-old male suspect around noon on Tuesday. That …

ANTIOCH, Calif. – Phillip Garrido spent the 1970s on one debauchery after another: LSD trips, cocaine binges, pot smoking, public masturbation. Then in 1976, he found a new way to indulge his twisted sexual fantasies. He kidnapped a woman from a South Lake Tahoe parking lot, handcuffed her, took four …

SAN ANTONIO – U.S. officials handed to Mexican authorities Tuesday $2.4 million paid as restitution by an oil importer after the company president admitted knowingly buying and reselling petroleum products stolen from Mexico’s oil monopoly. Assistant Homeland Security Secretary John Morton attended an event in San Antonio with Mexico’s tax …

People who text-message while listening to an iPod while reading the newspaper probably think they are good at “multi-tasking.” They are wrong, according to a study published this week. Researchers at Stanford University found that college students who made a habit of immersing themselves in various media at once were …

NORTH PORT, Fla. – A Florida baby is in state care after authorities say his mother left him in a vehicle with the windows rolled up. Kasandra Beekman, 24, was charged Friday with felony child neglect, according to police. Officers say she left her 8-month-old son in her car with …