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BILLINGS, Mont. — U.S. coal exports reached their highest level in two decades last year as strong demand from Asia and Europe offered an outlet for a fuel that is falling from favor at home.

U.S. Department of Energy data analyzed by the Associated Press reveal that coal exports topped ...

SANFORD, Fla. (AP) — Two attorneys for the Florida neighborhood watch volunteer who fatally shot 17-year-old Trayvon Martin said Tuesday that they have withdrawn as his counsel because they haven't heard from him in days and he is taking actions related to the case without consulting them.

Attorney Craig Sonner ...

George Zimmerman has launched a website to solicit support and donations, speaking out for the first time since his February shooting of an unarmed black teenager in Florida ignited a national outcry on race and justice.

Mr. Zimmerman, who has claimed self-defense in the death of 17-year-old Trayvon Martin, says ...

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — As a young personal-injury lawyer in North Carolina, John Edwards earned a reputation for turning down multimillion-dollar settlement offers on bets that jurors would award his clients more money at the end of a trial.

"The twelve souls who spend full days, full weeks, or sometimes ...

ORLANDO, Fla. — An attorney for George Zimmerman on Tuesday confirmed the authenticity of a new website that allows supporters to donate money for the neighborhood watch volunteer who has admitted to fatally shooting an unarmed black teen in Florida.

All the money raised from the site, therealgeorgezimmerman.com, will go ...

PHOENIX (AP) — An Arizona ethics panel on Tuesday moved to disbar Maricopa County's former top prosecutor for failed corruption investigations he and America's self-proclaimed toughest sheriff conducted, targeting officials with whom they were having political and legal disputes.

The three-member panel found that former County Attorney Andrew Thomas violated ...

CHICAGO (AP) — The final four jurors were to be selected Tuesday for the trial of the man accused of killing three members of actress-singer Jennifer Hudson's family.

Fourteen people were selected Monday to be among the 12 jurors and six alternates after nine hours of interviewing potential jurors one ...

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Some nail polishes commonly found in California salons and advertised as free of a so-called "toxic trio" of chemicals actually have high levels of agents known to cause birth defects, according to state chemical regulators.

A Department of Toxic Substances Control report to be released Tuesday ...

NEW YORK — Transgender women will be allowed to participate in the Miss Universe beauty pageant next year, officials announced Tuesday, a week after they ruled a trail-blazing 23-year-old could vie for the crown this year.

Pageant officials said they are working on the language of the official rule policy ...

TULSA, Okla. (AP) — The two suspects arrested in a shooting rampage that terrorized Tulsa's black community and left three people dead have confessed, according to police documents given to the Associated Press.

The documents given to the AP on Monday say 19-year-old Jake England confessed to shooting three people ...

In 16 states, teen birthrates tumbled by at least 20 percent in recent years, the federal government said in a report. Large declines such as these helped push the nation's teen birthrate to a new low in 2010.

It's a "pretty amazing" set of trends, said Brady E. Hamilton, senior ...

TULSA, Okla. — Two Oklahoma men suspected in a shooting rampage that left three people dead and terrorized Tulsa's black community appeared in court Monday and had bond set at more than $9 million each.

Jake England, 19, and Alvin Watts, 32, appeared via closed-circuit television from jail. Both are ...

ORLANDO, Fla. — A grand jury will not look into the Trayvon Martin case, a special prosecutor said Monday, leaving the decision of whether to charge the teen's shooter in her hands alone and eliminating the possibility of a first-degree murder charge in a racially charged case that has garnered ...

PHILADELPHIA — Two firefighters who were battling a massive blaze at an abandoned warehouse Monday were killed when an adjacent furniture store they were inspecting collapsed, burying them in a pile of debris, authorities said.

It took about two hours to extract the bodies of Lt. Robert Neary, 60, and ...

PITTSBURGH — Dozens of bomb threats at the University of Pittsburgh, including at least four Monday, have prompted professors to start holding classes outside and forced security officials to implement new building access measures.

The threats began in mid-February, at first targeting a landmark building at the center of campus. ...

LOS ANGELES — The mysterious deaths of millions of bats in the United States and Canada over the past several years were caused by a fungus that hitchhiked from Europe, scientists reported Monday.

Experts had suspected that an invasive species was to blame for the die-off from "white nose syndrome." ...

CHICAGO — A judge and lawyers began questioning dozens of potential jurors Monday at the Chicago trial of the man accused of killing singer and Oscar-winning actress Jennifer Hudson's mother, brother and nephew.

Selecting 12 jurors and six alternates able to set aside sympathy for the Hollywood star and assess ...

BROOKLYN PARK, Minn. (AP) — Three adults were killed early Monday at an in-home day care in a suburb northwest of Minneapolis, and a nearby college was locked down as police searched for a suspect who fled on a bicycle.

Police released few details about the deaths in Brooklyn Park. ...

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — A massive fire at an abandoned warehouse claimed the lives of two Philadelphia firefighters after a wall collapsed inside an adjacent building where the two men were trying to halt the fire's progress, officials said Monday.

Fire Commissioner Lloyd Ayers said three other firefighters were injured in ...

ORLANDO, Fla. — A grand jury will not look into the Trayvon Martin case, a special prosecutor said Monday, leaving the decision of whether to charge the teen's shooter in her hands alone and eliminating the possibility of a first-degree murder charge.

That prosecutor, Angela Corey, said her decision had ...