WARSAW, Poland – Poland’s president and opposition leader can be legally referred to as ducks after a court ruled Monday that a play on the twin brothers’ last name was not slanderous. The court ruled on a complaint by President Lech Kaczynski’s office against writer Jerzy Pilch, who repeatedly referred …

CAIRO, Egypt – Sudan will conduct its own trials for suspects implicated in crimes in the war torn Darfur region, the country’s Justice Minister said Monday, without specifying when they might take place. Rights groups say Sudan’s legal system is not equipped to handle genocide and war crime trials, while …

CHICAGO – A high school volleyball player who complained he was beaten by a coach for missing serves has prompted an investigation by Chicago Public School officials. Public school officials say Fred McClinton, the Simeon High School assistant coach who whacked Zayas five times April 3 with a heavy wooden …

U.S. forces fought off an attack in the early hours of the morning Monday against a military base, killing five of the assailants, in a neighborhood that was once a notorious Shiite militia stronghold. The attackers opened fire on the joint U.S.-Iraqi security station at 1:20 a.m. in the eastern …

TOKYO – Nintendo’s hit DS portable machine will come with a digital camera that will allow players to mix images, scribble on photos and create new faces, the Japanese game maker said Thursday. The Nintendo DSi will go on sale in Japan on Nov. 1 for 18,900 yen ($180), and …

The U.N. health agency says it is investigating a mystery disease that killed three people in the South African city of Johannesburg. The World Health Organization says the disease appears to be a form of hemorrhagic fever. It says tests have proved negative for Ebola, Lassa fever, Rift Valley fever, …

CHILDERSBURG, Ala. – Authorities are investigating a Childersburg police shooting that killed an 18-year-old man after officers allegedly rammed his car while following him. Tony Martin Jr. died Sunday night at UAB Hospital in Birmingham. Martin’s 17-year-old brother was in the newly purchased 1998 Mercury Cougar. He told The Daily …

CAMARILLO, Calif. – The average retail price for a gallon of gasoline in the United States plunged more steeply than ever over the last two weeks as the economic slowdown weighed on crude oil and drove consumers off of the roads, according to the latest nationwide Lundberg survey. Prices will …

Former Bolingbrook police officer Drew Peterson returned to court Thursday on gun charges unrelated to the case of his missing wife, Stacy. A grand jury indicted Peterson on one felony charge for possessing an illegal semiautomatic rifle that was seized by authorities investigating Stacy’s disappearance. He also faces a second …

The alert level for a volcano in central Indonesia has been raised after it began spewing hot clouds and lava, a vulcanology official said on Tuesday, Reuters reported. The volcano erupted Monday, shooting clouds of smoke and flames into the night sky. Indonesia’s volcanology center said Mount Soputan, roughly 1,350 …