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Nation and World

House panel: Report finds $50 million for IRS conferences

WASHINGTON — A government watchdog has found that the Internal Revenue Service spent about $50 million to hold at least 220 conferences for employees between 2010 and 2012, a House committee said Sunday.

Feds target bid-riggers in foreclosure auctions

SAN FRANCISCO — At the height of the financial crisis, bargain hunters would gather each week on county courthouse steps to bid on foreclosed properties throughout Northern and Central California. The inventory lists were long, especially in hard-hit areas such as Sacramento and Stockton. But the auctions were generally short affairs — often because real estate speculators were illegally fixing the bidding process.

Artist’s healing angels help people cope with tragedies

WARWICK, N.Y. — After Joseph and Betty Ginley’s firefighter son was killed in the Sept. 11 attack on the World Trade Center, they found some solace in the tall steel angels crafted as memorials by sculptor Lei Hennessy-Owen.

Arizona mother says she’ll return to Mexico

AVONDALE, Ariz. — The American woman who was jailed for a week after Mexican authorities said they found marijuana under her bus seat said she’ll return to Mexico someday.

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Clock ticks as nuclear waste storage tanks leak at Hanford

RICHLAND, Wash. — A stainless steel tank the size of a basketball court lies buried in the sandy soil of southeastern Washington state, an aging remnant of U.S. efforts to win World War II. The tank holds enough radioactive waste to fill an Olympic-sized swimming pool. And it is leaking.

Republican vs. Republican on covering uninsured

WASHINGTON — It’s Republican versus Republican in the latest round of political battles over health care.

Frightened Okla. residents opt to flee tornadoes

It’s a warning as familiar as a daily prayer for Tornado Alley residents: When a twister approaches, take shelter in a basement or low-level interior room or closet, away from windows and exterior walls.

 
Five die in tornado outbreak in Oklahoma City area, 50 hurt

Tornadoes rolled in from the prairie and slammed Oklahoma City and its suburbs Friday, trapping people in their vehicles as a storm swept down an interstate highway while commuters tried to beat it home. Five people were killed, including a mother and baby killed near Union City.

Zumba instructor gets 10 months for prostitution

A high-profile prostitution scandal featuring sex videos, adultery, exhibitionism and more than 100 clients drew to a close Friday when a Zumba fitness instructor was sentenced to 10 months in jail after telling the judge she was happy to have escaped her former life of crime.

 
Planes collide in Arizona sky; four reported dead

PHOENIX — Authorities say two small planes collided and then crashed in the desert north of Phoenix on Friday, killing all four people aboard the two aircraft.

U.S., Germany to Russia: Don’t send Assad missiles

WASHINGTON — The United States and Germany on Friday warned Russia not to endanger a planned peace conference for Syria or alter the balance of power in the Middle East by providing an advanced air defense system to President Bashar Assad’s embattled regime.

US woman facing drug charge released in Mexico

NOGALES, Mexico — An Arizona woman held in a Mexico jail for a week on a drug-smuggling charge was freed after a court reviewed her case, including key security footage, and dismissed the allegations.

Arvind Mahankali wins National Spelling Bee

OXON HILL, Md. — Arvind Mahankali has conquered his nemesis, the German language, to win the Scripps National Spelling Bee.

 
German man had pencil in head for 15 years

German doctors say a man spent 15 years with a 4-inch pencil in his head following a childhood accident.

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