PARIS — France said Tuesday it has confirmed that the nerve gas sarin was used “multiple times and in a localized way” in Syria, including at least once by the regime. It was the most specific claim by any Western power about chemical weapons attacks in the 27-month-old conflict.
CENTENNIAL, Colo. — A judge accepted James Holmes’ long-awaited plea of not guilty by reason of insanity Tuesday and ordered him to undergo a mental evaluation — an examination that could be a decisive factor in whether the Colorado theater shooting suspect is convicted and sentenced to die.
WASHINGTON — Already heavily criticized for targeting conservative groups, the Internal Revenue Service absorbed another blow Tuesday as new details emerged about senior officials enjoying luxury hotel rooms, free drinks and free food at a $4.1 million training conference. It was one of many expensive gatherings the agency held for employees over a three-year period.
NORMAN, Okla. — The deadly tornado that struck near Oklahoma City late last week had a record-breaking width of 2.6 miles and was the second top-of-the-scale EF5 twister to hit the area in less than two weeks, the National Weather Service reported Tuesday.
A Mississippi man suspected of sending poison-laced letters to President Barack Obama and two other officials was charged in a five-count federal indictment made public Monday that could send him to prison for life if he’s convicted.
MIAMI — Like most people who signed up for Florida’s official Burmese python hunt last winter, Mark Rubinstein slogged a couple times through the Everglades without ever seeing one of the elusive snakes.
NEW YORK — Even as fast-food chains tout their healthy offerings, they’re also coming up with fatty new treats to keep customers interested. Case in point: Dunkin’ Donuts is adding a doughnut breakfast sandwich to its national menu this week.
Smelling smoke, Scott Reader watched and waited for hours as a huge plume drew ever closer to his home in the rural community of Lake Hughes in northern Los Angeles County.
LONDON — Actor Michael Douglas taught the world at least one thing Monday: oral sex can sometimes cause cancer.
A sharply divided Supreme Court on Monday said police can routinely take DNA from people they arrest, equating a DNA cheek swab to other common jailhouse procedures like fingerprinting.
A man who gained Internet fame as “Kai the Hatchet-Wielding Hitchhiker” has pleaded not guilty through a lawyer to a murder charge.
More than three years ago, Army Pfc. Bradley Manning was arrested in Iraq and charged in the biggest leak of classified information in U.S. history.
President Barack Obama on Monday called for a more robust national discussion on mental illness, saying the time had come to bring the issue “out of the shadows.”
BEIJING — Fire raged through a poultry plant in northeastern China early Monday, trapping workers inside a cluttered slaughterhouse and killing at least 119 people, reports and officials said.
President Barack Obama will be looking for signs from China’s leader at their upcoming meeting that Beijing is ready to address its reported high-tech spying, which the White House sees as a top threat to the U.S. economy and national security.
