Fiscal Pressures Lead Some States to Free Inmates Early

NEW YORK -- Reversing decades of tough-on-crime policies, including mandatory minimum prison sentences for some drug offenders, many cash-strapped states are embracing a view once dismissed as dangerously naive: It costs far less to let some felons go

Taiwan Vice Premier Suspected of Corruption
05-05-08 17:42

TAIPEI, Taiwan, May 5 -- Taiwanese prosecutors announced Monday that Vice Premier Chiou I-jen is suspected of corruption in connection with a diplomatic scandal involving an alleged attempt to defraud the government of nearly $30 million.

Russia gives fans visa reprieve
05-05-08 16:38

Russia waives visa requirements for a 72-hour period for football fans with a ticket for the Champions League final in Moscow.

Three Jews freed in Warsaw hotel
05-05-08 13:01

Polish police arrest a man - believed to be from the Middle East - who held three Brazilian Jewish youths hostage.

Cyclone death toll nears 4,000 in Myanmar, state radio says
05-05-08 12:42

YANGON, Myanmar -- Almost 4,000 people were killed and nearly 3,000 others are unaccounted for in a single town after a devastating cyclone in Myanmar, a state radio station said Monday.

Witnesses: Soldiers kill 2 in Somalia riot over food prices
05-05-08 12:33

MOGADISHU, Somalia -- Witnesses say soldiers opened fire and killed at least two people in Somalia as tens of thousands rioted over high food prices.

US military says 9 Shiite extremists killed in Baghdad
05-05-08 11:18

BAGHDAD -- A U.S. Air Force gunship strafed Shiite extremists who attacked U.S. soldiers in Baghdad on Monday, and the military said it killed at least nine militants in recent clashes in the capital.

Babies found in Germany freezer
05-05-08 10:55

The bodies of three babies are found in a freezer in Germany and their suspected mother arrested, prosecutors say.

Mass evacuation from Baltic ship
05-05-08 10:19

Latvian authorities begin evacuating more than 700 people from a cruise ship stuck on a sandbank.

Chechnya bomb kills five police
05-05-08 07:19

A roadside bomb kills five policemen in Chechnya ahead of the inauguration of president-elect Dmitry Medvedev.

Torch Lights a Patriotic Spark
05-05-08 04:00

SANYA, China, May 4 -- After a stormy passage abroad, the Olympic torch began a three-month relay through the major cities of China proper Sunday in a protest-free celebration of patriotism and merrymaking.