VANCOUVER, British Columbia – A gay bookstore that claims it is being harassed by local customs officers appealed to Canada’s Supreme Court on Wednesday to order the government to pay the shop’s legal fees so it can continue a two-decade-long fight over book seizures. Some civil libertarians consider it a …

ORANJESTAD, Aruba – The family of a 19-year-old arrested in the case of a young Alabama woman who went missing last year while visiting Aruba said Wednesday that he had nothing to do with her disappearance. The family of Geoffrey van Cromvoirt also said in a statement released by his …

VATICAN CITY – Pope Benedict XVI urged Christians on Wednesday to defend the spirit of Christmas against secular trends during his last general audience before the holiday. He wished the several thousand pilgrims and tourists gathered in a Vatican auditorium decorated with Christmas trees a “Happy Christmas” in seven languages …

CARACAS, Venezuela – The Iranian government has agreed to help Venezuela set up a plant to make industrial molds for producing machine parts, an official said Thursday. Iran’s Mining Ministry signed an agreement to advise Venezuela on installing the plant, Valmore Vasquez, the Basic Industries and Mining Ministry’s deputy minister …

NEW YORK – Google Inc. (GOOG), the search engine whose clean, minimalist home page was a stark contrast to the link-laden Web portals of the late 1990s, made a tiny tweak to its site last week that may have much bigger repercussions. On Wednesday, Google removed a text link to …

CAMARILLO, Calif. – Nationwide gas prices hit yet another record in the last three weeks, rising just over one cent to nearly $3.03 per gallon, according to a survey released Sunday. The national average for self-serve regular stood at $3.025 a gallon Friday, up 1.06 cents since July 21, according …

MILWAUKEE – An argument at a nightclub in a popular tourist area spilled out to the streets early Sunday, erupting into fighting and gunfire in which two people were killed and a third was wounded, authorities said. Detectives were still sorting through details and trying to determine a motive, but …

PALO ALTO, Calif. – Hewlett Packard Co. (HPQ) is paying $4.5 billion to buy Mercury Interactive Corp., a maker of business management software that has been entangled in a stock options scandal for the past nine months. The Palo Alto, Calif.-based computer and printer maker said it is paying $52 …

WASHINGTON – President Bush suggested Friday it may be time to send international peacekeepers into Sudan’s war-torn Darfur region over the objections of the government in Khartoum. “What you’ll hear is, well, the government of Sudan must invite the United Nations in for us to act,” Bush said. “Well, there …

WASHINGTON – Scientists say abnormal “intersex” fish, with both male and female characteristics, have been discovered in the Potomac River and its tributaries across the Capitol Region, raising questions about how contaminants are affecting millions of people who drink tap water there. “I don’t know, and I don’t think anybody …