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LONDON – Scarlett Johansson has denied claims that divalike demands cost her the lead role in a big-budget revival of “The Sound of Music,” a spokesman for the actress said Thursday. Johansson, 21, had been targeted to play Maria von Trapp in Andrew Lloyd Webber‘s production of the Rodgers and …

WASHINGTON – A senior State Department official said Thursday Venezuela’s leftist government is “increasingly out of step with the world,” citing the country’s support for Iraqi insurgents and its close ties with Cuba, Iran, North Korea and other “radical rogue regimes.” Frank Urbancic, the No. 2 official in the department’s …

ASHTON, Idaho – When 100 farm-raised elk fled his private hunting reserve through a bear-dug hole under the fence, owner Rex Rammell — a man with a long history of locking antlers with the state — didn’t realize he’d wind up in the governor’s crosshairs. But a month later, about …

BUDAPEST, Hungary – Hungary’s main opposition party on Thursday postponed a weekend political rally amid fears of further street violence, saying state security officials had warned that the gathering could be hit by bomb attacks. Laszlo Koever, an official of the opposition Fidesz party, said the rally planned for Saturday …

TUCSON, Ariz. – A runaway primary victory by Democrat Gabrielle Giffords and Republican Randy Graf‘s solid triumph over a better-heeled, bitter rival set up a November faceoff for southern Arizona’s 8th Congressional District. But while Democrats immediately began coalescing behind Giffords — with chief rival Patty Weiss conceding to Giffords …

ALBANY, N.Y. – Ex-prosecutor Jeanine Pirro, under federal investigation for plotting to secretly record her husband over suspicions that he was having an affair, said Wednesday that any probe into her marriage was “highly improper” and she had no intention of quitting her run for attorney general Pirro, speaking at …

BAGHDAD, Iraq – Police found the tortured, blindfolded bodies of 33 men scattered across the capital Monday and the U.S.-led coalition reported combat deaths of seven servicemen, a day after Iraqi leaders said the capture of a top terror suspect would reduce violence. Iraqi soldiers also clashed with gunmen near …

HONOLULU – TV reality star Duane “Dog” Chapman and two co-stars on his show were arrested early Thursday in Hawaii on charges of illegal detention and conspiracy in an alleged kidnapping three years ago in Mexico, U.S. Marshals said. Chapman, his son Leland Chapman, and associate Timothy Chapman were taken …

MOGADISHU, Somalia – Few people noticed when a security detail ushered the president of Somalia from his three-ton armored vehicle to an ordinary car. The simple, routine security measure saved his life. Moments later, a massive car bomb exploded outside the makeshift parliament building in Baidoa, the only town President …

SAN FRANCISCO – Facebook.com, the No. 2 U.S. social network site that is quickly expanding beyond its college-student base, has been met with a sudden privacy backlash by users after it made design changes this week. By late on Wednesday, more than 500,000 of Facebook’s 9.5 million members had signed …