SACRAMENTO, Calif. Supporters of the ballot measure that banned gay marriage in California have filed a lawsuit seeking to block their campaign finance records from public view, saying the reports have led to the harassment of donors.

MIAMI The son of former Liberian President Charles Taylor could be sentenced to as many as 147 years in prison for his involvement in brutal slayings and torture while commanding an elite paramilitary force in Liberia.

NEW HAVEN, Conn. Michael Skakel's lawyers have filed a new appeal of his murder conviction, claiming that police and prosecutors failed to provide the Kennedy cousin with evidence pointing to another suspect and discrediting a key state witness.

BEIJING China plans a major revamp of its public hospitals - criticized for their lack of access, huge fees and poor doctor services - as part of its long-awaited reform of the national health care system.

More than 100 ships - including huge supertankers - have come under siege from pirates over the past year in the waters off East Africa. Since the problem doesn't seem to be going away, why don't the ships recruit mercenaries to defend their property?

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. Gov. Rod Blagojevich faces almost certain impeachment by the Illinois House, a historic step that would trigger a trial to determine whether the Democratic governor should be tossed out of office.

SOUTHLAKE, Texas An ex-Utah state trooper who police say was involved in a series of roadway shootings last month learned just hours before the deadly incidents that he would soon be arrested on burglary and robbery charges.

CHEYENNE, Wyo. Run for your lives ... Yellowstone's going to explode!

NEW YORK A former actor on "The Sopranos" faces up to 15 years in prison for a botched burglary in the Bronx in which an accomplice shot and killed a police officer.

CHICAGO Gov. Rod Blagojevich's defense attorneys urged a federal judge Thursday to remove Chicago's top federal prosecutor and all of his assistants from the fraud and bribery case against the governor.

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. Roland Burris raised his right hand in a committee room at the Illinois Capitol, swearing to tell a room full of lawmakers the truth about his appointment by embattled Gov. Rod Blagojevich to the state's vacant U.S. Senate seat.

NEW YORK Prosecutors said Thursday that investigators found 100 signed checks worth $173 million in Bernard Madoff's office desk that he was ready to send out to his closest family and friends at the time of his arrest last month in what is alleged to be largest financial fraud in history.

CENTRALIA, Wash. Floods, mudslides and avalanches in the Pacific Northwest kept tens of thousands of people from their homes Thursday, brought freight trains to a standstill and stranded hundreds of trucks along the major highways that link Seattle's busy ports with markets around the country.

MINNEAPOLIS Former Idaho Sen. Larry Craig has reached the end of the road in his effort to reverse his conviction in an airport bathroom sex sting, one of his lawyers said Thursday.

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. Republican Sen. Kit Bond announced Thursday that he will not seek re-election in 2010, saying he wants to go out "at the top of my game" and setting the stage for what one expert said could be a "land rush" for the seat.

SAN BERNARDINO, Calif. A moderate earthquake rattled much of Southern California on Thursday, with shaking felt from north of Los Angeles down to the Mexican border. No damage or injuries were reported.

CHICAGO Roland Burris has erected a grand mausoleum for himself, carved with the words "TRAIL BLAZER" and a long list of his accomplishments, with a space left for his more recent achievements. That gap could soon be filled in with "U.S. Senator."

TAMPA, Fla. Robert Vassallo and Angellette Smith had been battered by waves for two days when a final surge sent their boat crashing into a reef off the western coast of Cuba.

BOSTON Massachusetts health officials plan to follow the lead of New York City and California in requiring fast-food chains to post calorie counts for their products on boards behind the order counter.