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HANOI, Vietnam – A Vietnamese couple who ran a chicken farm and their three daughters have tested positive for bird flu (search), in the largest group of infections reported in the country at one time, health officials said Tuesday. The cluster of infections raises the specter that the virus might …

DEERFIELD BEACH, Fla. – Some beaches remain closed in southeast Florida on Wednesday as hundreds of sharks (search) swarm offshore. Some have come within 20 feet of the shoreline. The sharks have been repeatedly spotted near shore over the past two weeks in Broward (search) and Palm Beach (search) counties. …

An Indiana carpenter had his tools stolen but later found them — up for sale on eBay. “What I ended up doing was actually purchasing some of my tools so I could receive them and prove that they were mine,” John Guichelaar told WRTV-TV of Indianapolis. Police raided the garage …

WASHINGTON – More U.S. universities should apply their research toward solving the enormous problem of illiteracy worldwide, Education Secretary Margaret Spellings (search) said Monday. “The more people behind this effort, the more people in need we can help,” Spellings said at a conference of the United Nations Education, Scientific and …

Hi all, If you’re obese, should you be compelled to buy TWO plane tickets when you take a commercial flight? That’s an issue behind Nadine Thompson’s lawsuit against Southwest Airlines (search). At 5’8″ and 280 pounds, she sat down in her seat one morning for a flight to Chicago. A …

SEOUL, South Korea – The United States, Japan and South Korea urged North Korea on Saturday to return to nuclear disarmament talks without delay, indicating they would not give the communist state any rewards before negotiations resume. The three allies also urged China — North Korea’s last remaining major ally, …

NEW YORK – The 21-year-old singer-songwriter is expecting a baby in early August with her husband, Teddy Landau, the magazine said. The couple were married last May. Landau, 40, is Branch’s bass player. A call to her agent by The Associated Press wasn’t immediately returned Friday. Branch and Landau are …

LYNCHBURG, Va. – The Rev. Jerry Falwell (search) has checked into a Virginia (search) hospital for treatment of a viral infection. The 71-year-old Falwell was taken Sunday to Lynchburg General Hospital (search) after falling ill at a church service. He had battled a severe cold last week and saw a …

NEW YORK – Stocks tumbled Wednesday, wiping out earlier gains made on the back of a stronger-than-expected housing report, as crude oil prices sprinted to a fresh all-time high, raising fears about consumer spending. The Dow Jones industrial average (search) slid 84.71 points, or 0.81 percent, to end at 10,434.87. …

WASHINGTON – Supreme Court nominee John Roberts (search) once offered the National Mining Association some unpaid advice on how to intervene in other people’s court cases. Two years later he was hired by the group to argue against a citizens group trying to stop coal companies from shearing off the …