PARIS – Model-turned-first lady Carla Bruni-Sarkozy, actress Catherine Deneuve and the Shah of Iran’s widow were among mourners Thursday at the funeral of legendary designer Yves Saint Laurent. Applause rose among the arriving guests as Saint Laurent’s casket was carried into the flower bedecked Saint-Roch church near the Louvre Museum …

BRIDGEPORT, Conn. – Bridgeport police said they arrested a city man after he ordered his pet to attack two officers. Lucky for them, 9-foot-long pythons aren’t very obedient. Police Lt. James Viadero said 21-year-old Victor Rodriguez was charged with threatening police and disorderly conduct after Monday’s incident. No one was …

URUMQI, China – China’s May earthquake took nearly 70,000 lives. On Wednesday, in a certain sense, it gave one back. Zhang Xiaoyan, who had been trapped under the rubble for 50 hours while eight-months pregnant, delivered a healthy baby girl Wednesday, in a tender coda to the massive tragedy. All …

BAGHDAD – A tractor-trailer loaded with Shiite militia rockets accidentally exploded Wednesday in a densely populated area of northeast Baghdad, killing 18 people and wounding 75, the U.S. military said. It was the deadliest explosion in Baghdad in more than two months. Iraqi police said the blast was a suicide …

Four suspects, one of them a juvenile, were arrested Sunday after they allegedly gang-raped a woman on the grounds of the Hawaii State Capitol, KITV.com reported. The attack reportedly began at a bus stop in Honolulu, where the 43-year-old victim encountered two of the suspects. Police told KITV.com that another …

BAGHDAD – Iraq’s presidency council issued a law Sunday that will allow thousands of Saddam Hussein-era officials to return to government jobs, legislation viewed by the Bush administration as central to mending deep fissures between minority Sunni Arabs and Kurds and the majority Shiites who now wield power. The measure …

A strong earthquake shook rural northeastern Nevada Thursday, damaging a town’s historic district but sparing residents from any serious injuries. The magnitude of the quake, initially estimated at 6.3, was later revised to 6.0 by the U.S. Geological Survey’s National Earthquake Information Center in Golden, Colo. • Click here for …

SANTA MONICA, Calif. – Former First Lady Nancy Reagan was released from the hospital Tuesday, two days after falling at her Bel-Air home. “Doctors have released Mrs. Reagan from the hospital and she is very happy to be back in her home,” said Joanne Drake, a family spokeswoman. “She has …

Minutes after the shotgun blasts erupted in a science class at Northern Illinois University on Thursday, word of a gunman on campus spread just as fast as the fear. Students phoned each other and sent text messages even before school officials could warn them, many said. Drew Creal, a sophomore …

ROME – An Italian suspect in the slaying of a British student received his university degree Saturday in a Perugia prison where he and his American former girlfriend have been held for three months. Raffaele Sollecito was awarded a degree in computer sciences after defending his thesis on genetic programming …