Authorities: Fire at Tenn. mosque site was arson
MURFREESBORO, Tenn. (AP) -- Federal investigators have decided a suspicious fire that damaged construction equipment at the site of a future mosque in Tennessee was arson....

Earl sideswipes NC, takes aim at New England
CHATHAM, Mass. (AP) -- A weakening but still dangerous Hurricane Earl steamed toward the gray-shingled cottages and fishing villages of Cape Cod on Friday, disrupting people's vacations on the unofficial final weekend of the short New England summer....

Waning Earl still causing havoc for holiday travel
NEWARK, N.J. (AP) -- Hurricane Earl played havoc with travelers' Labor Day weekend plans even as it weakened Friday on its path up the East Coast toward New England....

'Birth tourism' a tiny portion of immigrant babies
SAN JUAN, Texas (AP) -- When Ruth Garcia's twins are born in two months, they'll have all the rights of U.S. citizens. They and their six brothers and sisters will be able to vote, apply for federal student loans and even run for president....

Colo. gubernatorial candidate refuses to back down
DENVER (AP) -- Dan Maes likes to brag about taking down the political machine in becoming Colorado's Republican gubernatorial nominee. The way he's going, it may be the only victory in a short-lived political career....

Prof in '03 plague scare sets off airport shutdown
MIAMI (AP) -- The suspicions airport security officials had when they saw the metal canister grew when they learned about the man who brought it in from the Middle East: a scientist who sparked a bioterrorism scare after he reported missing vials of plague samples seven years ago....

Backer of NYC mosque gave to Hamas-linked charity
NEW YORK (AP) -- One of the investors in a proposed Islamic center near ground zero is a Long Island medical clinic owner whose expressions of sympathy for Palestinians included a donation to a charity later shut down for links to Hamas....

BP: Failed blowout preventer removed from well
NEW ORLEANS (AP) -- BP PLC said the blowout preventer that failed to stop oil from spewing into the Gulf of Mexico was removed from the company's well on Friday afternoon....

Critics: Ill. lottery contract cloaked in secrecy
CHICAGO (AP) -- With less than two weeks before Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn awards a lucrative, first-of-its-kind contract for the private management of the state's $2 billion-a-year lottery, some are criticizing the selection process as too secretive and questioning whether it favors one powerful bidder....

Despite hiring, US unemployment rate seems frozen
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Unemployment is stuck at high levels even though some companies are hiring. The problem, government data show, is that too few jobs are being created for the growing number of people looking for work....