A key Republican leader demanded Sunday that House Speaker Nancy Pelosi produce evidence to back up her assertion that she was misled by the CIA on the use of so-called "enhanced interrogation techniques." Last week, Pelosi reiterated an earlier claim that she was briefed by the CIA on such techniques only once -- in September 2002 -- and that she was told at the time that the techniques were not being used. A recently released Justice Department memo, however, says ...

A U.S. soldier fired on his fellow troops at a counseling center at a base outside Baghdad on Monday, U.S. officials said, killing five people in the worst such attack of the six-year war. The shooting occurred at 2 p.m. at a stress clinic at Camp Liberty, near Baghdad's international airport, two senior defense officials said. Though initial reports indicated the attacker was killed in the incident, the U.S. command in Baghdad said late Monday that a suspect in the ...

Even as there's talk inside the Pentagon of extending the troop surge in Iraq well into 2008, the U.S. military remains in a vise, crushed between the demands of wars in Iraq and Afghanistan that have made recruiting more difficult. Right now, there are only two real ways to extend or even increase the surge: call up more reservists — always tough to do in an election year — or extend active-duty combat tours from the current morale-wrecking 15 months ...

In an unexpectedly swift move, a Tehran court reduced the sentence of Iranian-American reporter Roxana Saberi and released her from prison on Monday, only a day after she appealed her case in court. Last month, Saberi had been sentenced to eight years imprisonment on charges of spying for the United States, causing tension between the two countries at a time when President Barack Obama had declared his Administration's intention to improve relations with Iran. Just before the official announcement came, ...

Emergency teams on Sunday were assessing damage from deadly storms that devastated parts of Missouri, Kentucky and West Virginia this weekend -- even as the threat of more severe weather continued. The storm that tore through Madison County, Kentucky, on Friday was a category EF-3 tornado, the National Weather Service said Sunday. An EF-3 is the third-strongest category of tornado, with winds of 136 to 165 mph, strong enough to destroy large buildings and lift cars off the ground. At ...

The wildfire that scorched thousands of acres and destroyed dozens of homes in Southern California this week apparently was started by a power tool clearing brush in the area, fire officials said Sunday. The fire started near a trail in the Santa Barbara, California, area and appears to have been "related to the use of power tool equipment involved in vegetation clearance," according to the multi-agency group fighting the fires. Authorities are looking for someone who may have been ...

The tears begin and her voice trembles as Ruth Martinez remembers the first few days of her new world. She would leave work, pick up her son Jacob at school and drive aimlessly, sometimes sneaking back to the office, "to watch TV there without my boss knowing." Her husband had lost his job, and the stress drove them apart. Then Martinez was evicted. Suddenly, her car was her home. And she was afraid to ask for help. "We just prayed," ...

The prepaid cell phone market has finally hit the U.S. in a big way as economically strapped consumers flock to inexpensive pay-as-you-go services. The result will likely mean that big cell phone providers may be forced to slash prices on contract service plans to keep consumers from defecting. This is good news for consumers, who could see lower prices on both prepaid and post-paid service plans. But it is very bad news for cell phone operators, which make more money ...

When the first U.S. patients fell victim to the new H1N1 flu, they may not have immediately thought to call their doctor or run to the nearest emergency room. Instead, they probably sat down in front of their computers and Googled "flu symptoms" or "fever" or "chills" or perhaps even "treatment for flu." That behavior is exactly what the folks at Google are counting on. Since last fall, the search-engine giant has been nurturing a spin-off service called Google Flu ...

An internationally known Catholic priest sometimes called "Father Oprah" has been removed from his posts in Florida after published photos showed him lying down bare-chested in an embrace with a woman on a beach. The Rev. Alberto Cutie (pronounced koo-tee-AYE) -- who got the nickname "Father Oprah" because of the advice he gives on Spanish-language media -- remains a priest. But he was relieved Tuesday of his duties at St. Francis De Sales Church in Miami Beach, Florida, and at ...