LAGOS, Nigeria – A Nigerian jetliner carrying 110 people, most of them schoolchildren heading home for Christmas, crashed in a lightning storm Saturday while landing in this delta oil port, and at least 103 people were killed, officials said. A spokesman for President Olusegun Obasanjo called the disaster “a national …

PHOENIX – Four western states are the nation’s hotspots for flu, and an epidemiologist predicts infections will grow after the holidays as children return to school and adults go back to work. Arizona, Utah, California and New Mexico report widespread flu infections, according to the Centers for Disease Control and …

BEIJING – The death toll from a coal mine explosion in northern China reached 169 Saturday, making it one of the country’s worst mining disasters in decades, while a separate flood trapped 42 miners, officials said. The explosion and flood are the latest disasters highly embarrassing to China’s Communist-led government, …

House Republicans are accused of failing to support National Guard (search) and Reserve troops in an advertising campaign the House Democratic campaign committee is rolling out this weekend. Timed for Memorial Day, radio commercials paid for by the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (search) are planned for a dozen House districts. …

FORT HOOD, Texas – A letter from Spc. Sabrina Harman (search) to her roommate in Virginia suggested that the Army reservist took pictures of detainee abuse at Abu Ghraib prison because she was opposed to the treatment and wanted to document the wrongdoing. “At first I thought it was funny, …

LIMESTONE, Maine – In a new round of military base closings planned by the Pentagon, jobs will be lost and local economies will suffer. But one former base in Maine is coming back to life, thanks to operations in Iraq and Afghanistan. The former Loring Air Force Base (search) in …

NEW YORK – U.S. consumers felt less upbeat in early May as persistently high gasoline prices and worries about the job market took their toll on confidence, a report said on Friday. The University of Michigan (search) said its measure of consumer sentiment slipped to 85.3 so far this month …

McLEAN, Va. – Bankrupt US Airways may have saved itself by agreeing to merge with America West Airlines (AWA), but it does little to address what many in the industry believe is a fundamental problem: too many carriers offering too many flights. When US Airways Group Inc. (search) made its …

TEHRAN, Iran – Iran’s (search) Guardian Council on Tuesday approved two reformist candidates to run in next month’s presidential election, state-run television reported. The move came a day after Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei (search) ordered the hardline constitutional watchdog that vets the candidates to review some of the reformist …

WASHINGTON – Congress approved an additional $82 billion for Iraq and Afghanistan and combating terrorism worldwide on Tuesday, boosting the cost of the global effort since 2001 to more than $300 billion. The Senate approved the measure by a 100-0 vote Tuesday. The House easily approved the measure last week. …