LONDON – As fans desperate to read the latest adventures of schoolboy wizard Harry Potter place orders for the new book due out Saturday, bookshops and other sellers are practicing some dark arts to ensure a share of the profits. The impending release of “Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince,” …

DALLAS – In telling Mickey Mantle’s (search) story, it’s easy to get wrapped up in his tremendous home runs, the World Series championships he won and the anecdotes about his boozy carousing. Too easy. So while putting together a documentary subtitled “The Definitive Story of Mickey Mantle (search),” filmmakers decided …

BOSTON – For weeks, speculation has mounted over what Gov. Mitt Romney (search), who’s contemplating a 2008 presidential run, would do with a bill expanding access to emergency contraception. Romney dispelled that uncertainty on Monday, as he returned to Massachusetts from vacation to veto the legislation just hours after it …

BOMBAY, India – Authorities warned residents to remain home Sunday after new heavy rains pounded Bombay (search) and the surrounding state, as the official death toll from last week’s record-breaking monsoon rains hit 910. The new rains, which began early Sunday, badly hampered cleanup efforts and the distribution of food …

WASHINGTON – The average price U.S. drivers pay for gasoline climbed 10.2 cents over the last week to a new record of $2.33 a gallon, the government said on Monday. The old record pump price of $2.28 a gallon was set in mid-April, according to the Energy Information Administration (search). …

SAN FRANCISCO – The National Arbitration Forum (search) said on Friday that Google Inc. (GOOG) has rights to the Internet domain names googkle.com, ghoogle.com, gfoogle.com and gooigle.com, which are similar to its own google.com domain. The Web search leader filed a complaint with the NAF on May 11, claiming legal …

BULL BAY, Jamaica – Fishermen dragged skiffs to shore and surfers rode enormous waves as Hurricane Emily’s winds strengthened Saturday to 155 mph, passing south of Jamaica and on track to make a direct hit at Mexico’s Yucatan peninsula (search). The Category 4 storm was on track to pass close …

WASHINGTON – U.S. producer prices held steady last month despite a big rise in energy costs, as food and vehicle prices plunged, according to a government report on Friday that showed an unexpected absence of inflation pressure. Energy prices shot up 2 percent in June, the Labor Department (search) said, …

CHARLESTON, S.C. – Retired Gen. William Westmoreland (search), who commanded American troops in Vietnam (search) — the nation’s longest, most divisive conflict and the only war America lost — died Monday night. He was 91. Westmoreland died of natural causes at Bishop Gadsden retirement home, where he had lived with …

FRESNO, Calif. – Lightning struck a group of Boy Scouts taking shelter from a storm, killing the troop leader and a 13-year-old boy in the latest tragedy to befall the organization this week, authorities said. The teen, Ryan Collins, died Friday night at the University Medical Center in Fresno, said …