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WASHINGTON – For those who struggle to balance their checkbooks every month, it might be difficult to comprehend the meaning of Thursday’s vote by the Senate to raise the government debt limit to nearly $9 trillion. After all, how much is a trillion? It’s the number one followed by 12 …

WASHINGTON – Puerto Rico’s attorney general asked Congress to pressure the FBI to cooperate with his investigation into raids by the bureau against independence advocates in the U.S. territory. In a briefing for House Democrats, Attorney General Roberto J. Sanchez Ramos said Tuesday that bureau officials have stonewalled his investigation …

LIMA, Peru – Carlos Santana quoted his old friend Jimi Hendrix in an anti-war message here Monday and said his philosophy is the antithesis of President George W. Bush‘s. “I have wisdom. I feel love. I live in the present and I try to present a dimension that brings harmony …

TEHRAN, Iran – Iran threatened Saturday to use oil as a weapon if the U.N. Security Council imposes sanctions over its nuclear program. The nation’s interior minister raised the possibility of using Iran’s own oil and gas supplies and its position on a vital Persian Gulf oil route as weapons …

LOS ANGELES – More than half a million immigration advocates marched though downtown Los Angeles in one of the largest demonstrations for any cause in recent U.S. history. More than 500,000 protesters — demanding that Congress abandon attempts to make illegal immigration a felony and to build more walls along …

NEW YORK – Sam used to sneak into his office before dawn so no one would know how many extra hours he worked. Charles goes on all-night work binges to meet deadlines, and Susan can’t say no to volunteer projects, social clubs, bridge games, choral singing, lectures and classes. Each …

SYDNEY, Australia – A magnitude 6.7 earthquake has struck near the Pacific island of Vanuatu, the U.S. Geological Survey said Tuesday. Details of injuries or damage were not immediately available. The temblor struck about 136 miles north of the capital, Port Vila, at 9:18 a.m. local time (2218 GMT) and …

WASHINGTON – The government will not require recorders in autos but said on Monday that car makers must tell consumers when technology that tracks speed, braking and other measurements is in the new vehicles they buy. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration regulation standardizes recorder content and sets guidelines for …

BOULDER, Colo. – A former schoolteacher was arrested Wednesday in Thailand in the slaying of 6-year-old beauty queen JonBenet Ramsey — a surprise breakthrough in a lurid, decade-old murder mystery that had cast a cloud of suspicion over her parents. Ramsey family attorney Lin Wood identified the suspect as John …

MIAMI – Every hurricane season, clusters of showers and thunderstorms roll off the coast of Africa and head over the Atlantic toward America. Most of these 60 or so tropical waves never do any harm, but about 10 eventually grow into tropical storms or monster hurricanes like Katrina or Andrew. …