SAN FRANCISCO – The fees that cell-phone carriers charge customers who break service contracts took a big hit in a California courtroom when a judge said such charges by Sprint Nextel Corp. likely violate state law. The judge, in a tentative ruling issued late Monday, said Sprint will have to …

SKOPJE, Macedonia – Macedonia’s premier urged neighboring Greece on Monday to recognize a Macedonian ethnic minority — escalating a long-running dispute between the two Balkan countries. Macedonia contends that members of its minority in Greece fled government persecution before and during the aftermath of World War II and the Greek …

MOGADISHU, Somalia – Gunmen opened fire on people leaving a mosque in Somalia’s capital, killing one of the country’s senior U.N. officials and wounding his son and another man, a witness and a family member said. Attacks on officials, including those working for the U.N. or aid agencies, are common …

BOSTON – At Whittier Farms dairy, the fifth-generation owners brag of the quality of their Holstein cows and still deliver milk right to your door, in glass bottles. Customers like the products because they are a hormone-free taste of old New England. But health officials now say three elderly men …

Norwegian explorer Roald Amundsen reached the South Pole in December 1911. Ninety-six years later, another achievement was reached — the South Pole’s first bar fight. Without releasing names, the National Science Foundation, which runs the Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station, confirmed that two men had to be evacuated from the base …

WASHINGTON – A federal judge on Wednesday ruled that the Interior Department has “unreasonably delayed” its accounting for billions of dollars owed to Indian landholders. The federal agency “has not, and cannot, remedy the breach” of its responsibilities to account for the Indian money, U.S. District Judge James Robertson said …

RIYADH, Saudi Arabia – U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said Tuesday that the United States wants Arab nations to do more to reach out to Israel, as a way to do their part to nudge a Mideast peace accord into being. Rice spoke from Saudi Arabia, at the side …

LOS ANGELES – The second in a series of powerful storms roared into Southern California on Tuesday, bringing heavy rains and winds that smashed windows, submerged cars and flipped an SUV along a stretch of coastline. Forecasters said the thunderstorm was likely part of a tornado that surged ashore with …

SATSUMA, Fla. – One year has passed since a north Florida girl vanished from her home. The Putnam County Sheriff’s Office says detectives have investigated thousands of tips since Haleigh Cummings, then 5 years old, disappeared from her family’s Satsuma trailer a year ago Wednesday. Click here for photos. The …

PURCHASE, N.Y. – A freshman at a private suburban college who grew up on the campus as the daughter of a maintenance worker was found dead in staff housing, and police on Tuesday characterized it as a homicide that was a family matter. Harrison police Capt. Anthony Marraccini said investigators …