Top News

WASHINGTON, Dec. 31 (UPI) -- An anti-gun group is suing to stop enactment of Bush administration rules that would let people carry concealed weapons in many U.S. parks.

PHILADELPHIA, Dec. 31 (UPI) -- Philadelphia's mayor says he will appeal a judge's order blocking plans to shut down 11 city libraries Wednesday.

WASHINGTON, Dec. 31 (UPI) -- Alberto Gonzales says he is writing a book to counter critics' contentions he was negligent as U.S. attorney general under the Bush administration.

CRAWFORD, Texas, Dec. 31 (UPI) -- U.S. President George Bush spent the last day of 2008 in telephone diplomacy, discussing Gaza and tensions between India and Pakistan, a spokesman said.

SAN DIEGO, Dec. 31 (UPI) -- Police in the San Diego area say an illegal immigrant they arrested on sexual assault charges had been deported to Mexico 10 times in his long criminal career.

MOSCOW, Dec. 31 (UPI) -- A new assessment of pirate activity off the coast of Somalia has found that more than 300 mariners are being held hostage, a Russian publication says.

SACRAMENTO, Dec. 31 (UPI) -- California officials say they filed suit against the U.S. Department of the Interior over a rule change that jeopardizes the state's wildlife and its budget.

WASHINGTON, Dec. 31 (UPI) -- Mines will be required to have safe rooms for miners trapped by cave-ins and fires under new rules from the U.S. Mine Safety and Health Administration.

BAGHDAD, Dec. 31 (UPI) -- Two U.S. soldiers who sustained combat injuries in Iraq this week died Wednesday, military officials said.

ALBANY, N.Y., Dec. 31 (UPI) -- Members of the New York Army and Air National Guard were standing by New Year's Eve, ready to respond if an emergency arises, state military officials said.

SEATTLE, Dec. 31 (UPI) -- A Washington state woman who allegedly married a 78-year-old man with dementia for his money says she does not want the marriage annulled.

SAN ANTONIO, Dec. 31 (UPI) -- A U.S. Army veteran from Texas who faked claims of wounds and decorations and a career in the Army Rangers has been sentenced to three years probation.

TEHRAN, Dec. 31 (UPI) -- British authorities say everyone at the country's embassy in Tehran is safe after hundreds of Iranian radicals stormed and briefly entered the compound.

NEW YORK, Dec. 31 (UPI) -- It's going to be a cold, snowy New Year's Eve for those who ring in the New Year in New York's Times Square, forecasters said Wednesday.

LOS ANGELES, Dec. 31 (UPI) -- Nearly 220 sporting groups throughout the United States no longer have access to funds an online firm collected for them, a firm official has confirmed.