WASHINGTON, Dec. 11 (UPI) -- A bill approved Thursday by a U.S. Senate committee would ban the importing of large constrictors like the Burmese pythons that have invaded South Florida.

SEATTLE, Dec. 11 (UPI) -- Investigators in Seattle say a man who served a short sentence on a sex charge raped five children in the year after his release.

SEOUL, Dec. 11 (UPI) -- U.S. envoy Stephen Bosworth said he could not predict when North Korea would return to multilateral talks on nuclear disarmament.

SAN FRANCISCO, Dec. 11 (UPI) -- The occupation of a building at San Francisco State University ended Thursday when police moved in, arresting 26 students protesting tuition increases.

KABUL, Afghanistan, Dec. 11 (UPI) -- Coalition partners in Afghanistan need to take a coordinated approach in their development efforts in the country, the U.N. special envoy to Afghanistan said.

ATHENS, Ga., Dec. 11 (UPI) -- A Georgia couple have been charged with torturing the wife's son by shooting him with a pellet gun, dousing him with pepper spray and handcuffing him.

HARTFORD, Conn., Dec. 11 (UPI) -- Connecticut should ban outdoor wood-burning furnaces because of the smoke and soot they create, state Attorney General Richard Blumenthal says.

SAN DIEGO, Dec. 11 (UPI) -- An unfinished tunnel between Tijuana and San Diego, apparently built by drug traffickers, had amenities like an electric system and elevator, investigators say.

GRIFFITH, Australia, Dec. 11 (UPI) -- A major Australian winemaker paid thousands of dollars to an extortionist who threatened his family, investigators said Thursday.

PYONGYANG, North Korea, Dec. 11 (UPI) -- North Korea said Friday it had reached understanding with the United States on resuming the six-nation talks on its denuclearization.

PHILADELPHIA, Dec. 11 (UPI) -- Asian students at a Philadelphia high school said they endured racially motivated attacks by fellow students while staff looked on but did not intervene.

CAYUGA, Ind., Dec. 11 (UPI) -- One of only about 500 whooping cranes remaining in the world has been killed in Indiana, wildlife law enforcement agents said.

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WASHINGTON, Dec. 10 (UPI) -- Blackwater Worldwide guards in Iraq and Afghanistan exceeded their role of guarding CIA officers by taking part in highly sensitive missions, sources said.

WASHINGTON, Dec. 10 (UPI) -- The Obama administration plans to provide major incentives for banks to make loans to small businesses as a way of creating jobs, sources said.