‘Car guys' retrain but downshift to lower pay
Big, burly and a "car guy" since high school, Tom Persinger worked for years at General Motors. Now he's a nurse's aide earning $12 an hour. "I've been humbled quite a bit," he said.

Palin to resign as Alaska governor

Sarah Palin announced Friday she plans to resign as governor of Alaska in a few weeks, saying she will try to "affect positive change" from outside government.

Iran leader's aide: Mousavi is a U.S. agent

A top aide to Iran's supreme leader called the country's main opposition figure a U.S. agent and accused him in an editorial Saturday of committing crimes against the nation.

Michelle Obama bringing glamour to Moscow

The first lady, who has wowed publics in the U.S. and Europe with her easy elegance and charm, will perhaps face a bigger challenge in winning over a Russian public that has scant respect for women who grab the limelight from their powerful husbands.

Johnny comes marching home — to no job
National Guardsmen are coming home from Iraq to face a new enemy – a swooning economy that has landed like a KO'd heavyweight on the canvas of their home towns.

July 4 fireworks shows go up in smoke

With the recession eating away at state and local budgets everywhere, it will be a silent Fourth of July across the country for many communities that have canceled their annual fireworks shows.

Chestnut, Kobayashi face off again in eat-off

Coney kings hot-dogged it for the cameras yesterday, mustering tough-guy poses and stare downs at the weigh-in for Saturday's traditional July 4th hot-dog eating contest.

2 GIs die in bombing, gunfight at Afghan base
Militants blew up a vehicle outside the gates of a U.S. base in Afghanistan on Saturday, sparking a two-hour gunbattle, officials said. Two American troops were killed and four others injured.

Jackson says he'll return for another Lakers run

Phil Jackson is returning to coach the Los Angeles Lakers next season.

N. Korea marks July 4 with missile barrage

North Korea fired seven ballistic missiles off its eastern coast Saturday, South Korea said, a violation of U.N. resolutions and an apparent message of defiance to the United States on its Independence Day.