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GULFPORT, Miss. – Two unidentified victims of Hurricane Katrina are being laid to rest Tuesday as Mississippi’s Gulf Coast marks the storm’s anniversary with a day of both mourning and celebration. All along the scarred Mississippi coast, workers and families gathered for remembrances — a sunrise service in Waveland, a …

LEXINGTON, Ky. – A commuter jet mistakenly trying to take off on a runway that was too short crashed into a field Sunday and burst into flames, killing 49 people and leaving the lone survivor — a co-pilot — in critical condition, federal investigators said. Preliminary flight data from Comair …

COUSHATTA, La. – A Louisiana school district is investigating complaints that a white school bus driver ordered nine black children to sit at the back of the bus. Red River Parish Schools Superintendent Kay Easley acknowledged she investigated the claim, and she confirmed to The (Shreveport) Times said the driver …

WASHINGTON – The Hooters restaurant chain has a $200 check ready for FEMA, reimbursement for a bottle of Dom Perignon champagne bought with Hurricane Katrina relief money. FEMA will be happy to have the money back. The champagne, purchased in San Antonio, was among numerous examples of improper spending of …

WASHINGTON – Wielding government-issued credit cards, Homeland Security employees racked up hundreds of thousands of dollars in unjustified expenses last year, including booties for rescue dogs, iPods, designer rain jackets and beer-making equipment, according to a congressional audit released Wednesday. Investigators also cited more than 100 missing laptop computers that …

How does a 20-something journalist of modest means travel in the second-most expensive city in the world without breaking the bank? Here are some tips I picked up along the way: Finding a Flight To find the cheapest flight, you really do have to work at it. There are endless …

SAN FRANCISCO – Two members of Tonga‘s royal family were killed when a teenager racing her car crashed into their sport utility vehicle, authorities said Thursday. The San Mateo County Coroner Robert Foucrault would not release the names of the crash victims, but he said a 56-year-old man and a …

WASHINGTON – Fewer than three prisoners in every 1,000 report they were sexually abused or harassed, but that probably is not the whole story, a government study says. There may be far more sexual violence in prisons than is reported, the study’s authors said, because inmates fear reprisal, adhere to …

Security researchers have identified a worm virus masked to appear as Microsoft’s Windows Genuine Advantage anti-piracy program, while end users have filed a second lawsuit against the software giant’s use of the actual program. Workers at anti-virus specialist Sophos were among the first to unearth the worm disguising itself as …

BEIRUT, Lebanon – The United States is preparing for attacks by Hezbollah militants on Americans during a planned evacuation out of war-torn southern Lebanon early Wednesday, military officials said. “I’m concerned about attacks on ships. We do not assume anything. And that sort of scenario is something we are planning …