CANTON, Ohio – A former police officer accused of murdering his pregnant girlfriend told jurors on Monday between sobs that he realized she was dead when he couldn’t find her pulse after she suffered a blow to her throat. “I didn’t mean to hurt her,” Bobby Cutts Jr. said on …

NASHVILLE, Tennessee – Three men have been charged in the firebombing of a small mosque over the weekend, federal prosecutors said. Authorities said Eric Ian Baker, 32, Michael Corey Golden, 23, and Jonathan Edward Stone, 19, had planned for a week to burn down the Islamic Center of Columbia, about …

WASHINGTON – President Bush will visit Tennessee on Friday to comfort victims of the devastating string of tornadoes that ripped through that state, the White House said Wednesday. At least 54 people were killed and hundreds injured Tuesday and Wednesday by dozens of tornadoes that plowed across Mississippi, Arkansas, Tennessee, …

LOS ANGELES – A federal judge on Thursday ordered Britney Spears’ pal Sam Lutfi to stay away from the struggling pop star. U.S. District Court Judge Philip Gutierrez extended a restraining order against Lutfi until March 17, when a hearing was scheduled on the matter. The action came on the …

OKLAHOMA CITY – The city has agreed to clarify its rules regarding religious displays in city offices and has agreed to pay $20,000 in attorney fees for two employees who filed a lawsuit over these decorations. City council members voted unanimously Tuesday to approve the settlement with Chris Spencer and …

BOSTON – A computer science student who unwittingly created an airport bomb scare by wearing a blinking circuit board attached to her shirt had a constitutional right to express herself in that manner, her lawyer argued Friday. Attorney Thomas Dwyer Jr. asked a judge to throw out the charge against …

A boat ferrying passengers and cargo through the Peruvian jungle capsized on a remote river, killing 15 people and leaving 20 missing, officials said Friday. “The tragedy happened when the motorboat Santa Elena capsized in the river, killing 15,” Alfonso Cardenas, communications chief of the northeastern town of Requena, told …

WRIGHTSVILLE, Ga. – An 80-year-old man has been charged with murder after authorities say he shot a man to death. Charlie David Turner, of Montezuma, was arrested after the Tuesday shooting and is being held at the Johnson County jail, said Greg Harvey, special agent in charge of the Georgia …

SCRANTON, Pa. – First-time director Paul Sorvino doesn’t understand why his investors are so jittery. More than two years ago, Lackawanna County agreed to partner with Sorvino on “The Trouble with Cali,” an independent film the “GoodFellas” star is producing and directing in northeastern Pennsylvania. Shot in the Scranton area …

YONKERS, N.Y. – Billy Ray Cyrus says he and his daughter, the “Hannah Montana” actress Miley Cyrus, simply forgot to buckle up for one of their scenes in their new hit movie. “We got caught up in the moment of filming, and we made a mistake and forgot to buckle …