Associated Press
Latest stories
Museum Scavenger Hunts Ask Who Killed The Curator

An assistant museum curator who questioned the authenticity of a Leonardo da Vinci has been murdered — but before he died he left a code in his appointment calendar and a cryptic trail of clues connected to secrets in works of art that point to the killer.

Now, would-be gumshoes must figure out what drove one of four suspects to kill him. Was it greed? Fame? Lust? Or revenge?

W140 Full Story
Egypt's Iconic Antiquities Chief Fired

Egypt's antiquities minister, whose trademark Indiana Jones hat made him one of the country's best known figures around the world, was fired Sunday after months of pressure from critics who attacked his credibility and accused him of having been too close to the regime of ousted President Hosni Mubarak.

Zahi Hawass, long chided as publicity loving and short on scientific knowledge, lost his job along with about a dozen other ministers in a Cabinet reshuffle meant to ease pressure from protesters seeking to purge remnants of Mubarak's regime.

W140 Full Story
World Bank Chief Slams U.S. Leadership on Doha Round

World Bank President Robert Zoellick has criticized the United States for its lack of leadership in pushing for a new global trade agreement.

Zoellick says U.S. administration complaints that the so-called Doha round of trade talks are structurally flawed are an excuse for failed leadership.

W140 Full Story
Rain to shine, Beady Eye Rocks Swiss Festival

Rain turned to sunshine on the last afternoon of the Gurten Festival Sunday, as Liam Gallagher, Beady Eye's hard-rocking front man, charged through songs from their new album.

Former Oasis frontman Gallagher and his band took advantage of the timely change in weather, lifting the packed crowd with "Four Letter Word," ''Beatles and Stones" then rattled off "Millionaire" and "The Roller" — their updates on classic British rock.

W140 Full Story
Patent Models Join Art in New Smithsonian Exhibit

The Washington building known as the "temple of invention" when it was built in 1836 to hold the nation's patents is revisiting its roots, hosting a new "Great Hall of American Wonders" to explore 19th-century innovations through art.

The idea for this major exhibit that opened Friday at the Smithsonian American Art Museum was sparked in part by talk among experts that the United States is losing its edge in innovation as other countries spend more on research and export more technology and foreign companies gain more U.S. patents. Curators pulled together artworks, inventions and scientific discoveries from the 1800s in an unusual project for the museum to show how Americans came to believe they have a "special genius" for invention.

W140 Full Story
Are Grandparents Safer Drivers than Mom and Dad?

Kids may be safest in cars when grandma or grandpa are driving instead of mom or dad, according to study results that even made the researchers do a double-take.

"We were surprised to discover that the injury rate was considerably lower in crashes where grandparents were the drivers," said Dr. Fred Henretig, an emergency medicine specialist at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia and the study's lead author.

W140 Full Story
Study: Brain Injury Raises Dementia Risk

A large study in older veterans raises fresh concern about mild brain injuries that hundreds of thousands of troops have suffered from explosions in recent wars. Even concussions seem to raise the risk of developing Alzheimer's disease or other dementia later in life, researchers found.

Closed-head, traumatic brain injuries are a legacy of the Afghanistan and Iraq wars. Body armor is helping troops survive bomb blasts, but the long-term effects of their head injuries are unknown.

W140 Full Story
12 Million Children Wish Mandela Happy Birthday

Millions of children around the country are singing 'Happy Birthday' to former South African President Nelson Mandela, to celebrate his 93rd birthday.

More than 12 million school pupils sang a special version of the song, written for the anti-apartheid leader, before lessons began Monday.

W140 Full Story
Indonesia Volcano Spews Ash in Biggest Eruption

A volatile volcano in central Indonesia unleashed its most powerful eruption in days Sunday, spewing hot ash and smoke high into the air and sending panicked villagers racing back to crowded government shelters. There were no immediate reports of casualties.

Mount Lokon, located on northern Sulawesi island, rumbled back to life last week.

W140 Full Story
Kidnappers Seek Ransom for 2 Americans, Filipino

The kidnappers of an American woman, her son and Filipino nephew in the southern Philippines have telephoned their family by phone demanding a ransom, officials said Sunday.

At least 14 gunmen seized Philippine-born U.S. citizen Gerfa Yeatts Lunsmann, her 14-year-old son and 19-year-old nephew Tuesday from a relative's house they were visiting in a village near southern Zamboanga City. They were taken away at gunpoint on board a motor boat, officials said.

W140 Full Story