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LOS ANGELES – An environmental group has sued federal regulators, charging that they failed to protect beaches and the Great Lakes from pollution and that negligence by the Bush administration exposed swimmers and surfers to potential illnesses. The lawsuit, filed by the Natural Resources Defense Council in U.S. District Court …

JERUSALEM – Israeli Defense Minister Amir Peretz on Wednesday created a committee to investigate Israel’s conduct during the 34-day fight against Hezbollah guerrillas, senior defense officials said. The committee, made up of business executives and retired generals, will be chaired by former army chief of staff Amnon Lipkin-Shahak. It also …

BAGHDAD, Iraq – A series of bombings and shootings killed at least 31 people Tuesday, most in the Baghdad area, as more U.S. troops were seen in the capital as part of a campaign to reduce Sunni-Shiite violence that threatens civil war. Three bombs exploded simultaneously near the Interior Ministry …

BERLIN – Black Eyed Peas singer will.i.am is being investigated by Berlin authorities for his role in a nightclub brawl after a show this week, police said Friday. Will.i.am — the group’s dreadlocked lead lyricist whose given name is William Adams — was allegedly part of a fracas that broke …

BEIJING – Chinese investigators have concluded that an activist who said he was paralyzed after assailants broke his neck inflicted the injury on himself, his son said Thursday. “We cannot accept this decision,” said Fu Bing, whose father, Fu Xiancai, criticized the government’s treatment of people who were forced to …

BALI, Indonesia – Judges sentenced two Islamic militants to prison Thursday for their roles in the 2005 Bali bombings that killed 20 people, saying they helped make explosives and videotapes of the suicide bombers ahead of the attacks. Mohammad Cholili and Dwi Widiarto were among four men charged in the …

LOS ANGELES – The doctors were in, as cast and crew of the hot TV medical drama “Grey’s Anatomy” converged Tuesday night for a celebration of the DVD release of the show’s second-season episodes. The cast was generally tightlipped about third-season plot developments, but word did slip that the Meredith-Derek-Addy …

BELFAST, Northern Ireland – British army experts defused at least six explosive devices delivered by a Protestant extremist to the Northern Ireland Assembly, the province’s police commander said Friday. Chief Constable Hugh Orde said the explosives inside the bag, which convicted killer Michael Stone threw into the lobby of Stormont …

For two generations, the “rabbit ears” antenna has been the symbol for the way we get TV signals from the ether into our television sets. Even TiVo’s icon has them. But analog broadcast television is going away in early 2009, and those rabbit ears will be next to useless — …

CARACAS, Venezuela – President Hugo Chavez’s allies won a strong majority in Venezuela’s local elections, but the socialist leader’s opponents made important gains, capturing the Caracas mayor’s office and two of the most populous states. Chavez trumpeted his party’s domination of Sunday’s vote as “a sign” for him to continue …