Posted: 5:29 PM Toyota Motor Corp. says it has settled what was to be the first of hundreds of wrongful death lawsuits involving problems of sudden, unintended acceleration by its vehicles.

Updated: 12:05 PM A part-time student accused of shooting a St. Louis business school administrator had a history of violence and a parole violation that should have landed him in jail, but didn't.

Posted: 9:58 AM Boeing says production of its 787 is continuing as planned, even though airlines have grounded the plane because of safety concerns.

Updated: 9:51 AM The Oklahoma Medical Examiner's Office says four women found dead last week at a crime-plagued south Tulsa apartment complex each died from a gunshot wound to the head.

Updated: 8:26 AM The International Olympic Committee sent a letter to Armstrong on Wednesday night asking him to return the medal, just as it said it planned to do last month.

Posted: 7:33 AM Lithium batteries that can leak corrosive fluid and start fires have emerged as the chief safety concern involving Boeing's 787 Dreamliner, a problem that apparently is far more serious than government or company officials acknowledged less than a week ago.

Updated: 8:26 AM Islamic militants have told a Mauritanian news outlet that that 35 hostages were killed but seven are still alive after Algerian military helicopters strafed a gas complex deep in the Sahara.

Posted: 6:09 AM A federal grand jury in Connecticut has indicted a former Roman Catholic priest and four other people in an alleged drug operation involving shipments of methamphetamine from California.

Posted: 6:06 AM U.S. builders started work on homes in December at the fastest pace since the summer of 2008 and 2012 finished as the best year for residential construction since the start of the housing crisis.

Updated: 8:27 AM The number of Americans seeking unemployment aid fell to a five-year low last week, a hopeful sign the job market is healing. But much of the decline reflects seasonal volatility in the data.

Posted: 11:50 PM A new government survey suggests the number of people seeking emergency treatment after consuming energy drinks has doubled nationwide in a recent four-year span.

Posted: 7:25 PM A man who strangled his prison cellmate and made good on a vow to continue killing if he wasn't executed has been put to death in Virginia's electric chair.

Posted: 3:29 PM The nation's top military leaders are warning Congress in unusually stark terms that its failure to pass a 2013 defense budget - coupled with the threat of automatic budget cuts - has pushed the Pentagon to the brink of a crisis.

Posted: 3:21 PM Texas Gov. Rick Perry says prayer can be more effective than gun control laws.

Posted: 11:48 AM A statement from the National Rifle Association in response to President Obama's gun control proposals.

Posted: 11:25 AM There was much hope in 2010 when President Barack Obama signed legislation aimed at giving Native American leaders more authority to combat crime on their reservations.

Posted: 10:36 AM Complete transcribed remarks by President Obama and Vice President Biden on gun violence.

Posted: 9:26 AM House Democrats are pushing legislation to repeal the federal debt ceiling, saying the borrowing limit has no practical purpose and has come to be used for political maneuvering that can have devastating economic repercussions.

Updated: 8:55 AM The White House says a National Rifle Association video referencing President Barack Obama's daughters is "repugnant and cowardly."

Posted: 8:23 AM An administration official says Interior Secretary Ken Salazar will leave the Obama administration in March.

Posted: 6:48 AM U.S. factory production rose in December for the second straight month, buoyed by more output of autos, electronics and business equipment.

Updated: 8:29 AM Firefighters in downtown Portland, Ore., are cutting through a parking garage wall to rescue a woman who somehow got wedged between two buildings.

Updated: 8:30 AM Police say a domestic dispute led to a shooting on a Kentucky college campus that killed two people and wounded a third.

Posted: 6:24 AM The FBI says an investigation into extortion and other crimes in the garbage-hauling industry has led to dozens of arrests in New York and New Jersey.

Posted: 8:23 AM Lower gas costs offset more expensive food and higher rents to keep a measure of U.S. consumer prices flat last month.