EAGAR, Ariz. – The woman in the plaid sundress apologized as she brushed tears from her face. For four days, Melissa Walker had put up a brave front — for her children, her friends, herself. On Sunday that courage collapsed, trampled by the savage wildfire on a destructive march toward …

LONDON – Buckingham Palace rocked Monday night with screaming guitars, cheering fans and pop stars led by Paul McCartney and Eric Clapton in a concert celebrating Queen Elizabeth II’s 50 years on the throne. An estimated 1 million people thronged the parks and roads around the palace, including the thousands …

BAGRAM, Afghanistan – The United States may be forced to change tactics in the war on terror if Pakistan pulls out of the search for Al Qaeda and Taliban fighters along its Afghan border, the new American general in charge of the campaign said Friday. Lt. Gen. Dan K. McNeill …

BETHLEHEM, West Bank – Israeli troops reoccupied Bethlehem on Friday, searching homes and deploying tanks outside the Church of the Nativity after 11 bus passengers, including four youngsters, were killed in a Jerusalem suicide bombing. With troops back in Bethlehem, Israel was again in control of all Palestinian population centers …

SILVER SPRING, Md. – Laurence M. Foley, the U.S. aid worker killed in a possible terrorist attack in Jordan, was remembered Saturday as a big, boisterous man whose humor and mischievous charm won him and his country countless friends. About 250 people attended a memorial service at a Unitarian Universalist …

VAN WERT, Ohio – When theater manager Scott Shaffer heard the storm warning on the radio, he knew he had little time to protect the 50 parents, children and neighbors watching The Santa Clause 2 and My Big Fat Greek Wedding. It turns out, he had just five minutes. Shaffer …

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti – Six demonstrators — three anti-government and three pro-Aristide supporters — were shot Monday during protests in west-coast Gonaives and in the capital, where thousands more marched in a pro-government rally. In Petit-Goave, about 45 miles west of Port-au-Prince, students shook anti-Aristide placards and clashed with Aristide supporters …

CAIRO, Egypt – Six exiled Iraqi opposition groups have settled a feud that delayed a meeting to discuss their possible role in toppling Saddam Hussein, an Iraqi dissident said Sunday. Though the way has been opened for a meeting in Brussels — originally scheduled for September, the opposition remains deeply …

WASHINGTON – U.S. industrial output posted its sharpest drop in more than a year in October, the Federal Reserve said Friday, stoking worries about the health of the nation’s embattled factory sector. The Fed said October’s larger-than-expected 0.8 percent decline was the largest since a 1.1 percent drop seen in …

WASHINGTON – North Korea has decided against returning the captured spy ship USS Pueblo after indicating last month that it might do so, according to a former American official who met with authorities in the North Korean capital last week. Donald Gregg, president of the Korea Society and a former …