HARARE, Zimbabwe – The U.S. ambassador is trying to “demonize” Zimbabwe, a state-owned newspaper charged Wednesday, a day after the envoy and other diplomats were detained for an hour at a police roadblock. U.S. Ambassador James McGee and other diplomats had been investigating allegations of state-sponsored political violence. The Herald, …

Whitney Thompson became the first plus-size woman to win “America’s Next Top Model” on Wednesday night. “People always say you have to be stick-skinny, emaciated and unhealthy and I’ve kind of stood up for [being full-figured] my whole life,” Thompson told the New York Post in her first post-victory interview. …

NEW YORK – Gay rights advocates had reason to celebrate on both coasts Thursday, with New York set to recognize same-sex marriages performed elsewhere and California preparing to begin issuing marriage licenses to gay couples on June 17. Hours after California issued a directive Wednesday authorizing that date, word came …

MINNEAPOLIS – A convicted felon who became a motivational speaker — and used his life experiences to warn teens about the dangers of drugs and crime — is accused of going on a bender, threatening to kill his girlfriend and her son, and smashing a former prison buddy in the …

Members of the anti-war group Code Pink gathered Friday with a cauldron of flowers outside a controversial Marine Corps Recruiting Center in Berkeley, Calif., to use witchcraft to rally against the Iraq war. Code Pink members unfurled a pink banner reading “Troops Home Now” and waved signs as they began …

CIUDAD JUAREZ, Mexico – An e-mail warning of a weekend bloodbath has alarmed the Mexican border city of Ciudad Juarez, which has already seen a wave of killings. Nobody seems to know who wrote the e-mail, which says gunmen will fire at malls, restaurants and other public places in “killings …

COLUMBIA, S.C. – A federal report on a furniture store blaze that killed nine Charleston firefighters almost a year ago says crews responding never had enough water. The draft report from the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health released late Thursday says firefighters had too few hoses and not …

DENVER – Denver police say an inmate in handcuffs and shackles was seriously injured when he jumped through a closed window in a third-floor courtroom, shattering the glass and plunging to the ground. Police spokesman Sonny Jackson says it’s not clear whether the man was trying to escape or commit …

Spanish apes are one step closer to receiving the same rights to life and freedom humans have. The environmental committee of Spain’s parliament approved resolutions that urge the European country to comply with the Great Apes Project — a plan developed by philosophers and scientists who say the animals deserve …

Tom Cruise’s lawyer is none too happy about “Celebrity Rehab” doctor Drew Pinsky’s analysis of his client, comparing it to the “garbage spewed” by Nazi Joseph Goebbels, the New York Post’s Page Six gossip column reports. In next month’s Playboy, Pinsky, host of VH1’s “Celebrity Rehab with Dr. Drew,” says, …