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METROPOLIS, Ill. – Illinois’ adopted home of Superman considers cigarettes an enemy, and it’s ready to pay a handsome reward to any city employee who can vanquish their smoking habit. The southern Illinois tourist trap said it will pay city workers $1,000 apiece if they can stay off smokes for …

MANILA, Philippines – A woodcarver was convicted Monday of killing a U.S. Peace Corps volunteer who disappeared while hiking in the northern Philippines’ mountainside rice terraces. Juan Duntugan wept after a regional trial court in northern Ifugao province found him guilty of murdering Julia Campbell in April 2007. He was …

This is a rush transcript from “Hannity & Colmes,” June 5, 2008. This copy may not be in its final form and may be updated. KRISTIN POWERS, GUEST CO-HOST: Barack Obama may have won the Democratic nomination. But… SEAN HANNITY, CO-HOST: Well, he may have won the nomination but, of …

WASHINGTON – The official toll from salmonella-tainted tomatoes continues to rise: The government counted 756 confirmed illnesses Thursday. That’s roughly 200 more illnesses than health officials had counted a week ago, in what has become the nation’s largest-ever outbreak of salmonella from tomatoes. The continuing rise in cases is due …

This is a rush transcript from “Hannity & Colmes,” June 2, 2008. This copy may not be in its final form and may be updated. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) BRUCE MCGILL, ACTOR: That is exactly why I backed your campaign, when everyone else ran over to Mortham, because you are a …

GRAND PRAIRIE, Texas – A woman who won a $10,000 funeral in a promotion at a minor league baseball game doesn’t plan to cash it in any time soon. But 60-year-old Elaine Fulps of Arlington, Texas, says she’s “almost croaked many times.” Fulps has undergone 20 surgeries for various medical …

KABUL, Afghanistan – Afghan President Hamid Karzai threatened Sunday to send Afghan troops after notorious Taliban leaders inside Pakistan — an angry warning to his eastern neighbor that he will no longer tolerate cross-border attacks. The threat — the first time Karzai has said he would send forces into Pakistan …

WASHINGTON – President Bush on Tuesday shut a loophole that defense contractors had been using to avoid paying millions of dollars in payroll taxes. Bush signed into law the Heroes Earnings Assistance and Relief Tax Act, which provides tax relief for military families. Included in the legislation is a provision …

LOS ANGELES – Daredevil prankster Steve-O has pleaded guilty to possessing cocaine. As part of Tuesday’s plea deal, the case against Steve-O, whose real name is Stephen Glover, will be dismissed after he completes a drug rehabilitation program, his attorney Barry Gerald Sands said. “He is already in a program …

JIANGYOU, China – Soldiers blew up wooden houses and other debris Sunday in a lake formed by China’s deadly earthquake to speed the flow of water into a spillway and ease the threat of flooding for more than 1 million people. The Tangjiashan lake, created when a landslide dammed the …