Boy Scouts approve plan to accept openly gay boys

(AP) Asian stocks continued to retreat Friday after being routed the day before by unexpectedly weak Chinese manufacturing and fears the Federal Reserve will start...

WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama on Thursday defended America's controversial drone attacks as legal, effective and a necessary linchpin in an evolving U.S. counterterrorism policy. But he acknowledged the targeted strikes are no “cure-all” and...

BEIRUTLebanese fight in Syrian warLebanese supporters and opponents of Syrian President Bashar Assad fired heavy machine guns and lobbed mortar shells at each other Thursday in some of the worst fighting in the port city of Tripoli in years.

MOORE, Okla. — A band of thunderstorms battered the Oklahoma City area Thursday, slowing cleanup operations in the suburb where a tornado killed 24 people and destroyed thousands of homes this week.

LONDON — British authorities began combing through their intelligence files and evidence from the attack site Thursday to determine whether the apparently terror-related killing of a young soldier on a London street could have been prevented.

WASHINGTON — The U.S. House says student loans' interest rates should be pegged to the financial markets.

TRENTON, N.J. — At one bar, a mixture that included rubbing alcohol and caramel coloring was sold as scotch. In another, premium liquor bottles were refilled with water — and apparently not even clean water at that.

DENVER — In the most prominent challenge of its kind, Hobby Lobby Stores Inc. is asking a federal appeals court Thursday for an exemption from part of the federal health care law that requires it to offer employees health coverage that includes access to the...

Civil War battles get stampsTwo Civil War battles have been memorialized on Forever Stamps issued by the U.S. Postal Service this week.

WASHINGTON — Investors have grown nervous that the Federal Reserve will scale back its efforts to boost the U.S. economy sooner than many expected.

SCRANTON — A Diocese of Scranton priest serving parishes in Tunkhannock and Lake Winola has been charged with open lewdness by police and barred from public ministry by Bishop Joseph Bambera.

MOUNT VERNON, Wash. (AP) —An Interstate 5 bridge over a river north of Seattle collapsed Thursday evening, dumping vehicles and people into the water, the Washington State Patrol said.

WILKES-BARRE TWP. — Guest speaker Tommy McFly, a Washington, D.C., radio personality and Luzerne County Community College alumnus, addressed the Class of 2013 at the college's 45th annual commencement Thursday, saying, “Today's the day you decide...

YATESVILLE — The Pittston Area School Board passed a preliminary 2013-14 school year budget during Thursday night's monthly meeting that contains a shortfall of more than $400,000.

SCRANTON — A month after an age-discrimination lawsuit by a part-time police officer against Laflin Borough was settled, a former part-time officer filed a wrongful termination action Wednesday in federal court.

Some local Boy Scouts troop leaders and a spokesman for the local gay community welcome the decision by the Boy Scouts of America to end discrimination against openly gay boys and accept them into the organization.

PLAINS TWP. — Data released Thursday for Lackawanna and Luzerne counties show the region's economy is improving on many fronts, but the challenge now is to develop strategies to maintain those strides.

WILKES-BARRE – In an emergency hearing late Wednesday, two Luzerne County judges said the primary election results in the Pittston district judge race would be preserved at the request of one of the candidates.

WHITE HAVENGrand opening today

TUNKHANNOCK TWP. — An emergency medical technician with Tunkhannock Community Ambulance Association died from injuries he suffered in a crash on state Route 29 Wednesday night.

WILKES-BARRE — A Luzerne County judge on Thursday imposed sanctions on prosecutors in the Hugo Selenski case regarding what defense attorneys said was “misconduct” in obtaining the double-homicide defendant's medical records.

WASHINGTON — Reading, writing, arithmetic — and PE?

HARRISBURG — In a first-of-its-kind program in the country, the Pennsylvania Department of Labor & Industry is offering amnesty to individuals and employers who owe money to the state's unemployment compensation trust fund.

SCRANTON — A federal lawsuit filed against Wyoming Borough by a former employee over his termination will continue after an agreement to settle the litigation was unsuccessful.

KINGSTON — Savannah Winslow ran with a wide grin and keen anticipation — she knew she'd get another ribbon pinned to her shirt at the far side of the field.

WILKES-BARRE – The Administrative Office of Pennsylvania Courts has advertised three positions in the Luzerne County Court Administration Office.

MMI Preparatory SchoolValedictorian: David James PolashenskiSalutatorian: Gregory Nicholas YannesGraduates: Ashley Elizabeth Acri

DALLAS TWP. — Dallas School Board officials voted Thursday to approve a new bus service contract with G. Davis Inc., severing ties with its former provider of more than 60 years.

GRAPEVINE, Texas — The Boy Scouts of America threw open its ranks Thursday to gay Scouts but not gay Scout leaders — a fiercely contested compromise that some warned could fracture the organization and lead to mass defections of members and donors.

Otis, a 1-year-old 'teacup pig,' received visitors Wednesday as students from the Head Start program in Pittston toured The Lands at Hillside Farms — a Kingston Township complex that teaches lessons about nature and sustainable living.

(AP) An Interstate 5 bridge over a river north of Seattle collapsed Thursday evening, dumping vehicles and people into the water, the Washington State Patrol said.

(AP) Justin Bieber's pet monkey is no longer his.

(AP) WikiLeaks characterizes the new documentary, "We Steal Secrets: The Story of WikiLeaks," as biased and accuses its director, Alex Gibney of "errors and sleight of...

(AP) Queen Elizabeth's youngest son, Prince Edward, has visited Tennessee to promote one of the British royal family's charities, the Duke of Edinburgh's Award.

(AP) Dan Brown's description of Manila as "the gates of hell" in the American novelist's latest book has not gone down well with officials in the Philippine capital.

(AP) CBS strengthened its dominance over the television industry this year at the same time that the unprecedented reign of "American Idol" came to a close.