CHICAGO (AP) -- The NATO alliance that has fought for a decade in Afghanistan is helping that nation shift toward stability and peace, but there will be "hard days ahead," President Barack Obama said Sunday as alliance leaders insisted the fighting coalition will remain effective despite France's plans to yank combat troops out early....

A look at the main issues for the NATO alliance at the summit meeting for heads of government in Chicago on Sunday and Monday....

TRIPOLI, Libya (AP) -- Abdel Baset al-Megrahi, a former Libyan intelligence officer who was the only person ever convicted in the 1988 Lockerbie bombing, died at home in Tripoli Sunday, nearly three years after he was released from a Scottish prison to the outrage of the relatives of the attack's 270 victims. He was 60....

SANT'AGOSTINO DI FERRARA, Italy (AP) -- A magnitude-6.0 earthquake shook several small towns in northeast Italy Sunday, killing four people, knocking down a clock tower and other centuries-old buildings and causing millions in losses to the region known for making Parmesan cheese....

NEW YORK (AP) -- A blind Chinese legal activist who escaped house arrest, endured a nearly monthlong diplomatic tussle and a hurried daylong flight paused ever so briefly upon his arrival in New York City before taking up a familiar fight....

HELENA, Mont. (AP) -- Twenty-two states and the District of Columbia are backing Montana in its fight to prevent the U.S. Supreme Court's 2010 Citizens United decision from being used to strike down state laws restricting corporate campaign spending....

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) -- The western United States and eastern Asia will be treated this weekend to a rare solar spectacle when the moon slides across the sun, creating a "ring of fire."...

WASHINGTON (AP) -- An appeals court has ruled, for the time being, against groups that finance electioneering ads and want to keep the identity of their donors secret....

NEW YORK (AP) -- Kristen Wiig got a musical sendoff on the season finale of "Saturday Night Live" as the popular and versatile cast member made her exit after seven years....

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) -- For Facebook founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg, it was quite a week - from birthday, to IPO, to I DO....