HOLMES MILL, Ky. – A team of federal and state investigators on Tuesday entered the underground coal mine in southeastern Kentucky where five miners died in an explosion several days earlier. Concerns about flammable methane and poisonous carbon monoxide gases had kept the investigators out of the Kentucky Darby Mine …

RALEIGH, North Carolina – Getting booted from “American Idol” this week is going to launch the music career he’s dreamed about his entire life, Chris Daughtry said Thursday. He didn’t have to wait long — hours later he was offered a job with the band Fuel. “I’m a songwriter myself,” …

WASHINGTON – As telephone companies deny their involvement in an alleged National Security Agency intelligence program that tracks millions of phone numbers, Bush administration officials have agreed to brief all members of the House and Senate intelligence committees on the NSA’s activities. Officials will head to Capitol Hill on Wednesday …

POTTSTOWN, Pa. – Calling nuclear power an overregulated industry that needs a jump-start from Washington, President Bush on Wednesday pitched his plan to expand nuclear power generation by dealing with radioactive waste, lessening regulations and reviving nuclear fuel processing. The backdrop for the president’s effort was the Limerick Generating Station, …

NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Country singer Loretta Lynn broke her shoulder in a fall at her home and was scheduled to have shoulder replacement surgery, a spokesman said Wednesday. Lynn, 71, injured her left shoulder Sunday. She was expected to have the surgery Thursday at a Nashville hospital and go home …

KARACHI, Pakistan – Police on Wednesday arrested a high-ranking member of an Al Qaeda-linked extremist group suspected of orchestrating attacks that have killed more than 150 mostly Shiite Muslim Pakistanis, an official said. Usman Kurd, a member of the outlawed Sunni Muslim group Lashkar-e-Jhangvi, was arrested after trading gunfire with …

WASHINGTON – Seven Marines and a Navy corpsman were charged Wednesday with premeditated murder in the shooting death of an Iraqi man who was pulled from his home and shot while U.S. troops hunted for insurgents. They could face the death penalty if convicted. All eight also were charged with …

HONOLULU – A Navy ship intercepted a medium-range missile warhead above the earth’s atmosphere off Hawaii in the latest test of the U.S. missile defense program, the military said Thursday. The military had initially scheduled the test for Wednesday but postponed the drill after a small craft ventured into a …

MULTAN, Pakistan – Militants distributed fliers Thursday calling for one-month cease-fire in fighting with Pakistani forces in a volatile northern tribal region and talks with the government. The pamphlets, which armed tribesmen circulated in towns and villages throughout North Waziristan, bordering Afghanistan, followed a weekend call by a local militant …

BALTIMORE – NASA switched to backup power for the main camera on the Hubble Space Telescope on Friday and expected to know soon if the change had revived the disabled device. The switchover, lasting several hours, will likely clear up the problem, but it is possible the camera still won’t …