TYLER, Texas -- A Texas man allegedly described killing his girlfriend and cooking her ear before summoning his mother to see what he'd done, police said.Police found a human ear boiling in a pan, and on a plate, uncooked flesh with a fork in it, the Dallas Morning News said."Either he was going to eat it, had been eating it, or that's what he wanted it to look like," Smith County Sheriff J.B. Smith told ... [full story]

NEW ORLEANS -- Various interests in Louisiana impacted by Hurricane Katrina filed claims against the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers for damages surpassing the federal budget.The corps, which constructed the levee system overwhelmed during Hurricane Katrina, received 247 claims and faces nearly 500,000 more for damages and deaths that occurred in the hurricane's aftermath, USA Today reported Monday.The biggest filings total $12 trillion, which is higher than the entire annual economic output.One personal injury claim ... [full story]

MEXICAN HAT, Utah -- A tour bus returning from a Colorado ski trip rolled over in Utah, killing seven and injuring 20 passengers, police said.The bus headed from Telluride, Colo., to Phoenix left Highway163 Sunday evening near Mexican Hat, Utah, before rolling over, The Salt Lake Tribune said. At least 50 people were aboard the Arrow Stage Lines bus.Most passengers were returning from skiing in Telluride.Police were investigating the cause of the accident. Roads were ... [full story]

NEW YORK -- Speculation regarding a third-party presidential candidacy by New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg adds fuel to an already competitive presidential field.Bloomberg repeatedly says he is not positioning himself as a third-party candidate, but his actions may suggest otherwise, the Los Angeles Times said Monday.Bloomberg told Ryan Seacrest, the host of the reality series "American Idol," New Year's Eve "I will not run" and Meredith Vieira of NBC's "Today" show, "I'm not running."Yet, Bloomberg's ... [full story]

BOSTON -- Forget the glossy brochures: Universities are going Web 2.0 -- podcasting, blogging and streaming video -- to recruit today's wired high schoolers."It's not about staying ahead of the students, it's about keeping up with them, but without seeming desperate to be hip," David Hawkins, director of public policy and research for the National Association for College Admission Counseling, told The Boston Globe.A University of Massachusetts-Dartmouth study in the fall showed that colleges are ... [full story]

JAKARTA -- Doctors treating former Indonesian President Suharto said Monday the ailing 86-year-old was undergoing intensive medical therapy as his condition improved.The former strongman remained weak but has continued to improve since being admitted Friday to Jakarta's Pertamina Hospital after suffering from anemia and low blood pressure resulting from heart, lung and kidney problems, the Antara news agency reported."(Suharto) will continue to undergo intensive medical therapy with tight monitoring and blood transfusions," Dr. Mardjo Soebiandono, ... [full story]

WASHINGTON -- U.S. military officials said Iranian Revolutionary Guard gunships provoked three U.S. naval vessels in the Strait of Hormuz.Military officials told NBC News Monday that five armed "fast boats" with the Revolutionary Guard Corps approached a Navy frigate and two destroyers in a high-speed formation.Military accounts of the incident said the Iranian ships broadcast a message saying, "you are going to blow up within minutes."The U.S. Navy ships went into a defensive posture, sending ... [full story]

LAUDERHILL, Fla. -- A 12-year-old South Florida boy is in detention and accused of beating a 17-month-old girl to death with a baseball bat because she was crying.The boy told police he was trying to watch TV at a home in Lauderhill, northwest of Fort Lauderdale, Friday when the child began making noise, and he began striking her head repeatedly, the South Florida Sun-Sentinel reported.Police said the boy's mother was at work and there were ... [full story]

JERUSALEM -- Israel's security agency reported Palestinian Fatah-affiliated security services appear to be cracking down, making arrests of more Hamas operatives.In the Shin Bet's report to the Cabinet Sunday, the agency said more than 250 Hamas members had been arrested in Judea and Samaria in the past month, Haaretz reported Monday.The intelligence report said some of the arrests between Nov. 29 and Jan. 2 were non-militants, including charity workers.Shin Bet said arrests were up even ... [full story]

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan -- Pakistan's efforts at a truce with pro-Taliban militants in tribal areas were thwarted Monday with the killings of eight tribal elders.The elders, who were seeking to broker a truce with the help of a local tribe, were gunned down in two separate incidents in Wana and in the nearby town of Shkai, the Press Trust of India reported quoting a Pakistani military news release.The shootings occurred hours before a jirga or tribal ... [full story]