WICHITA, Kan. - The death toll in Kansas from the deadly tornado that tore through two counties last week rose to 11 after an injured police officer passed away. KAKE-TV, Wichita, reported Tuesday that the death of Macksville, Kan., officer Tim Buckman had increased the state death toll from last Friday's tornado to 11. Another 13 people injured during twister remain under medical care. While confusion hampered initial casualty reports, authorities finally got a handle ... [full story]

Columbia Aircraft manufacturing Corporation announced today that, as planned, it has begun recalling the first wave of employees furloughed in late March. “We’re recalling the furloughed employees in stages to meet the demands of our accelerating production rate,” said Columbia Vice President of Manufacturing Chris Redgrave. “Essentially, we’ve spent the past six weeks cleaning house on our production line, upgrading tooling and implementing a number of Lean Enterprise practices to enhance efficiency. We’re now bringing ... [full story]

SAN DIEGO - World War II veteran Robert B. O'Reilly of El Cajon, Calif., put aside years of guilt and ambivalence Sunday to receive a pair of military medals that he earned while flying more than 50 combat missions in the South Pacific. The 83-year-old retired security guard and former Chicago police detective accepted the Marine Corps' Distinguished Flying Cross with a gold star and an Air Medal with seven gold stars in a late-morning ... [full story]

LOS ANGELES - A woman who dated Phil Spector testified Monday that the famed record producer turned "demonic" and forced her at gunpoint to go to his bedroom and disrobe, and then tried to have sex with her. Dianne Ogden, a music talent coordinator who once worked for Spector, is the second woman in his murder trial to tell of two sides of the music legend. Ogden told jurors that Spector was a funny thoughtful ... [full story]

MOSCOW - Russian President Vladimir Putin honored the sacrifice of fallen soldiers Tuesday as he took part in a ceremony at Moscow's Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. The ceremony in the Aleksandrovsky Garden was to recognize those killed in World War II and Putin was on hand to lay a decorative spruce wreath near the memorial's Eternal Flame, Itar-Tass reported. As Putin spoke with several veterans, after adjusting the wreath's ribbon, a collection of honorary ... [full story]

JERUSALEM - Former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak has asked current Prime Minister Ehud Olmert to resign his post for mishandling of the Second Lebanon War. Barak called for Olmert's resignation at a news conference Monday, citing the disparaging review of the prime minister's handling of the conflict in a recent report from the Winograd Committee, Haaretz reported. "The Winograd Report is a harsh report, the conclusions of which justify personal conclusions," Barak said. The ... [full story]

LONDON - Britain's former Speaker of the House, Lord Bernard Weatherill, who defied Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher over televising Parliament, has died. He was 86. Known widely as Jack, Weatherill died at a hospice in Surrey Sunday after a brief, undisclosed illness, the BBC reported. He served as speaker from 1983 through 1993, and often clashed with British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, but had a more relaxed time with her successor, John Major, The Telegraph ... [full story]

HONOLULU - A California woman was attacked by a shark this week while swimming in Hawaii and received multiple lacerations to her foot. The unidentified woman went snorkeling near a South Maui resort Monday. The shark bit her right foot and calf before she was able to free herself and swim to shore, the Honolulu Star-Bulletin reported. Once the woman made it to shore, a tourniquet was applied to her leg to stem the bleeding ... [full story]

GREENSBURG, Kan. - Residents of Greensburg, Kan., are again in possession of their city's prized 1,000-pound meteorite that went missing during last week's tornado. While some feared the Pallasite Meteorite had simply blown away during last Friday's devastating tornado strike, the half-iron half-stone space artifact was recently rediscovered at a farm just east of the city, KAKE-TV of Wichita, Kan., reported. The meteorite, known affectionately as "The Space Wanderer," had been displayed in Greensburg's Celestial ... [full story]

NEW YORK - A judge upheld New York City's ban on cellphones in school, but parents challenging the ban vowed to appeal. State Supreme Court Judge Lewis Bart Stone Monday ruled the city Board of Education had the authority to ban cellphones in New York's schools. The Department of Education "is pleased that the policy, which helps foster a productive learning environment among students, will remain in place," city lawyer Eamonn Foley said, the New ... [full story]