CHAPEL HILL, N.C. -- A speech by former U.S. Rep. Tom Tancredo, R-Colo., was disrupted by hundreds of student protesters at the University of North Carolina. The students shouted profanities at Tancredo Tuesday and accused him of racism for opposing the granting of in-state tuition benefits to illegal immigrants, The News & Observer newspaper in Raleigh, N.C., reported Wednesday. Just minutes after Tancredo began speaking, one of the protesters shattered a window in the room, prompting Tancredo ... [full story]

MANTECA, Calif. -- A California woman says she has been deluged by threats since a different Melissa Huckaby was jailed in the death of a little girl. The Melissa Huckaby of Manteca lives just 14 miles from Tracy where a different Huckaby faces charges of sexually assaulting and killing Sandra Cantu, 8. CNN said Wednesday the Manteca Huckaby by coincidence is the same age as the jailed woman and, like her, is also a Sunday school teacher. ... [full story]

BALTIMORE -- A judge in Baltimore found an 85-year-old rabbi guilty of sexually molesting a female worker at a funeral home. Rabbi Jacob Aaron Max pleaded innocent to charges that he fondled the woman's breasts while murmuring that he was a "bad rabbi," The Sun newspaper in Baltimore reported Wednesday. A police report of the incident said the woman told officers she was in the kitchen of the Sol Levinson & Bros. Funeral Home when Max approached ... [full story]

WASHINGTON -- U.S. President Obama's decision to ease travel restrictions to Cuba has drawn criticisms from both sides of the U.S-Cuba policy debate. Some advocates for lifting the travel ban entirely say Obama's move didn't go far enough, and now look to Congress to press their case, The Miami Herald reported Wednesday. "A lot of people, myself included, who had some hope that Obama would move in a more constructive way, are now beginning to place our ... [full story]

NEW YORK -- Reputed New York mob boss Salvatore "Sal the Ironworker" Montagna has been arrested and will be deported to Canada, his lawyer said. The 38-year-old Montanga is allegedly the acting head of the Bonanno crime family and will be kicked out of the United States over an immigration violation, Montagna's attorney told the newspaper. Montagna was born in Sicily and went to New York via Canada when he was 15. He ascended quickly to the ... [full story]

ORLANDO, Fla. -- Florida prosecutors say they will seek the death penalty for Casey Anthony, the 23-year-old mother accused of killing her toddler, Caylee Marie Anthony. Anthony is charged with first-degree murder in the death of her 2-year-old daughter, whose bones were found in December in woods near her Orlando, Fla., family home after a high-profile search. Prosecutors had previously said they were looking for a life sentence should Anthony be convicted, but since then investigators ... [full story]

WASHINGTON -- The U.S. Chamber of Commerce has found surprisingly numerous areas of agreement with President Barack Obama's agenda, its chief executive says. Chamber Chief Executive Officer Thomas Donohue says his lobbying group, which calls itself "the voice of business," is working with Obama and congressional Democrats to shape legislation on such issues as financial industry regulation, healthcare reform and global warming that it would have tried to kill in the past, the Washington publication Politico ... [full story]

PEORIA, Ill. -- An armed 13-year-old bank robber found hiding in a garage was covered in red ink from a dye packet put in the money bag, police in Peoria, Ill., said. The boy was arrested Monday about a half hour after the robbery at the South Side Bank, The Peoria Journal Star reported Tuesday. His sweatshirt allegedly was covered in red ink from a dye packet intentionally placed in the money bag by a bank official, ... [full story]

WASHINGTON -- Nearly six in 10 respondents say U.S. President Barack Obama has a clear plan for solving the nation's economic ills, a CNN poll released Tuesday indicated. Fifty-eight percent of people questioned in a CNN-Opinion Research Corp. poll indicated they thought Obama had an unambiguous road map to deal with the recession. In contrast, the poll indicated 24 percent of those asked said congressional Republicans have no clear economic plan. "Not surprisingly, Republicans don't think that ... [full story]

PRINCETON, N.J. -- Just less than half of U.S. residents asked say the amount of federal income taxes they pay is "about right," a Gallup Poll indicated. Forty-eight percent of respondents said they paid their fair share of taxes, while 46 percent of those asked said they paid too much, the Princeton, N.J., polling agency said, noting it was one of the most positive assessments measured since 1956. Typically, a majority of Americans say taxes are too ... [full story]

BELLFLOWER, Calif. -- A La Habra, Calif., woman who already had six children has brought home the last of another eight babies born to her in January, say hospital officials. Baby Jonah was released Monday to his mother, Nadya Suleman, from Kaiser Permanente Bellflower Medical Center. "The neonatologist was very happy with the progress he's made," said hospital spokeswoman Socorro Serrano. Jonah weighed 1 pound 8 ounces when he and his seven siblings were born ... [full story]

WASHINGTON -- The Obama administration is set to skip the World Conference on Racism despite the conference's toned-down language on Israel, U.S. officials said. Objections raised by the Obama administration that a conference document, among other things, asserted Israel's treatment of the Palestinians is grounded in racism, led to revisions and the removal of controversial statements, The Washington Post reported Tuesday. However, the administration's apparent decision not to attend next week's conference in Switzerland has ... [full story]

KENT, Wash. -- A 20-year-old man whose newborn was found dead in King County, Wash., is facing a rape charge in relation to the child's 14-year-old mother, prosecutors say. Prosecutors said Leonel Guzman-Jacobo has been charged with suspicion of second-degree child rape for allegedly starting a sexual relationship with the unidentified girl when she was 13, Seattle's KOMO-TV said Monday. The Mexican national was arrested Friday and is being held in King County on $100,000 bail. Police are ... [full story]