SALEM, Ore. - Larry Norman, widely regarded as the "father of Christian rock music," has died of heart failure at age 60 at his home in Salem, Ore., his family said.The Texas-born, California-raised singer, songwriter and producer began recording for Capitol Records with his band People! in 1966 and for the next two years performed concerts supporting The Doors, The Who, Janis Joplin and Jimi Hendrix, said a statement released on behalf of Norman's brother, ... [full story]

DALLAS -- A Dallas-based college test-prep company countersued the College Board claiming it is trying to put the Texas company out of business.Karen Dillard, who owns and operates the Karen Dillard College Prep company, sued the College Board, based in New York, claiming the board stole trade secrets and slandered her to put her out of business, the Dallas Morning News said Tuesday.The College Board, which produces and oversees the SAT college entrance exam, sued ... [full story]

WASHINGTON -- New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson, a key superdelegate in the U.S. presidential contest, said he would decide this week whether endorse a Democratic candidate.Richardson, himself an early candidate for the Democratic nomination for president, remained on the fence for endorsing a particular candidate. But, in an interview with The Albuquerque Journal, Richardson said, "I'm going to decide whether to endorse certainly this week."Stateline.org reported Monday that, with it increasingly unlikely either Sen. Barack ... [full story]

TORONTO -- A crackdown in Toronto on prostitutes advertising online has resulted in the seizure of $227,000 in assets and a deportation order, police said.One of the most popular places for pimps and their workers to advertise is on the craigslist.org site, Detective-Sgt. Howie Page told the Toronto Sun."Our officers are going through the Internet and newspapers on a daily basis searching for illegal activity," he said.The operation resulted in the conviction on Feb. 14 ... [full story]

OTTAWA -- Canada's new fiscal budget is "prudent" and reflects wariness of a weakened U.S. economy, the finance minister told reporters in Ottawa."It's a budget that's prudent," Canadian Finance Minister Jim Flaherty said. "We have to stay within our means. "We are doing some spending but in a controlled way, given the economic circumstances" in the United States, the Canwest News Service reported.In recent days, Flaherty and Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper have said the ... [full story]

PARIS -- Racism is a limiting factor in many European countries' politics as Americans may vote for their first black presidential candidate, The Washington Times said."It's true, we need to work harder and be more determined to erase the prejudices people have of us," Zohra Bitan, the daughter of Algerian immigrants, told the Times. Bitan, 44, is seeking to be the first minority mayor of the Parisian suburb of Thiais.Minorities, blacks and Muslims hold key ... [full story]

PHILADELPHIA -- A survey released this week shows the historic Protestant majority in the United States as fragmented and rivaled by Roman Catholicism.The Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life found 51 percent of Americans said they belong to a Protestant denomination compared to 24 percent who said they were Catholic. However, 31 percent of adults surveyed said they were raised Catholic while the majority of immigrants belong to the Catholic Church."Although there are about ... [full story]

NEW DELHI -- India reported Tuesday that it had conducted its first test launch of a nuclear-capable, submarine-launched ballistic missile.NDTV said the K-15 missile wasn't actually fired by a submarine, since India's navy doesn't have a sub equipped for missiles.Despite its launch from a submerged platform, the launch of the K-15 makes India one of five nations to possess an undersea ballistic missile. The weapon has a range of 435 miles.Officials told NDTV that the ... [full story]

CLEVELAND -- Sen. Christopher Dodd, D-Conn., Tuesday endorsed Sen. Barack Obama of Illinois over Sen. Hillary Clinton of New York for the Democratic presidential nomination.Dodd's endorsement, made in Cleveland, is the first from former candidates in the race for the Democratic presidential nomination, The Politico said. Former Sen. John Edwards, D-N.C., Sen. Joseph Biden, D-Del., and New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson are still being wooed by Obama and Clinton.Clinton and Obama were in Cleveland Tuesday ... [full story]

MOSCOW -- Lev Ponomaryov, a prominent Russian human rights activist, said prosecutors charged him with extremism for accusing a prison official of torture.Ponomaryov told the Russian Regnum news agency in 2006 that the Federal Prison Service chief, Yury Kalinin, was "the author of a sadistic system of torture."The country's Kremlin-nominated human rights commissioner, Vladimir Lukin, also described prison conditions in many Russian facilities as "close to torture" in a recent interview.Ponomaryov said prosecutors falsely charged ... [full story]