INDIANAPOLIS -- A $28 million apartment building construction project in Indianapolis was nearly destroyed by a major fire early Thursday, authorities say. Indianapolis Fire Department Capt. Rita Reith said two-thirds of the Cosmopolitan on the Canal construction project in downtown Indianapolis was destroyed in the blaze, The Indianapolis Star said. IFD officials said an Indiana Historical Foundation site was also damaged in the fire, as were a parking garage and a cafe. Veteran firefighters told ... [full story]

WASHINGTON -- The White House Tuesday announced it would provide $700 million to strengthen border security against Mexican drug cartels. The administration said it would increase security funding and border patrol deployments. Funds will help Mexico buy five helicopters for its army and air force, and new surveillance aircraft for its navy. It will double the number of border security teams and will place increased numbers of federal agents and other resources at the border. ... [full story]

GRENOBLE, France -- Four Caterpillar executives "bossnapped" by workers were to be freed after French President Nicolas Sarkozy pledged to save the plant, union leaders said. A spokesman for the Confederation Generale du Travail union told The Times of London that the executives, taken Tuesday and held overnight at the Caterpillar plant in Grenoble, France, would be released as soon as company officials, at the behest of Sarkozy, agreed to renegotiate severance packages for laid-off workers. In ... [full story]

WASHINGTON -- U.S. computer researchers say they hope a computer worm called "Conficker.c" turns out to be an April Fool's Day bust like the "millennium bug" of 2000. Conficker.c has led to predictions that infected computers will shut down Wednesday in a digital "time bomb." But while experts say it is a malicious program thought to have infected between 5 million and 10 million computers, some doubt it will cause mass problems, CNN reported. Don DeBolt, ... [full story]

CORVALLIS, Ore. – Researchers at Oregon State University have found one gene in the human body that appears to be a master regulator for skin development, in research that could help address everything from skin diseases such as eczema or psoriasis to the wrinkling of skin as people age. Inadequate or loss of expression of this gene, called CTIP2, may play a role in some skin disorders, scientists believe, and understanding the mechanisms of gene ... [full story]

GREENVILLE, N.C. - A total of 13 people, including 12 U.S. Marines, were hurt Thursday in North Carolina ina chain-reaction crash involving three buses, authorities say. The state highway patrol said the accident occurred on U.S. Route 17 when one of the buses, each of which was carrying at least 25 Marines, failed to stop for a car making a left turn, CNN said. A highway patrol official said that bus, which was trailing the ... [full story]

TOKYO - Searchers looked for seven South Korean and nine Indonesian sailors missing after their cargo ship collided with a freighter off the Japanese coast Tuesday. The cargo ship Orchid Pia collided with Panamanian-registered automobile carrier Cygnuis Ace near Izu Oshima island south of Tokyo, the South Korean news agency Yonhap reported. Contact has been lost with the South Korean vessel, which officials say they presume sank. The crew of the 10,833-ton Panamanian ship were ... [full story]

DHAKA, Bangladesh - Two of the suspected ringleaders of a mutiny by the Bangladesh Rifles were among five men arrested Tuesday, authorities said. More than 1,000 members of the border guard force have been named in a criminal case, The Daily Star reported. Five junior commissioned officers and a sepoy, or non-commissioned officer, have been singled out as leaders. Many of the suspects left their compound dressed in civilian clothes as the mutiny came to ... [full story]

SALEM, Ore. – Governor Ted Kulongoski yesterday celebrated President Barack Obama’s signing of legislation that designates 200,000 acres of land in Oregon as wilderness, the highest protection provided by federal law. The hard fought legislation (H.R.146) ensures lasting protection for five special places in Oregon by creating the following new wilderness areas: Copper Salmon Wilderness, Oregon Badlands Wilderness, Spring Basin Wilderness, Cascade-Siskiyou National Monument/Soda Mountain Wilderness, and Mt. Hood/Columbia Gorge Wilderness.  “Oregon is fortunate to have vast areas ... [full story]

The 2009 Acura TL Super Handling All-Wheel-Drive Tech model is the Type A personality of sport sedans. It is pointed — literally in design — and absolute in power and purpose.   The 2009 Acura TL Super Handling All-Wheel-Drive Tech gets 17 mpg city and 25 highway on premium fuel. Photo courtesy of Acura.  SPEC BOX 2009 Acura TL Body Style: Midsize, five-passenger sedan Engine: aluminum, SOHC 3.7-liter V-6, with Variable Valve Timing and Lift Electronic Control ... [full story]