GARY, Ind. -- Former U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell, though a Republican, says he has high regard for Sen. Barack Obama in his bid for the Democratic presidential nod.Powell said in a television interview broadcast Thursday he admired the way Obama handled a speech on race and his controversial former pastor, the Rev. Jeremiah Wright, The New York Times reported Friday.Powell said he valued Obama's council and was impressed with the way he has ... [full story]

OKLAHOMA CITY -- States in the U.S. midsection began mopping up from deadly storms Friday, while states in line to the Great Lakes braced for spring snows.At least two people died this week, hundreds of homes were damaged and thousands were without power in the wake of violent storms, Oklahoma officials said.Flash flooding and stream flooding closed highways and roads, The Joplin (Mo.) Globe reported. Dozens of people were evacuated. In Arkansas, Benton County absorbed ... [full story]

ELDORADO, Texas -- Law officers say they have wrapped up a weeklong probe of a Texas polygamist sect after a raid on the group's sacred temple was carried out without violence.Dropping to their knees, praying and weeping, nearly 60 men had surrounded the temple at their ranch near Eldorado, Texas, but offered no violent resistance. The temple was where under-age girls allegedly were forced to have sex with older,"spiritual" husbands."We knew that the temple was ... [full story]

BEIJING -- A Chinese court Friday sentenced Shanghai's former Communist Party leader, who also was a member of the powerful Politburo, to 18 years in jail for corruption.Chen Liangyu, who earlier was expelled from the party, was accused of taking bribes and abusing power, Xinhua reported.The Beijing court, which sentenced him, said that from 1988 to 2006, Chen abused his various posts, including as mayor of China's financial capital, to obtain fiscal subsidies and in ... [full story]

BAGHDAD -- British troops had a "significant" role in the Basra military operation, despite claims Iraqi forces sought U.S. assistance first, a British commander said.Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki began the offensive against militias in Basra where British forces are based. However, Baghdad reportedly first turned to the United States for support and a British officer was ordered out of a meeting between Maliki and an American general, KUNA, the Kuwaiti news agency, reported Friday.Deputy ... [full story]

BEIJING -- China Friday called a U.S. congressional resolution on Tibet a "rude interference" in its internal affair.Citing House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, a strong admirer of Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama, for proposing the measure, Chinese foreign ministry spokeswoman Jiang Yu said the resolution "flagrantly distorted the history and reality of Tibet" and is a "a rude interference into China's internal affairs," Xinhua reported.The Chinese reaction comes in the wake of its claim that ... [full story]

JACKSONVILLE, N.C. -- U.S. authorities said they were awaiting extradition to bring back U.S. Marine Cpl. Cesar Laurean, the main suspect in the killing of a pregnant Marine.Laurean, captured in Mexico Thursday, was indicted in North Carolina on a variety of charges in the killing of Lance Cpl. Maria Lauterbach, whose charred body, along with her fetus, was found beneath a fire pit in Laurean's back yard in January. Lauterbach, who had accused Laurean of ... [full story]

BOSTON -- A jury in Boston has rejected a civil rights claims brought by a man who spent years in prison for a homicide he says he did not commit.Shawn Drumgold was freed in 2003 after several witnesses recanted and a judge threw out his 1988 conviction for the slaying of Darlene Tiffany Moore, 12. But prosecutors have not acknowledged Drumgold's innocence.After four days of deliberations, a jury in federal court cleared two retired Boston ... [full story]

ANNAPOLIS, Md. -- The Maryland Court of Appeals has upheld a $3 million damages award for a father whose two sons were kidnapped to Egypt by their mother and grandmother.It is unclear whether Michael Shannon will ever be able to collect, The Baltimore Sun reported. His ex-wife, Nermeen Khalifa Shannon, her mother, Afaf N. Khalifa, and the boys, now 7 and 11, are all in Egypt.Khalifa was deported after serving a prison term.Lawyers say the ... [full story]

NEW YORK -- The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey announced plans for an observation deck in the Freedom Tower, being built at the site of the World Trade Center.The deck is to be on the 102nd floor of the tower, 1,300 feet above lower Manhattan. As they did at the World Trade Center, visitors will get 50-mile views on clear days and no views at all when the building is buried in ... [full story]