The self-described "Jihad Jane" indicted on terror charges is a rare case of an American woman aiding foreign terrorists and shows the evolution of the threat, authorities say.

New educational standards say 4th graders should know the difference between poetry and prose, 8th graders must be able to prove Pythagoras’ theorem.

A long-overlooked group of women who flew aircraft during World War II are awarded the Congressional Gold Medal.

“They have guns. Can you come really fast? And bring soldiers, too.” That was the urgent message a Southern California boy gave a 911 operator he dialed from a bathroom when three armed robbers threatened his parents. A sheriff credited the boy with averting a tragedy.

A high-ranking Toyota executive says the auto company's North American sales spiked around 50 percent the first eight days of March as incentives helped lure customers.

Five hurricanes, two or three of them major, are expected to strike the U.S. coast this season, private forecaster AccuWeather.com said Wednesday.

They say crime doesn't pay. For one robber in California, it did — but not much.

The Kansas City school board is facing a stark choice: close nearly half its public schools or face a potential bankruptcy.

Demographers say this year could be the "tipping point" when the number of babies born to minorities outnumbers that of babies born to whites.

Haim had flulike symptoms before he died and was getting over-the-counter and prescription medications, Police Sgt. William Mann said.

A ring accused of helping people from the Mideast obtain student visas by taking proficiency exams and classes for them has exposed a vulnerability in tracking foreign students.

Vice President Joe Biden said Wednesday the Palestinians deserve a "viable" independent state with contiguous territory.

Suspected militants attacked the offices of a U.S.-based Christian aid group helping earthquake survivors in northwestern Pakistan, killing six Pakistani employees.

Catholic authorities in Germany announced two major abuse investigations Wednesday.

The Taliban claims responsibility for a suicide bombing inside a U.S.-Afghan base in eastern Afghanistan that killed two NATO service members.

The Swedish cartoonist whose sketch of the Prophet Muhammad has angered Muslims says he's received more death threats since arrests were made this week over an alleged plot to kill him.

President Barack Obama is renewing America's commitment to the recovery and reconstruction of earthquake-devastated Haiti, telling visiting President Rene Preval he understands the situation there "remains dire."

A Chinese proverb says women hold up half the sky. In the future, they'll be doing it from space.

By one new metric, Michelangelo has been bumped from his perch atop the Italian art charts by Caravaggio.

Cindy Hickey had rehearsed what she would say to her son when she finally got to talk to him months after he was detained in Iran. When the time came, the conversation lasted only about a minute, she said, "so it was hard to say a lot."

A federal indictment accuses a Pennsylvania woman of using the Internet to recruit jihadist fighters and promote terrorism overseas, NBC News reports.

The Dalai Lama lashed out at China on Wednesday, accusing it of trying to "annihilate Buddhism" in Tibet and rebuffing all his efforts to reach a compromise over the disputed Himalayan region.

Although previous studies have demonstrated what scientists call “herd immunity,” none have been so incontrovertible as a study of farming colonies in Canada.