Customs leader to leave position WASHINGTON (AP) — The head of Customs and Border Protection will leave his post at the end of the month. The agency said Commissioner Alan Bersin told President Barack Obama on Thursday that he intended to leave office Dec. 30, the day before his appointment to the job expires. David […]

WASHINGTON (AP) — In the latest sign that the economy is surging at year’s end, unemployment claims have dropped to the lowest level since April 2008, long before anyone realized that the nation was in a recession. Claims fell by 4,000 last week to 364,000, the Labor Department said Thursday. It was the third straight […]

Twin explosions shake Syrian capital DAMASCUS, Syria (AP) — Twin explosions shook the heart of the Syrian capital today, and state TV blamed a double suicide car bombing that it said may have been the work of al-Qaida. The state TV report said a number of military personnel and civilians were killed in the blasts […]

WASHINGTON ( AP) — Capping a full retreat by House GOP leaders, Congress will convene today in hopes of approving a stopgap measure renewing payroll tax cuts for every worker and unemployment benefits for millions — despite serious opposition among some tea party Republicans. Today’s unusual session, if all goes according to plan, will send […]

The search for a 20-monthold girl advanced toward its first full week as police intensified their focus on the house where Ayla Reynolds was living, while continuing to look through local fields and waterways and running down leads from the public. Investigators put up crime scene tape around Ayla’s house in a neighborhood of neatly […]

Judge: Some Cutler Files can be released PORTLAND (AP) — A federal judge has ruled that some documents related to a political attack website created during last year’s gubernatorial campaign can be made public. The Cutler Files website was active last year from about Aug. 30 through the election on Nov. 2. The website took […]

With the state of Maine on a mission to present an honorable service certificate to every Maine veteran who served in the military, local legions are seeking veterans who haven’t received their certificate to attend the ceremony scheduled for Jan. 15 in Topsham. According to a release issued by state American Legion representative William “ […]

WACO, Texas A soldier charged with planning to blow up a restaurant filled with Fort Hood troops was appointed a new lawyer Thursday after telling a federal judge he disagreed with his previous defense team’s strategies. Pfc. Naser Jason Abdo’s lead court-appointed attorney, Keith Dorsett, told U.S. District Judge Walter Smith during a brief hearing […]