SEATTLE, Jan. 2 (UPI) -- Observers say Washington state drivers have begun ignoring the law banning the use of handheld cell phones while they are behind the wheel.

LOS ANGELES (AP) -- Actor Bernie Hamilton, who played the no-nonsense police captain on the 1970s TV series "Starsky and Hutch," has died. He was 80. Hamilton died of cardiac arrest Tuesday night at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, said his son, Raoul Hamilton....

TEHRAN, Jan. 2 (UPI) -- The building where Iranian Nobel Peace Prize winner Shirin Ebadi has her home and office was attacked Thursday by student protesters, her office said.

AMERY, Wis., Jan. 2 (UPI) -- A Minnesota man, working with a friend, allegedly stole $250,000 from his grandfather, going on a two-day spending spree before police caught up with them.

YANGON, Myanmar, Jan. 2 (UPI) -- Myanmar authorities say they have released 19 North Korean defectors detained last month as they tried to flee to South Korea.

This past year was full of unexpected twists and turns on the campaign trail.

NORFOLK, Va., Jan. 2 (UPI) -- Investigators in Virginia are seeking medical records for a man charged with killing his stepdaughter.

CANBERRA, Australia, Jan. 2 (UPI) -- Australia will only accept released Guantanamo detainees who have been thoroughly vetted, Deputy Prime Minister Julia Gillard said Thursday.

MIAMI (AP) -- The opening moments were filled with just about every problem Virginia Tech coach Frank Beamer feared his team would have against Cincinnati....

COLOMBO, Sri Lanka, Jan. 2 (UPI) -- The Sri Lankan military claimed it has retaken a major garrison area from Tamil Tigers as its forces pressed on to root out the rebels from their strongholds.

A man who attempted to rob two banks in Aspen, Colo., on New Year's Eve with homemade gasoline bombs in what he called a "suicide mission" was found dead early Thursday after sparking a manhunt that shut down the city's holiday celebrations.

Thousands of revelers packed the streets on New Year's Day to watch the Rose Parade with its dancers swinging, bands marching and a 49-foot robot tipping a top hat.

The U.S. formally transferred control of the Green Zone to Iraqi authorities Thursday in a pair of ceremonies that also handed back Saddam Hussein's former palace.

NEW DELHI, Jan. 1 (UPI) -- At least five people were killed in three New Year's Day bombings in the eastern Assam state of India, which is still recovering from the Mumbai terror attacks.

PHILADELPHIA, Jan. 1 (UPI) -- An Iraq war veteran charged with shooting another man in a Philadelphia movie theater in a fight about talking during a movie claims he acted in self-defense.

WHISTLER, British Columbia, Jan. 1 (UPI) -- Two skiers were killed at a resort in the Canadian Rockies in areas that were off limits because of the risk of avalanches, authorities said Thursday.

NEW YORK (AP) -- Donald Westlake, a prolific author considered one of the most successful and versatile mystery writers in the United States, has died. He was 75....

PROVIDENCE, R.I. (AP) -- Claiborne Pell, the quirky blueblood who represented blue-collar Rhode Island in the U.S. Senate for 36 years and was the force behind a grant program that has helped tens of millions of Americans attend college, died Thursday after a long battle with Parkinson's disease. He was 90....

RICHMOND, Calif. (AP) -- Two men and two teens have been arrested on suspicion of gang-raping a woman last month in the San Francisco Bay area while allegedly taunting her for being a lesbian, police said Thursday....