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WASHINGTON – Lawmakers voted Thursday to block a six-month-old law that allows the government to sell wild horses (search) and burros, with opponents of the law protesting that the animals were ending up in processing plants and on the tables of foreign restaurants. The 249-159 House vote would stop the …

WASHINGTON – House Democrats sought reassurances Thursday that Republicans wouldn’t try to bypass them by adding private investment accounts to Social Security (search) legislation at the last moment. “This chairman has no interest, on a subject of this importance, in playing ‘gotcha’ in any way,” Rep. Bill Thomas (search), R-Calif., …

LAHORE, Pakistan – A gas explosion at a building housing an ice cream factory and apartments in eastern Pakistan early Tuesday killed at least 25 people and wounded 20, police and rescue officials said. Rescue workers were sifting through the rubble for at least three others feared trapped inside. The …

ILFORD, England – In this closely fought district on the eastern outskirts of London, the opposition Conservatives — led by the son of a Romanian Jewish immigrant — are hitting hard on their promise to crack down on immigration just days before the election. The message is resonating with many …

LOS ANGELES – Robert Blake (search) wanted to enlist other 1970s television stars to rally public support as he awaited trial on charges of murdering his wife, the Los Angeles Times reported Monday. Among Blake’s favored actors: Gavin McLeod (search), captain of “The Love Boat.” “He’s perfect,” Blake told his …

ATLANTA – Confessed murderer Eric Rudolph (search) pleaded guilty Wednesday to the 1996 Atlanta Olympics (search) bombing and two other area explosions, after earlier admitting to orchestrating a 1998 abortion clinic bombing in Alabama. The killer said he picked the ’96 Summer Games to embarrass the U.S. government in front …

BAGHDAD, Iraq – Two car bombs ripped through a crowded street in front of the Interior Ministry in central Baghdad on Thursday, killing 18 people and wounding three dozen others. Al Qaeda in Iraq (search) said it carried out the attack, the bloodiest in more than a month. In a …

U.S. employers created only 110,000 new jobs in March, the smallest gain in eight months and barely half the 220,000 that Wall Street economists had forecast, as manufacturers and retailers shed workers. Nevertheless, the labor market was healthy enough to lower the overall unemployment rate to 5.2 percent. The new …

ATLANTA – After years of promoting the chemical DEET (search) as the best defense against West Nile-bearing mosquitoes, the government for the first time is recommending the use of two other insect repellents. Repellents containing the chemical picaridin (search) or the oil of lemon eucalyptus offer “long-lasting protection against mosquito …

FOND DU LAC, Wis. – Singer Art Garfunkel (search) has an appearance slated in Wisconsin this week — a court date for a speeding ticket. Garfunkel, 63, was in Wisconsin last month for a concert at the Fox Cities Performing Arts Center in Appleton. Records show that he was ticketed …