A fossil uncovered in northwestern China has been identified as a new species of small bipedal theropod dinosaur, probably carnivorous, researchers said. George Washington University biologist James Clark and a team of international researchers, found the dinosaur specimen in a remote region...

Rental vacancy rates in the United States fell from 2009 to 2011, while the share of households renting homes rose, the Census Bureau said Tuesday. Rental vacancy rates fell from 8.4 percent to 7.4 percent in two years, the American Community Survey stated. Vacancy rates dropped while the...

Young people who send more than 100 texts a day are more likely than others to be shallow and uninterested in living an ethical life, Canadian researchers said. Psychologists in Winnipeg, Manitoba, conducted surveys for three consecutive years with freshmen psychology students at the...

A car bomb killed at least 17 soldiers in Pakistan and four children died in an explosion in Afghanistan, officials said. The car bomb was detonated close to an army post near the town of Miranshah in North Waziristan, Pakistan, Saturday night, killing the soldiers and the driver of the car...

Hollywood actor Nicolas Cage says he didn”t meet his co-stars in the animated caveman comedy “The Croods,” until after the movie had wrapped. “This is the very first day I have ever met Ryan [Reynolds,]” Cage told United Press International at a press...

China announced it plans to secure over 1.67 billion mu (275 million acres) of land for grain farming this year. Agriculture Minister Han Changfu said different regions in the country will take advantage of their agricultural features to increase the acreage of high-yield crops, the Xinhua...

Venezuelan Finance Minister Jorge Giordani said the country will devalue its currency 32 percent as part of an attempt to close a budget deficit. The devaluation, set for Feb. 13, will increase the amount of currency in circulation. Election-year spending that supported President Hugo...

Ramon Galloway made a layup to finish off an end-to-end drive with 3 seconds remaining Wednesday, giving La Salle a 54-53 upset victory over No. 9 Butler. The Bulldogs had won 13 games in a row since Nov. 21, but let a five-point halftime lead slip away and fell for the first time in Atlantic...

New York City has agreed to pay $75,000 to settle a federal lawsuit filed by a couple arrested for dancing on a subway platform, officials said. The settlement puts an end to the lawsuit Caroline Stern, 55, and her boyfriend, George Hess, 54, filed last year for their July 2011 arrest, for...

Boeing Co. Chief Executive Officer Jim McNerney says he is confident the U.S. company can soon return the grounded 787 Dreamliner to service. The Federal Aviation Administration took the rare step this week of grounding the entire fleet of the new jet after a series of incidents in which...

A British bushiness group said it rejected the concept of raising a passenger tax at specific airports to persuade travelers to take alternative routes. The Daily Telegraph reported Saturday the British Treasury asked HM Revenue and Customs to explore raising the Air Passenger Duty at Heathrow...

Second-seeded Janko Tipsarevic got by Roberto Bautista Agut in three sets Sunday in winning the championship at the Aircel Chennai Open in India. Tipsarevic, who was the tournament runner-up a year ago, rallied for a 3-6, 6-1, 6-3 win over Bautista Agut. It was the fourth ATP title for...

Serena Williams turned in another dominant performance Saturday in a 6-2, 6-1 romp over Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova in the Brisbane International title match. Williams, third in the world rankings and the No. 3 seed in Brisbane, was on the court just 51 minutes, winning 10 of the last 11...

Second-seeded Marion Bartoli dropped just one game Monday in a first-round victory over Chan Wing-Yau at the Shenzhen Gemdale Open in China. Bartoli, No. 11 in the world rankings, won 60 percent of the points on serve and 65 percent when receiving serve. She did drop one service game but...

As 2012 was drawing to a close, 672 of the 715 children the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children had posted as missing on its website had vanished in the United States. A center spokeswoman said that number was just a small fraction of the 10,628 reports of missing U.S. children...

U.S. chef and TV personality Alex Guarnaschelli has been declared the winner of the Food Network’s “The Next Iron Chef: Redemption.” Guarnaschelli, who cooks at the Butter and The Darby eateries in New York, beat out fellow finalists Amanda Freitag and Nate Appleman to win...

We look forward to 2013 with resolutions, hopes and clean calendars, but we’ll be looking back as well. A new year is always an opportunity to celebrate the anniversary of something, and plenty of remembrances are upcoming. Civil War enthusiasts will enjoy a big year, with the 150th...

Gil Friesen, longtime president of A&M Records, has died in Los Angeles, friends say. He was 75. Jann Wenner, publisher of Rolling Stone magazine, said Friesen was battling leukemia when he died at his home Thursday. A&M records was a leading independent record label from the 1960s...

Human Rights Watch issued a report Friday asking Turkey to allow officials from the U.N. Human Rights Council to interview Iranian refugees in the country. The report, written by Faraz Sanei, the Iran researcher at Human Rights Watch said it is vital for U.N. special rapporteur Ahmed Shaheed...

A medical sensor attached to the skin like a temporary tattoo could help doctors detect metabolic problems, University of California, San Diego researchers say. The sensor that comes in a thin, flexible package shaped like a smiley face could also help coaches fine-tune athlete’s...

Thirty years ago, Michael Jackson was on his way to becoming the “King of Pop” with the release of the best-selling studio album in U.S. history, “Thriller.” “Thirty years ago the greatest album ever made was released and it still stands the test of...

When a NASA official said last week data from an instrument on the Mars Curiosity rover suggested something “for the history books,” many people thought an announcement was imminent of the possible discovery of life on the Red Planet — until the space agency began to...

Jelani Jenkins ran in a blocked punt for a score with 2 seconds left Saturday, enabling No. 7 Florida to escape with a 27-20 win over Louisiana-Lafayette. Backup quarterback Jacoby Brissett tied the score with 1:42 remaining with a 3-yard touchdown pass to Quinton Dunbar and Florida’s...

(All times Eastern) -0- Football NFL Oakland at Baltimore, 1 p.m. Denver at Carolina, 1 p.m. N.Y. Giants at Cincinnati, 1 p.m. Tennessee at Miami, 1 p.m. Detroit at Minnesota, 1 p.m. Buffalo at New England, 1 p.m. Atlanta at New Orleans, 1 p.m. San Diego at Tampa Bay, 1 p.m. N.Y. Jets at...

Quarterback Collin Klein ran for two touchdowns Saturday and third-ranked Kansas State made a case for No. 1 with a 23-10 win over Texas-Christian. Klein picked up 50 rushing yards on 15 carries while also racking up 145 yards through the air with an interception on 12-for-21 efficiency for...

Aaron Murray fired a trio of first-half touchdown passes Saturday and fifth-ranked Georgia clinched the SEC East title with a 38-0 dismantling of Auburn. Murray’s hot first half helped the Bulldogs (9-1, 7-1 SEC) jump out to a 28-0 lead at the break. He ended up completing 18-of-24...

Philadelphia’s Thaddeus Young, Nick Young and Jrue Holiday each netted 16 points Saturday, powering the 76ers to a 93-83 victory over Toronto. Young grabbed eight rebounds and Holiday had five assists as the Sixers notched their third straight win. Spencer Hawes contributed a...

Paul George and Gerald Green combined for 35 points and 15 rebounds Saturday in the Indiana Pacers’ 89-85 victory over winless Washington. George put in 20 points to go with seven rebounds. Green contributed 15 points and eight boards. Lance Stephenson (12 points) and David West (11)...

Deshazor Everett’s interception with 1:36 left Saturday assured No. 14 Texas A&M’s 29-24 upset victory over top-ranked and previously unbeaten Alabama. With Alabama trailing by five points and time running down, AJ McCarron drove the Crimson Tide to the Texas A&M 2-yard...

People who use some lower-wattage microwaves may not be cooking food long enough, a U.S. official warns. Kathy Bernard, of the U.S. Department of Agriculture Food Safety and Inspection Service, said it is important to know the wattage of your microwave oven. “To find it, look on the...