WASHINGTON – The leader of Ghana thanked President Bush for his financial support of his country, but he added that the African nation could get by with a little more help from its friends. “I believe this is a president that is helping Africa help itself,” President John Kufuor said, …

DETROIT – Police investigating the nightclub shooting death of rapper Proof questioned a bouncer who is a cousin of a man critically injured in the gunfire. Police also said Wednesday it was Proof, 32, who fired the first bullet at the CCC nightclub, hitting Keith Bender in the head. Bender …

BETHLEHEM, Pa. – Sometime in the not-so-distant future, newly constructed buildings will be able to withstand earthquakes of the magnitude that destroyed San Francisco one century ago, scientists say. Working with super-strong materials that can bend, stretch and compress without breaking, engineers say they are working toward the day when …

NEW YORK – The instructions to those trapped above where airliners had slammed into the World Trade Center on Sept. 11, 2001, sometimes sounded stern, sometimes sympathetic. But the central theme was the same: Stay put. “We are trying to get up there, sir. Like you said, the stairs are …

WASHINGTON – A Texas prosecutor issued subpoenas Thursday for records of a contribution to a nonprofit organization linked to Rep. Tom DeLay and lobbyist Jack Abramoff. Travis County District Attorney Ronnie Earle is seeking records about a $500,000 contribution made by the National Republican Congressional Committee to US Family Network, …

BEIJING – North Korea defiantly declared itself a nuclear power Monday at the start of the first full international arms talks since its atomic test and threatened to increase its arsenal if its demands were not met. Reiterating those demands in its opening speech, the North said the United Nations …

HOUSTON – A stick of dynamite was found in a college student’s checked luggage on a Continental Airlines flight from Argentina, one of seven security incidents Friday that caused U.S. flights to be diverted, evacuated, searched or delayed. Howard McFarland Fish, 21, was charged with carrying an explosive aboard an …

BANGKOK, Thailand – Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra has announced that an ambitious project to provide low-cost laptop computers to all of Thailand’s millions of elementary school students will begin in October. The U.S.-based “One Laptop per Child” project aims to deliver up to 30 computers to Thailand in October and …

CAIRO, Egypt – Foreign ministers of 18 Arab countries passed a unanimous resolution Saturday calling on the U.N. Security Council to intervene to stop escalating Mideast fighting. “The Middle East peace process has failed. The whole process should now be sent back to the Security Council for a complete overhaul,” …

GREENSBURG, Pa. – A 14-year-old boy who had been taking care of a state lawmaker’s pets was shot to death with the man’s handgun, and authorities were investigating whether the death was a suicide, an accident or something else. The boy was found dead Saturday in the woods behind his …