NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Dollie Walton’s children always found Thomas Fry, the man who had lived with her for nearly 30 years, to be a bit strange. He was secretive about his past before he met Walton in Chattanooga in 1978, and he didn’t have a driver’s license or a birth …

STRAFFAN, Ireland – Brett Wtterich and Vaughn Taylor can debate whether it was better to have played and lost than never to have played at all. J.J. Henry and Zach Johnson, meanwhile, both got their chance and learned what it’s like to squeeze out a victory at the Ryder Cup. …

VIENNA, Austria – Most participants at a key 35-nation meeting of the U.N. nuclear watchdog agency have agreed to deny Iran technical aid for its plutonium-producing reactor, diplomats at the gathering said Tuesday. The diplomats — all participating in an International Atomic Energy Agency committee meeting — said the tentative …

NEW YORK – U.S. stocks rallied Monday, with the Dow and the S&P 500 making their biggest one-day gains in a month, as investors welcomed a flurry of corporate takeovers a day before U.S. congressional elections. The Dow Jones industrial average climbed 119.51 points, or 1.00 percent, to end at …

SYDNEY, Australia – A court sentenced a Sydney woman Wednesday to 22 months periodic detention for what she said was the mercy killing of her longtime partner, an Alzheimer’s sufferer who had been rejected for a legal euthanasia in Switzerland. Shirley Justins, 60, was found guilty in June of the …

LOS ANGELES – Rains swept across Southern California Wednesday, bringing flash flood warnings in wildfire burn areas and worries from residents whose homes were spared in recent fires that they could now face destructive mudslides instead. An early morning downpour spurred an evacuation order in Orange County, where at least …

Toyota Motor Corp. slashed its earnings forecast Monday, projecting that it would report its first annual operating loss for the fiscal year through March — its first such loss since it began reporting results in 1941. Battered by falling demand from consumers around the world and a surging yen, Toyota …

LONDON – Britain’s Prince William plans to become a full-time search-and-rescue pilot in the Royal Air Force, royal officials said Monday. The prince’s Clarence House office said William would begin an 18-month training program in January. William, 26, learned to fly earlier this year during a stint with the air …

Madonna’s rep says she is not “on the very cusp” of adopting a 3-year-old Malawian girl, as the U.K.’s Sun reported. “There is no truth to this rumor,” her rep tells CelebTV.com. “It’s an old one — wasn’t true then or now. Madonna is starting her tour in a week.” …

Patients taking some common medications for high cholesterol and irregular heart beats can suffer severe muscle damage because of a problem in the way the drugs interact, the government warned on Friday. The Food and Drug Administration said doctors should use extra care when prescribing Zocor, generic Zocor, or Vytorin …