BIRMINGHAM, Ala. -- A line of severe storms swept across the Southeast on Thursday, damaging homes and businesses in at least three states. No injuries were reported.

BAGHDAD -- The leader of al-Qaida in Iraq, Abu Ayyub al-Masri, was arrested in the northern city of Mosul, the Iraqi Defense Ministry spokesman said Thursday.

There's a grim, rarely talked-about twist to all that medical know-how doctors learn to save lives: It makes them especially good at ending their own.

NEWARK, N.J. -- A rare international alert seeking a man shown in dozens of raw child porn images quickly led to the arrest of a small-time actor, who painted faces at children's parties and performed as "the best Santa Claus anyone has ever seen."

WASHINGTON -- Defense Secretary Robert Gates said Thursday the U.S. military was stepping up preparations for a relief mission in Myanmar, but he said he wouldn't imagine air dropping aid without permission from the closed regime.

Running gunbattles raged in parts of Beirut on Thursday after the leader of Hezbollah accused Lebanon's Western-backed government of declaring war on his Shiite militant group. At least four people were killed and eight wounded in the capital.

NEWARK, N.J. -- An actor who played Santa Claus and painted children's faces was arrested on child sex charges early Thursday after an international manhunt, just the second time Interpol sought the public's help to find a suspected pedophile.

SALT LAKE CITY -- Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid says a federal prosecutor has been assigned to look for ways to help tackle the problems associated with polygamy in Southwestern states.

Police found the naked body of Diana Sylvester near her Christmas tree.

JERUSALEM -- Frustrated by years of on-and-off peace talks with Israel, Palestinians are losing hope for an independent homeland, and some are proposing a radically different cause: equal rights for Palestinians and Jews in a shared state.

SAN DIEGO -- San Diego State University has suspended six fraternities after a sweeping drug investigation that landed dozens of students in jail on suspicion of openly dealing drugs on campus.

JERUSALEM -- Sirens wailed across Israel Wednesday, bringing the nation to a standstill in a solemn two-minute ritual on the country's Memorial Day for fallen soldiers and victims of Palestinian suicide bombings and other attacks.