President-elect Barack Obama plans to nominate Hillary Rodham Clinton as secretary of state after Thanksgiving, a new milestone for a former first lady and a convergence of two political forces who contested mightily for the presidency.

An agency director improperly used state computers to find personal information on "Joe the Plumber," a government watchdog said in a report released Thursday.

More than 19,000 schoolchildren died in a massive earthquake that struck Sichuan province in May, China acknowledged Friday for the first time.

Dr Pepper is making good on its promise of free soda now that the release of Guns N' Roses' "Chinese Democracy" is a reality.

Dell Inc.'s fiscal third-quarter profit sank 5 percent as concerns about the deepening economic crisis crimped corporate spending on computers and other technology products.

Spacewalking astronauts performed more repair work on a jammed joint at the international space station on Thursday, keeping a tight grip on all their tools so nothing would get away this time.

Three players scored in double figures in Lipscomb's 70-58 win against Southeastern Louisiana on Thursday night.

Most Asian markets rebounded Friday after days of sharp declines in global markets as investors scooped up battered financial and technology shares.

A man says his cell phone saved his life. A stray .45-caliber bullet hit R.J. Richard's chest while he was mowing the lawn -- hitting so hard he thought it was a stone kicked out by his tractor. He pulled out the phone. It fell apart.

Some advanced lung cancer patients already treated with chemotherapy might be able to skip some of the bad side effects of another series of chemo by taking a pill instead, a study suggests. An international study showed patients on Iressa, an expensive, newer targeted treatment, survived about as long as those on another course of chemotherapy.

President-elect Barack Obama plans to nominate Hillary Rodham Clinton as secretary of state after Thanksgiving, a new milestone for a former first lady and a convergence of two political forces who contested mightily for the presidency.