HOLLYWOOD, Fla. – Florida State starting linebacker A.J. Nicholson was suspended by the team and questioned by police Thursday after a 19-year-old woman accused him of sexually assaulting her. A decision on whether to charge Nicholson, the team’s leader in tackles, will be made following the completion of an investigation, …

NEW YORK – Stocks remained almost unchanged in light trading Friday ahead of the long holiday weekend as higher oil prices offset a government report that showed rising personal incomes but declines in consumer spending. The Nasdaq closed up for the fourth week in a row, while the Dow Jones …

VATICAN CITY – Pope John Paul II (search) was in “very serious” condition after suffering heart failure, the Vatican said Friday morning. The latest downturn in the pontiff’s health developed after he contracted a very high fever brought on by a urinary tract infection on Thursday. He received the Roman …

WASHINGTON – Women who blame silicone-gel breast implants (search) for crippling health problems faced women who called them the best option in an emotional debate Monday as government scientists consider whether it’s time to lift a decade-plus ban on most of the devices. “They poisoned my mother,” said a tearful …

FORT BRAGG, N.C. – One by one, a total of 15 Army witnesses told a military jury about the pain and confusion that followed a deadly grenade attack in the Kuwait desert carried out by one of their own. Sgt. Hasan Akbar‘s (search) lawyers said their client could not have …

WASHINGTON – One manufacturer couldn’t persuade U.S. federal health advisers that it’s time to lift a 13-year near-ban on silicone-gel breast implants (search). Now another gets to try. Advisers to the Food and Drug Administration (search) cited lingering questions about how long the controversial implants really last before breaking and …

CLEVELAND – High gasoline prices are turning some drivers into riders, say public transit authorities in several states. It’s a trend that Joe Calabrese, general manager of the Greater Cleveland Regional Transit Authority (search), expects to continue as long as a gallon of gas remains about $2. “I know there …

QUITO, Ecuador – President Lucio Gutierrez‘s (search) ouster Wednesday was almost foretold five years ago by another Ecuadorean president, the one that Gutierrez helped topple. A former army colonel, Gutierrez was the main player in the January 2000 coup. He joined with Indian leaders and led a rebellion of young …

ASTANA, Kazakhstan – Kazakhstan‘s energy minister said Thursday that his oil-rich Central Asian nation was interested in building a gas pipeline to Europe that would bypass Russia. Oil Minister Baktykozha Izmukhambetov told visiting EU Energy Commissioner Andris Piebalgs said that his country sought to cooperate with the European Union to …

RICHMOND, Va. – Elliott Yamin, the latest contestant to be booted from “American Idol,” says he’ll do anything to make a lasting mark on the music world — without completely compromising his style, of course. Yamin, 27, of Richmond, made his exit from the Fox talent competition Wednesday night, clearing …