ELGIN, Ore. – A La Grande house painter wanted for the murders of three people he knew in Union County has been captured in Washington state. Thurston County, Wash., Sheriff’s Lt. Chris Mealy said that 42-year-old Gregory Alvin Cook was captured by deputies without incident Monday at a residence outside …

ORLANDO, Fla. – No blood evidence was found in the car driven by Casey Anthony, the central Florida mom charged with her 2-year-old daughter Caylee’s murder, according to documents released Friday. The new information comes despite investigators’ theory that Anthony, 23, stored her little girl’s body in the Pontiac Sunfire’s …

BOSTON – The 911 caller who reported a possible break-in at the home of black Harvard scholar Henry Louis Gates, Jr. did not mention race in the call, according to a statement issued by her attorney and backed up by Cambridge Police Commissioner Robert Haas. Lucia Whalen placed the 911 …

LONDON – He’s the spy who came in from the beach. Holiday snapshots and family details about the newly appointed head of Britain’s MI6 intelligence agency have been removed from a Facebook page after a newspaper told the government about them. Pictures from the social networking Web site published in …

ZAMBOANGA, Philippines – Philippine troops have rescued five employees of a logging company who were kidnapped by suspected Muslim guerrillas in the country’s south last week, the military said Sunday. The five employees, including a woman, were seized Wednesday by eight guerrillas belonging to the Moro Islamic Liberation Front in …

FRUITDALE, Ind. – A coroner says a 19-year-old central Indiana woman’s death was likely caused by intentionally inhaling fumes from a can of air freshener. Police say the mother of Elizabeth Mulvey found her unresponsive Tuesday afternoon in the younger woman’s home at the Brown County community of Fruitdale. County …

WEBSTER, Texas – Police used a Taser on a pastor and pepper spray to disperse his congregants Wednesday after the pastor allegedly interfered with a traffic stop in the church parking lot. Congregants say they were in the Iglesia Profetica Peniel church for an early morning prayer when pastor Jose …

TOKYO – Japanese Prime Minister Taro Aso told ruling party leaders Monday he will dissolve parliament and hold general elections next month, following a crushing defeat for his party in Tokyo municipal polls considered a barometer of voter sentiment. The decision came as opposition parties, emboldened by a surge in …

BANGKOK – Leaders of demonstrations that plunged the Thai capital into chaos Tuesday called off their protests following rioting and clashes that left two dead and more than 120 injured across Bangkok. Several were then taken into police custody. About 2,000 die-hard protesters abandoned their encampment around the seat of …

BOSTON – A U.S. Marine was arrested Sunday morning at Boston’s Logan International Airport after screeners found bomb-making materials, a gun and ammunition in his checked baggage, state police and security officials said. Transportation Security Administration spokeswoman Ann Davis said 22-year-old Cpl. Justin Reed, of Jacksonville, N.C., was booked on …