IRVINGTON, N.J. – A fast-moving fire roared through a motel catering to low-income people, killing three people and injuring some firefighters. The cause of Sunday’s blaze at the Irvington Motor Lodge (search) remained under investigation. The victims were only identified as a man and two women, leaving many area residents …

ATLANTA – A Georgia Tech (search) freshman has been arrested after confessing to making a bottle bomb that exploded in a campus courtyard and led to the evacuation of two dormitories, authorities said. Theodore Hollot (search), 18, came forward Tuesday and told police he had made several bombs in his …

LOS ANGELES – The Walt Disney Co. will be the first to distribute encrypted DVD copies of its movies to award show voters to prevent illegal copying of films. In the past, some films meant strictly for viewing by awards voters have been pirated months before the films were publicly …

WASHINGTON – A $40 billion plan to hurricane-proof the Louisiana coast has ignited a battle over how best to prevent a repeat of this year’s double flooding of New Orleans. Endorsed by the state’s congressional delegation, the proposal would create a nine-member independent commission that would give Louisiana a large …

ORANJESTAD, Aruba – While the father of Joran van der Sloot (search), the 17-year-old held in Aruba, was himself arrested Thursday, the teenager’s mother said her son has changed the story he initially gave police. Joran van der Sloot, 17, and friends Deepak Kalpoe, 21, and Satish Kalpoe, 18, first …

WASHINGTON – A plunge in energy costs pulled consumer prices down by 0.1 percent in May, the first drop in 10 months, according to a government report Wednesday that suggested inflation pressures were under wraps. Excluding volatile food and energy prices, the popular core consumer price index (search), rose by …

WASHINGTON – A leading Senate Democrat rejected a GOP offer on Wednesday to end the impasse over the nomination of John R. Bolton (search) to be U.S. ambassador to the United Nations. Republican Sen. Pat Roberts (search), chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, offered to disclose some information about secret …

SANTA MARIA, Calif. – The jury deliberating the fate of Michael Jackson (search) may have to decide who’s weirder: Jackson or the mother of his accuser. Much of Jackson’s defense came down to trying to prove the mother was the winner of the strange contest — even though Jackson’s eccentricities …

NEW YORK – The control tower standing at Moton Field in Tuskegee, Ala., may be weathered, but the legacy left by America’s first black military pilots, the Tuskegee Airmen (search), is as vibrant as ever. The airmen sacrificed much on both European and American soil and rose from adversity to …

HONG KONG – As Unocal (UCL) directors consider whether to recommend CNOOC’s (CEO) $18.5 billion bid to its shareholders, some fund managers and analysts said they expect rival Chevron to come back to the table with a higher offer. One analyst said a third party — global major Royal Dutch/Shell …