AP - States that had been watching Arizona's immigration law in hopes of copying it received a rude awakening when a judge put most of the measure on hold and agreed with the Obama administration's core argument that immigration enforcement is the role of the federal government.

AP - The government's point man for the Gulf spill plans to meet with coastal parish officials Thursday to talk about what's next now that the oil has stopped flowing.

AP - It was a night in early November during the infancy of the Cold War when the anti-communist dissidents were hustled through a garden and across a gully to a vehicle on a dark, deserted road in Budapest. They hid in four large crates for their perilous journey.

AP - Water gurgling from a well is flooding Craig Gautreaux's rice and crawfish fields, turning the farm into a wetland for migratory birds whose usual Gulf of Mexico wintering grounds are threatened by the oil spill.

AP - Cooler temperatures and calmer winds helped firefighters in their battle against the most destructive of two big wildfires that have burned homes and forced hundreds of people to evacuate mountain communities on the edge of the Mojave Desert and in the southern Sierra Nevada.

AP - A board of military officers plans to investigate a plane crash that witnesses say sent a fireball rising hundreds of feet over an Air Force base near downtown Anchorage.

AP - More than 10 years have passed since she gave up her pursuit of a degree in computer science, but Yajahira Deaza still has regrets. She says she feels incomplete.

AP - Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger on Wednesday brought back furloughs for thousands of state workers until California passes a budget that addresses a $19 billion deficit.

AP - One of every 15 New Yorkers battled bedbugs last year, officials said Wednesday as they announced a plan to fight the spreading infestation, including a public-awareness campaign and a top entomologist to head the effort.

AP - When he heard the first scream in a campground outside Yellowstone National Park, Don Wilhelm thought it was just teenagers, maybe a domestic dispute in the middlle of the night.

AP - In the minutes after Pfc. Bowe Bergdahl was reported missing last June, his U.S. Army comrades in southern Afghanistan began searching bunkers, latrines, vehicles, even Afghan National Police posts in a nearby settlement.

AP - Never mind that the details about Chelsea Clinton's wedding are being guarded like state secrets. The postcard-pretty town of Rhinebeck is ready for its close-up.

AP - Federal officials now estimate that more than 1 million gallons of oil may have spilled into a major river in southern Michigan, and the governor is sharply criticizing clean-up efforts as "wholly inadequate."

AP - Crews took another step toward readying the relief well expected to finally kill the Gulf of Mexico oil gusher, removing the plug they had popped in before clearing the area ahead of Tropical Storm Bonnie last week, federal officials said Wednesday.

AP - The defense for the mother of three children found starving in a hotel bathroom portrayed her Wednesday as another victim of her abusive boyfriend, but prosecutors said while she gave birth, "she's no mom."

AP - A hundred days ago, shop owner Cherie Pete was getting ready for a busy summer serving ice cream and po-boys to hungry fishermen. Local official Billy Nungesser was planning his wedding. Environmental activist Enid Sisskin was preparing a speech about the dangers of offshore drilling.

AP - Louisville basketball coach Rick Pitino is used to answering questions from reporters.

AP - As jurors retired to deliberate Wednesday in the corruption trial of former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich, they entered a cocoon of privacy not all jurors in high-profile cases enjoy.