U.S

NEW YORK (AP) — Hurricane Sandy is gaining strength and has taken a left turn toward the East Coast and its date with two other weather systems. An official with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration is calling it "the worst-case scenario

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JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — Parts of northern Mississippi are dealing with damaged homes, toppled trees and downed power lines after a powerful storm rolled across the nation's midsection overnight.

Weather experts say the storm also hit parts of Tennessee and there are reports of minor damage in Arkansas

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WASHINGTON (AP) — Americans signed the most contracts to buy homes in July than at any other point in the last two years, further evidence of a housing recovery.

The National Association of Realtors says its index of sales agreements for previously occupied homes jumped 2

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ST. LOUIS (AP) — The latest U.S. drought map shows that excessively parched conditions continue to worsen in the Plains states that are key producers of corn and soybean crops.

The weekly U.S

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MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — A new report shows the drought gripping the United States is the widest since 1956.

The monthly State of the Climate drought report released Monday by the National Climactic Data Center says 55 percent of the continental U

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BOSTON (AP) — Some tourists visiting the nation's capital say they're doing the outdoor activities in the morning, and visiting the air-conditioned museums in the afternoon.

It's one way to cope with temperatures that have soared into the upper 90s for a second day in Washington and up the East Coast into New England

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WASHINGTON (AP) — Call it spring's fever. Federal records show the U.S. just finished its hottest spring on record.

March, April and May in the Lower 48 states beat the oldest spring temperature record by a full 2 degrees

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NEW YORK (AP) — Oil prices are rising as Iran again threatens to cut off supplies to Europe.

Iranian lawmakers are pushing a plan to stop exporting crude to Europe before the European Union begins an oil embargo this summer

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GENEVA (AP) — The U.N. human rights chief says the U.S. government must close the Guantanamo Bay prison as President Barack Obama promised a year ago.

Navi Pillay, the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights, says "the facility continues to exist and individuals remain arbitrarily detained — indefinitely — in clear breach of international law

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WASHINGTON (AP) — The Obama administration denied on Monday that an American man sentenced to death in Iran was a CIA spy, and sharply criticized the Islamic republic in Tehran for what it called a pattern of arresting innocent people for political reasons

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