AIKEN, S.C. — Former Chicago Bears defensive lineman William "The Refrigerator" Perry has been upgraded to fair condition in a South Carolina hospital.

DETROIT — General Motors Corp. said it will cut 21,000 U.S. factory jobs by next year, phase out its storied Pontiac brand and ask the government to take more than half its stock in exchange for half of GM's government debt as part of a major restru

WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama said Monday the threat of spreading swine flu infections is matter of concern but "not a cause for alarm." The United States and other countries across the globe increased their vigilance as the World Health Organ

Concern about a deadly strain of swine flu has prompted one Chicago school in a largely Hispanic neighborhood to forbid students from shaking hands.

EAST ST. LOUIS, Ill. — A southwestern Illinois man freed when prosecutors dropped a murder charge due to questions about a detective's credibility is back behind bars.

MIAMI — A federal jury in Miami has begun deliberating the fate of six men charged with plotting to destroy Chicago's Sears Tower and bomb FBI offices around the country.

SAN ANTONIO, Texas — A Texas high school where two students are confirmed to have swine flu is temporarily closing after a new possible case of swine flu was identified there, state health officials announced Saturday.

ATLANTA — The acting head of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says the federal government is readying a travel advisory instructing Americans to avoid nonessential travel to Mexico.

NAIROBI, Kenya — Two men pleaded guilty in a Kenyan court Monday to illegally possessing 1,500 pounds (700 kilograms) of elephant tusks in what was believed to be the largest seizure of illegal ivory in recent years, a Kenyan official said.

Five people were shot, three fatally, within the last two days, including a police-involved shooting.