CARACAS, Venezuela – Leopoldo Lopez won his last election as mayor of an affluent Caracas district with 81 percent of he vote. Women supporters mobbed him at a recent Mother’s Day appearance, posing for photos while he and his wife handed out roses. But the popular politician’s plan to challenge …

CHICAGO – A four-car Chicago Transit Authority train derailed on a South Side track Wednesday, forcing emergency responders to retrieve dazed passengers from the elevated structure, but there were no immediate reports of serious injuries. The southbound train’s first two cars sat askew at a junction between two lines but …

PORTLAND, Ore. – Federal fisheries officials now say the six sea lions found dead in traps on the Columbia River apparently were not shot to death. Spokesman Brian Gorman of the National Marine Fisheries Service said Wednesday that preliminary results of a necropsy found no evidence of recent gunshot wounds …

NEWARK, N.J. – A Union City man who allegedly traveled to Thailand to have sex with underage boys is being held without bail. Federal judge Michael A. Schipp made the ruling Monday after deciding that Wayne Nelson Corliss was a flight risk and danger to the community. Corliss was arrested …

WHITE PLAINS, N.Y. – Olympic gold medalist Tim Montgomery has been sentenced to 46 months in prison for his part in a fake-check scheme. Montgomery hung his head as Judge Kenneth Karas imposed the sentence Friday. The 33-year-old former track star pleaded guilty last year to conspiracy in a multimillion-dollar …

NEW YORK – Clay Aiken is realistic about his niche in the musical landscape. “I’m not cool, you know what I mean? I’m not gonna lie,” the good-humored singer told The Associated Press in a recent interview. “I’m not trying to be Justin Timberlake. Thank God we have him, but …

LYON, France – He is white, has thinning gray hair and showed up in Internet photos having sex with young Southeast Asian boys. Now, Interpol hopes, police may soon catch the elusive suspected pedophile they have code-named “Mr. IDent.” The international police agency launched a worldwide public appeal for information …

WASHINGTON – New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson, a former energy secretary from a swing state in the presidential race, promoted Barack Obama’s energy and economic policies Saturday in a national radio address that he was picked to deliver by Obama’s campaign. “Sen. Obama will push for a second stimulus package …

Three male dancers with a troupe called “Men of Steel” were indicted this week on charges of raping and abusing a woman after a show. Christian Dior Hulsizer, 32, Radek Zahorick, 33, and Allen Abraham Armagnac-Bernal, 27, are scheduled to be arraigned Monday at Klamath County Circuit Court in Oregon …

WASHINGTON – The Supreme Court has made it easier for some foreigners who overstay their visas to seek to remain in the United States legally. The court ruled 5-4 Monday that someone who is here illegally may withdraw his voluntarily agreement to depart and continue to try to adjust his …