To fix telescope, space shuttle risks entering higher orbit littered with space junk

WASHINGTON — Space shuttle Atlantis is now in a rough orbital neighborhood — a place littered with thousands of pieces of space junk zipping around the Earth at nearly 20,000 mph.

Most Asia markets extend gains as US job data buoy confidence; Hong Kong up nearly 2 pct

HONG KONG — Asian stocks were mostly higher Monday as news of fewer job losses in the U.S. gave investors more confidence the world’s largest economy was headed toward recovery.

Wall Street storms higher on relief over jobs data, results of bank tests; Dow jumps 165

NEW YORK — Stocks soared Friday as Wall Street cheered the positive news it had been hoping for: Job losses slowed in April and big banks don’t need as much capital as some had feared. All the major indicators rose more than 1 percent, including the Dow Jones industrial average, which jumped 150 points.

Oil prices climb above $53 as manufacturing sector seems to be healing

NEW YORK — Oil prices rose sharply Friday as a trade group reported that deterioration in the American manufacturing sector appeared to be slowing.

New jobless claims drop unexpectedly to 631,000, those continuing to draw aid tops 6.3 million

WASHINGTON — The number of newly laid-off workers signing up for unemployment benefits dropped unexpectedly last week, but the number of people continuing to draw jobless aid rose to nearly 6.3 million, setting a record high for the 13th straight week.

Vermont loggers see nothing sweet about plan to expand maple syrup operations

MONTPELIER, Vt. — Maple syrup is almost holy in Vermont, but the trees it comes from are holey from being tapped every spring. Now some in the logging industry are chopping mad about a plan that would allow maple sugar makers to operate across a wider swath of state land.

Coast to coast: Sequoia tree is latest West Coast native to put down roots in New York

NEW YORK — As such trees go it’s short and stocky — only 20 feet tall and 18 inches wide at the base, but come back in 200 years and it may be taller than most of the buildings on Manhattan’s upper west side.

Civil trial against Snoop Dogg by fan who claims he was beaten by rapper in 2005 begins

SANTA MONICA, Calif. — A man suing Snoop Dogg for millions told a jury Friday that the euphoria of being near one of his idols quickly turned to terror during a 2005 concert when he was savagely beaten.

Bowman paces Tennessee women to victory in distance medley at 115th Penn Relays

PHILADELPHIA — A year after anchoring her Tennessee team to three second-place finishes at the Penn Relays, senior Sarah Bowman returned and made sure the favored Volunteers didn’t come up short.

Davidson star Stephen Curry to skip senior season, enter NBA draft

DAVIDSON, N.C. — The big schools didn’t want Stephen Curry, then were helpless in stopping his sweet-shooting stroke as he put tiny Davidson into the national spotlight.

Spring snowstorm starts to weaken after closing stretch of Colo. I-70, stranding travelers

DENVER — A spring storm was weakening after dumping up to 3 feet of snow on the foothills west of Denver — stranding hundreds of people in shelters and forcing the closure of an 80-mile stretch of Interstate 70.

Hundreds stranded at Colo. shelters after spring snowstorm shuts down 80-mile stretch of I-70

DENVER — Hundreds of people were stranded at shelters Friday night after transportation officials shut down an 80-mile stretch of Interstate 70 between Vail and Golden because of wet, heavy snow and multiple accidents.

LTTE supporter hurls wooden missile at Chidambaram

CHENNAI - An LTTE supporter shouted slogans hailing the banned outfit and hurled a wooden object towards the stage where union Home Minister P. Chidambaram was seated during an election rally in Karaikudi town of Tamil Nadu.

Big belly raises heart failure risk

WASHINGTON - Carrying an extra four inches of fat around the waist can increase a person’s risk of being hospitalised with heart failure, warn researchers.

OPEC oil price creeps down

VIENNA - The price for oil produced by the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) inched downwards by 0.21 dollars Friday, the cartel announced Monday.

Pakistan’s tallest woman seeks asylum in Britain

LONDON - One of the world’s tallest women, who hails from Pakistan, is seeking asylum in Britain on grounds that she is a target in her home country because of her height.