NEW YORK (AP) - A former convenience store worker confessed to luring 6-year-old Etan Patz from a school bus stop in 1979 and choking him to death in a basement, police said Thursday, ending a three-decades long investigation into one of the nation's most baffling missing-children cases. Pedro Hernandez, 51, of Maple Shade, N.J., was arrested on a murder charge after he told police he promised the boy a soda, took him to the basement of the convenience store where he worked and killed him there, Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly said.
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) - President Barack Obama is doubling down on criticism of rival Mitt Romney's background as a venture capitalist. The president says there might be value in such experience "but not in the White House." It is Obama's toughest attack on his challenger. The president calls Romney's claims that his policies have increased debt, in his words, "a cowpie of distortions."
CAIRO (AP) - The Muslim Brotherhood quickly staked a claim Thursday for its candidate to advance to a runoff vote, saying its exit polls showed him leading in Egypt's landmark presidential election to succeed ousted leader Hosni Mubarak. As vote-counting began, exit polls by several Arab television stations also suggested the Brotherhood's Mohammed Morsi was ahead of the pack of 13 candidates. The reliability of the various exit surveys was not known, and a few hours after the end of two days of voting, only a tiny percentage of the ballots had been counted.
WASHINGTON (AP) - Mitt Romney's vice presidential search has entered a new phase: auditions. As his campaign evaluates potential running mates, Republicans with a possible shot at the No. 2 spot on the presidential ticket are starting to engage in unofficial public tryouts for the traditional vice presidential role of attack dog.
LONG BEACH, Calif. (AP) - A former high school football star whose dreams of a pro career were shattered by a rape conviction burst into tears Thursday as a judge threw out the charge that sent him to prison for more than five years. Brian Banks, now 26, pleaded no contest 10 years ago on the advice of his lawyer after a childhood friend falsely accused him of attacking her on their high school campus.
GSA parts ways with host of $823K Vegas conference WASHINGTON (AP) - The General Services Administration executive who was responsible for an $823,000 conference in Las Vegas is no longer with the agency. GSA spokesman Adam Elkington's statement late Thursday did not make clear whether Jeffrey Neely was fired or resigned from the agency that is in charge of federal buildings and supplies.
DALLAS (AP) - Miniature laundry detergent packets arrived on store shelves in recent months as an alternative to bulky bottles and messy spills. But doctors across the country say children are confusing the tiny, brightly colored packets with candy and swallowing them. Nearly 250 cases have been reported this year to poison control centers. Though they remain a tiny fraction of the thousands of poisoning calls received every year, doctors are concerned. The symptoms they see in connection with ingesting the packets - such as nausea and breathing problems - are more severe than typical detergent poisoning. No deaths have been reported.
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) - The world's first private supply ship flew tantalizingly close to the International Space Station on Thursday, acing a critical test in advance of the actual docking. The unmanned SpaceX Dragon capsule flew within 1 1/2 miles of the orbiting lab as it performed a practice lap and checkout of its communication and navigation systems.
NEW YORK (AP) - Nearly 21 million TV viewers seems like a lot but for an "American Idol" season ender, it's a new low. The crowd that tuned in Wednesday night when bluesy guitar man Phillip Phillips won the "Idol" crown constituted the smallest for an "Idol" season ender in its history, according to preliminary Nielsen Co. figures.
Doug O'Neill, the trainer of Triple Crown hopeful I'll Have Another, was suspended 45 days after one of his horses had an excessive level of carbon dioxide, but the punishment won't start before he saddles the Kentucky Derby and Preakness winner in the Belmont Stakes on June 9. The suspension comes in the final weeks of I'll Have Another's attempt to become horse racing's 12th Triple Crown winner and first since Affirmed 34 years ago. The colt trained by O'Neill won the Derby on May 5 and then took the Preakness on Saturday.
