US Top Stories from Associated Press (AP)

Kent County wanted a bike path. Local officials in the Delaware county had their eye on a former landfill, practically across the street from Dover Air Force Base. So in 2005 they bought the property and two years later got certification from the Environmental Protection Agency that the site was safe.

James B. Comey Jr., a former George W. Bush administration official and now President Obama's nominee for FBI director, defended the approval by the secret Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court of surveillance programs and dismissed arguments that the court was a "rubber stamp."

America's favorite snack food is returning, now with nearly double the shelf life. The new Hostess Brands said that when Twinkies return on Monday they'll have a 45-day shelf life, significantly longer than the 26-day shelf life they previously had, CNN reported.

South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley made a rare public disclosure Monday about how she was physically abused by a child-care provider when she was a child. "It doesn't matter your background, it doesn't matter your education, it doesn't matter the wealth of your family," the Republican said at a press conference in Greenville. "Every child is subject to child abuse."

CAIRO , An opposition spokesman says pro-reform leader Mohamed ElBaradei has been named interim prime minister. Khaled Dawoud of the National Salvation Front, the main opposition grouping, told The Associated Press that interim President Adly Mansour will swear in ElBaradei on Saturday evening.

DAKAR, Senegal , For more than 20 years, former Chadian dictator Hissene Habre lived a life of luxurious exile in Senegal, taking a second wife and watching "Seinfeld" shows. But 3,000 miles east...

BOSTON , Police in Brazil seized passports belonging to a mother and her 6-year-old daughter, stranding them in South America amid an international child custody dispute with the child's father, the woman says.

SANFORD, Fla. , A Florida judge has denied a request from George Zimmerman's defense attorney to acquit the neighborhood watch volunteer of second-degree murder for fatally shooting Trayvon Martin. Defense attorney Mark O'Mara argued for acquittal Friday after prosecutors rested their case.

MILWAUKEE , Clergy sex abuse victims have long accused the Archdiocese of Milwaukee of spending more money on lawyers to protect itself than to care for those who suffered at the hands of abusive priests.

Democratic Gov. Jay Nixon vetoed a bill on Friday that would have criminalized the enforcement of some federal gun laws in the state. The bill also would have handed out jail time for reporters who published the names of gun owners, The Associated Press reported.

MADRID , Spain on Friday said it had been warned along with other European countries that former U.S. intelligence worker Edward Snowden was aboard the Bolivian presidential plane this week, an acknowledgement that the manhunt for the fugitive leaker had something to do with the plane's unexpected diversion to Austria.

Nearly every firework display that's blown up in the United States has the "Made in China" stamp, a new study found. The American Pyrotechnics Association reported that 93 percent of all the fireworks that are set off in America were made in China. And 99 percent of all fireworks that are available to U.S.

The Electronic Privacy Information Center said Thursday it will petition the U.S. Supreme Court to abolish the law that lets the National Security Agency collect data on Americans' telephone calls. The Domestic Surveillance Project, an arm of the EPIC, will file the petition on Monday, Raw Story reported.

Israel is in quiet, behind-the-scenes talks with top-level officials in the United States and in Egypt, aimed at coordinating strategies in case of spillover violence from the ousting of President Mohammed Morsi. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu spoke Thursday with Secretary of State John Kerry on the telephone about possible policies.

Trayvon Martin's mother testified Friday that she is positive the voice heard screaming for help on a recorded emergency call is her son's. Sybrina Fulton said her 17-year-old son was screaming for help moments before he was shot by George Zimmerman, who is on trial for second-degree murder for the February 2012 incident. "I heard my son screaming," she said.