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SAN DIEGO – A San Diego jury convicted a man of murder for killing a professional surfer during a scuffle. Seth Cravens was convicted Tuesday and could face life in prison when he is sentenced in January. The 22-year-old Cravens said he acted in self-defense when he punched Emery Kauanui …

A second victim of a weekend church shooting died Monday, leaving one survivor who was in extremely critical condition, authorities said. The estranged wife of the alleged gunman, who remained at large, also died in the attack. Dennis John Mallosseril, 25, a bystander in the shootings, died of head wounds …

NEW YORK – A sex offender is responsible for taking away some of the joy of the Postal Service’s Operation Santa program: Volunteers who answer children’s letters to Santa can no longer deliver gifts in person — or even know where they’re going. The program resumed Saturday morning in New …

SANTIAGO, Chile – Madonna is causing “crazy enthusiasm” and “impure thoughts” on her first concert visit to Chile, a prominent retired cardinal complained on Wednesday, as he paused in a tribute to a late dictator to denounce the pop star. Roman Catholic Cardinal Jorge Medina criticized the flamboyant singer during …

VIENNA, Austria – Officials say the International Atomic Energy Agency has adopted an inspections plan with India crucial to a landmark nuclear deal between New Delhi and Washington. The so-called safeguards agreement will effectively allow U.N. monitors access to 14 existing or planned nuclear reactors by 2014. The facilities are …

RIYADH, Saudi Arabia – An 11-year-old boy gave out invitations to his classmates for a big event his family was planning this summer — and it wasn’t his birthday party. It was his wedding to a 10-year-old cousin. Muhammad al-Rashidi’s marriage was eventually put on hold, his father said, after …

MONTREAL – Paul McCartney told Quebec nationalists on Thursday “to smoke the pipes of peace” over their opposition to his free concert celebrating the city’s 400th anniversary. Several artists and politicians have questioned McCartney’s participation in the weekend birthday celebrations of French-speaking Quebec City because of his British roots. But …

INDIANAPOLIS – A Purdue University panel has found two instances of misconduct by a researcher who claims he produced nuclear fusion in tabletop experiments. Rusi Taleyarkhan made headlines in 2002 when he published a paper in the journal Science claiming that he had produced nuclear fusion by making tiny bubbles …

BOSTON – At Whittier Farms dairy, the fifth-generation owners brag of the quality of their Holstein cows and still deliver milk right to your door, in glass bottles. Customers like the products because they are a hormone-free taste of old New England. But health officials now say three elderly men …

Norwegian explorer Roald Amundsen reached the South Pole in December 1911. Ninety-six years later, another achievement was reached — the South Pole’s first bar fight. Without releasing names, the National Science Foundation, which runs the Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station, confirmed that two men had to be evacuated from the base …