Actor Sean Penn on Monday urged the U.S. government to pressure Bolivia to free an American businessman detained without charge since 2011 in a case that has drawn accusations he was the victim of corrupt local prosecutors.

An explosives recycling company that authorities said improperly stored millions of pounds of a military propellant, causing the evacuation of a Louisiana town last year, was stripped of its state explosives licenses on Monday.

After years of debate, Vermont became the fourth state in the country Monday to allow doctors to prescribe lethal doses of medicine to terminally ill patients seeking to end their lives.

Ten young scholars have made it to the finals of the National Geographic Bee, where they'll compete for a $25,000 college scholarship.

Authorities say a Kentucky teenager known as a jokester was strangled by a dog lead he put around his neck while playing with friends at the start of summer vacation.

Two California men were in custody on Monday after accidentally dialing 911 on a cellphone before breaking into a car, authorities said.

The Palestinians have done all the legal work necessary to join 63 U.N. agencies, conventions and treaties but haven't applied yet mainly to give the latest U.S. peace effort a chance to succeed, the chief Palestinian negotiator said Monday.

Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano is assuring Oklahoma's governor that the Obama administration will provide all possible help to the state after a massive tornado tore through the Oklahoma City suburbs.

L.L. Bean's grandson Leon Gorman is retiring as chairman of the outdoors retailer after more than a half-century as the company's chairman or CEO, but the privately held firm is keeping the position in the family.

Several children have been pulled out of the rubble alive at a school in an Oklahoma City suburb.

The National Weather Service says the tornado that hit Moore, Okla., had wind speeds up to 200 mph.

A monstrous tornado as much as a mile wide roared through the Oklahoma City suburbs Monday, flattening entire neighborhoods with winds up to 200 mph, setting buildings on fire and landing a direct blow on an elementary school.

Monday's powerful tornado in suburban Oklahoma City loosely followed the path of a killer twister that slammed the region in May 1999.

A list of the 10 deadliest tornadoes in the United States since 1900:

Thousands of people took to the streets of Manhattan to protest the killing of a gay man who had been taunted with homophobic slurs.

An Internet entrepreneur and former Wall Street derivatives analyst contends central Idaho's Sun Valley resort and the Twitter Inc. social media site heisted his handle.

People who falsely claim they have received a military medal in order to obtain money or government benefits could face up to a year in jail under legislation that easily passed the House Monday.

The Obama administration said Monday it wants to see more cuts to agriculture subsidies in a massive farm bill moving through the Senate this week.

President Barack Obama will bestow the Medal of Freedom posthumously on Sally Ride, the first American woman to fly in space.

Clark Kelly plans to spend a lot of time on the links this spring. The Illinois farmer is plowing the Hend-Co-Hills Golf Course near tiny Biggsville into a cornfield.