CHRISTIANSBURG, Va. – A former Virginia Tech graduate student pleaded guilty Monday to decapitating a classmate who had rejected his romantic advances, prosecutors said as they revealed a motive for the first time in the campus cafe killing. Haiyang Zhu had fallen in love with Xin Yang, but she told …

While the world’s politicians argue at Copenhangen, some scientists are speaking out at an alternative “sceptics’ conference.” more than 50 scientists, businessmen and lobby groups met to discuss alternative theories about global warming and climate change, reports the Telegraph. The paper highlights a few scientists, including Professor Henrik Svensmark, a …

WASHINGTON – A U.S. official says a Canadian doctor who has treated golfer Tiger Woods and many other pro athletes is under a joint U.S.-Canadian investigation for possibly providing performance-enhancing drugs. The official familiar with the investigation says Canadian authorities have been investigating Dr. Anthony Galea, who was arrested Oct. …

MIAMI – A South Florida woman was arrested Wednesday for allegedly hiring an undercover police officer to kill her husband of six months, authorities said. Dalia Dippolito, 26, was charged with solicitation to commit first-degree murder and taken to the Palm Beach County jail, Boynton Beach Police Department spokeswoman Stephanie …

BRUSSELS – European leaders sharply condemned the sentencing Tuesday of Burma’s most prominent pro-democracy leader to an additional 18 months of house arrest. British Prime Minister Gordon Brown decried what he called a “sham trial.” Sweden, which holds the presidency of the European Union, promised tighter sanctions against Burma’s leaders. …

WASHINGTON – Officers with the U.S. Marshals Service have seized all skin sanitizers and skin protectants, including ingredients and components, at Clarcon Biological Chemistry Laboratory’s facility in Roy, Utah, the Food and Drug Administration said. The FDA also warned the public Saturday not to use any Clarcon products because they …

COLUMBIA, S.C. – Someone who bought a Powerball ticket in South Carolina is a whole lot richer. The single winning ticket for Wednesday’s $259.9 million drawing was sold at a gas station and convenience store next to a Wal-Mart in Columbia. South Carolina Education Lottery spokeswoman Stephanie Hemminghaus said no …

Health officials are offering some basic advice for college students with flu symptoms: Avoid other people until 24 hours after a fever is gone. At colleges across the country, planning for flu season, particularly the H1N1 virus, is well under way. Recommended safeguards could mean students with a private dorm …

Some computer repair shops are illegally accessing personal data on customers’ hard drives — and even trying to hack their bank accounts, a Sky News investigation has found. In one case, passwords, log-in details and vacation photographs were all copied onto a portable memory stick by a technician. In other …

TAREGNA, India – Hordes of scientists, students and nature enthusiasts prepared Tuesday for the longest total solar eclipse of this century, while millions planned to shutter themselves indoors, giving in to superstitious myths about the phenomenon. Wednesday’s eclipse will first be sighted at dawn in India’s Gulf of Khambhat, just …