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NEW YORK – The biggest challenge of his life awaits Joey Chestnut on the Fourth of July — and he doesn’t want to choke. It’s a legitimate worry. Chestnut aims to inhale more than four dozen frankfurters in 12 minutes at the annual Coney Island hot dog eating competition. And …

ORLANDO, Fla. – Mickey Mouse made this medium-sized city loom much larger in the public eye than its population would suggest, but this year it has been running up a big-city statistic its residents would be better off without. In less than seven months this city of about 215,000 reported …

DETROIT – Ford Motor Co. (F) posted its seventh consecutive decline in U.S. monthly sales Friday, underscoring pressure on the automaker as it readies an accelerated turnaround plan driven by a collapse in the market for trucks and sport utility vehicles. While General Motors Corp. (GM) posted gains versus last …

NARAY, Afghanistan – Militants ambushed a bus carrying Afghan construction workers in the country’s volatile south, killing 19 of the laborers Friday after attacking them with a roadside bomb and gunfire, the Interior Ministry said. CountryWatch: Afghanistan The attack shortly after noon in Kandahar province began when a roadside bomb …

The 2006 midterm elections were largely a referendum on the Bush administration and the war in Iraq. Throughout the nation, in state after state, Fox News Election Day telephone surveys show voters basing their vote for House and Senate more on national issues than on state and local issues. Those …

COLOMBO, Sri Lanka – Sri Lankan fighter jets on Monday pounded a Tamil Tiger rebel base in the country’s volatile east, the military said, as the army and rebels exchanged artillery and mortar fire on the ground. Air force planes struck a sea base in the east, said military spokesman …

MEXICO CITY – A tiger escaped from an unlocked cage at a commercial zoo and fatally mauled its caretaker before it was captured and killed, officials said Tuesday. State officials said that Bioparque Estrella had closed Monday when the tiger left its unlocked cage and fatally attacked 26-year-old Herminio Rodriguez …

MURRIETA, Calif. – Four Camp Pendleton-based Marines, including one known as “Psycho,” have pleaded not guilty in the execution-style slayings of a fellow Marine and his wife. Sgt. Jan Pietrzak, 24, and his wife, Quiana Jenkins-Pietrzak, 26, were found gagged, tied and shot in the head in the living room …

CAMDEN, N.J. – During a trip to the Pocono Mountains, some of the men accused of plotting to attack New Jersey’s Fort Dix military base talked about buying weapons, sniper training and killing soldiers. One of the men, Eljvir Duka, asked whether a riffle would be a powerful enough weapon. …

WASHINGTON – A top evangelical leader has resigned his post following an uproar over a recent interview when he said he supports civil unions for gays. The National Association of Evangelicals says the Rev. Richard Cizik quit Thursday as the group’s representative in Washington. The announcement follows Cizik’s Dec. 2 …