AP WAS THERE: Japan attacks Pearl Harbor, as reported by The Associated Press on Dec. 7, 1941

EDITOR’S NOTE – On Dec. 7, 1941, Eugene Burns, AP’s chief of bureau in Honolulu, couldn’t get out the urgent news of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, which drew the U.S. into World War II, because the military had already taken control of all communication lines. In Washington, AP editor William Peacock and staff got word of the attack from President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s press secretary. In the language and style used by journalists of his era, including the use of a disparaging word to describe the Japanese that was in common use, Peacock dictated the details of the announcement. Seventy-two years after their original publication, the AP is making the dispatches available to its subscribers.

AP WAS THERE: Japan attacks Pearl Harbor, as reported by The Associated Press on Dec. 7, 1941

Researchers say 2014 World Cup noisemakers are quieter than vuvuzelas used in South Africa

SAN FRANCISCO – Researchers say the official noisemakers for next year’s World Cup soccer tournament in Brazil will be significantly quieter than the vuvuzela (voo-voo-ZEHL’-uh) horns that caused so many headaches in 2010.

Researchers say 2014 World Cup noisemakers are quieter than vuvuzelas used in South Africa

Records: Before she was slain, East St. Louis woman told courts she feared for her life

BELLEVILLE, Illinois – Having survived getting her neck cut during a domestic dispute, Michelle Rowling worried her former boyfriend would take her life and considered his latest release from jail an ominous sign. With a few clicks on her keyboard, she told the world.

Records: Before she was slain, East St. Louis woman told courts she feared for her life

Jailers: Utah doctor convicted in wife’s bathtub death used razor to cut major artery

SALT LAKE CITY – A defense attorney is crediting jailers with saving the life of a Utah doctor who tried to kill himself after he was recently convicted of leaving his heavily drugged wife to die in a bathtub to carry on an affair with another woman.

Jailers: Utah doctor convicted in wife’s bathtub death used razor to cut major artery

Man linked to Mexican drug cartel sentenced to 21 years in California murder-for-hire plot

SAN DIEGO – A man whose brother is believed to be a prolific cartel hit man was sentenced to more than 21 years in prison after pleading guilty to attempted murder in what authorities said was a plot to kill a mother and son in Southern California who owed a drug debt.

Man linked to Mexican drug cartel sentenced to 21 years in California murder-for-hire plot

Records: Before she was slain, East St. Louis woman told courts she feared for her life

BELLEVILLE, Illinois – An East St. Louis woman who prosecutors say was stabbed to death by her former boyfriend appeared to anticipate she was in danger the day he was freed again from jail.

Records: Before she was slain, East St. Louis woman told courts she feared for her life

Portland, Ore., door-to-door salesman Bill Porter, whose story became a TV movie, dies at 81

PORTLAND, Oregon – Bill Porter, the door-to-door salesman in Portland, Oregon, who was portrayed by William H. Macy in an Emmy-winning TV movie, has died at 81.

Portland, Ore., door-to-door salesman Bill Porter, whose story became a TV movie, dies at 81

Stocks move sharply higher, breaking 5-day slump, as investors gain confidence in the economy

NEW YORK – Good news was finally good news for the stock market on Friday.

Stocks move sharply higher, breaking 5-day slump, as investors gain confidence in the economy

Feds seek new mental evaluation for man accused of 9/11 bomb hoax at Kansas City airport

KANSAS CITY, Missouri – Federal prosecutors are trying to figure out what to do with a schizophrenic Pennsylvania man accused of trying to take fake bombs through security at Kansas City International Airport on the 10th anniversary of the 9/11 terror attacks.

Feds seek new mental evaluation for man accused of 9/11 bomb hoax at Kansas City airport

Most heed warnings and stay inside as freezing rain, winds shut down North Texas

DALLAS – Freezing rain and stinging winds slammed the Southwest Friday and made a strangely blank landscape out of normally sun-drenched North Texas: mostly empty highways covered in a sometimes impassable frost, closed schools and businesses, and millions of residents hunkered down for icy conditions expected to last through the weekend.

Most heed warnings and stay inside as freezing rain, winds shut down North Texas