BAGHDAD – President Bush’s last trip to Iraq was kept secret until he arrived at a U.S. military base. Eight hours later he left, after Iraq’s leaders traveled to meet him there. In sharp contrast, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s visit — the first ever by an Iranian leader to Iraq — …

WASHINGTON – Navy Adm. William Fallon, the head of U.S. Central Command, which leads U.S. operations in Iraq and Afghanistan, is stepping down, Defense Secretary Robert Gates announced Tuesday. Fallon claimed ongoing misperceptions about differences between his ideas and U.S. policy are making it too difficult for him to operate, …

DALLAS – Southwest Airlines grounded 41 planes overnight in the wake of its recent admission that it had missed required inspections of some planes for structural cracks. The move announced Wednesday comes as Southwest faces a $10.2 million civil penalty for continuing to fly nearly 50 planes after the airline …

Monday, March 31, 2008 – General Motors Corp. is closing a sedan plant in the Detroit area as a result of the monthlong strike at parts supplier American Axle. GM said Monday the shutdown of the Hamtramck assembly plant will affect 1,849 hourly workers. It is the 29th plant to …

RENO, Nev. – “Girls Gone Wild” founder Joe Francis won his release from a Nevada jail on Monday so he can return to Florida to answer charges stemming from a five-year-old case involving the filming of underage girls. His lawyer told a federal judge in Reno that Francis will travel …

A California judge rejected a foster teen’s request for early enlistment with the Marine Corps — and a $10,000 signing bonus — reportedly on the grounds that the judge didn’t approve of the Iraq war. Los Angeles Superior Court Commissioner Marilyn Mackel denied 17-year-old Shawn Sage’s request to join the …

German Chancellor Angela Merkel is the first world leader to announce that she will not attend the Summer Olympics in Beijing, according to a report in Britain’s The Guardian newspaper on Saturday. Frank-Walter Steinmeier, Germany’s foreign minister, confirmed that Merkel was staying away, the Guardian reported, adding that neither he …

COLUMBIA, S.C. – With a deadline looming for states to seek extensions on complying with stricter driver’s license requirements, South Carolina lawmakers urged the governor Thursday to ask for one so residents won’t be hampered when boarding airplanes or entering federal buildings. South Carolina, Maine and Montana are the only …

MIAMI – The star witness in the retrial of six men accused of plotting to destroy Chicago’s Sears Tower and bomb FBI offices testified Tuesday that the group was fully committed to the terrorist attacks and that the FBI did not entrap the men as defense attorneys claim. The witness, …

SAN DIEGO – A former Marine drill instructor convicted of abusing 23 recruits has been granted clemency and released more than two months early. The Associated Press confirmed Tuesday that Pvt. Jerrod Glass was quietly released Feb. 23 from the brig after the commanding general at the Marine Corps Recruit …