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ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. – Police surrounded a Wal-Mart (search) on the city’s southeast side Thursday afternoon after getting an emergency call that someone had been shot inside the store. Police confirmed that one person had been killed. They said there was a stabbing and then a shooting, but they released no …

A drug available in Europe called roflumilast helps ease symptoms of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), researchers report in The Lancet. COPD is an inflammatory airway disease with progressive decline in lung function and health-related quality of life. In an international study of more than 1,100 patients with COPD, those …

LOS ANGELES – Actor-comedian Eddie Murphy’s (search) wife filed for divorce Friday, citing irreconcilable differences, his publicist confirmed. Murphy and his wife, Nicole, married in 1993 and have been separated since July. They have four daughters and one son, ages 3 to 15, according to divorce papers filed in Los …

ANCHORAGE, Alaska – Anyone doubting the effects of human activity on global climate change should talk to the people it affects in Alaska and the Yukon, U.S. Sen. John McCain (search) said Wednesday. Fresh from a trip to Barrow, America’s northernmost city, McCain said anecdotes from Alaskans and residents of …

WASHINGTON – Most participants in Medicare’s (search) new prescription drug benefit will spend about $5 less per month in premiums than originally anticipated because of competition among private plans bidding to offer the benefit. The savings will also extend to the government. The subsidies it pays the plans to provide …

SAN QUENTIN, Calif. – Forty-two inmates were injured Monday when a simmering dispute between two ethnic groups erupted into the largest riot at San Quentin State Prison (search) in 23 years. The fight broke out between white and Hispanic inmates in a medium security dormitory-style unit that houses roughly 900 …

New British research is rattling the roots of the family tree, citing paternity “discrepancy” in perhaps 4 percent of fathers studied. “Paternal discrepancy” is a delicate term for a loaded subject. It refers to a man who wrongly thinks he’s a child’s biological father. Paternal discrepancy was studied by researchers …

NEW YORK – Lucille Ball (search) is America’s most beloved dead star. The company that developed the “Q score (search)” that broadcasters and advertisers quietly consult to measure a personality’s popularity has done a survey that tests the reputation of performers who have gone on to that big soundstage in …

Researchers from a U.N. cancer agency are calling combined estrogen-progestin birth control pills and menopausal hormone replacement “carcinogenic to humans.” However, they don’t dismiss either type of drug. For instance, they state that birth control pills may “slightly” raise the risk of some cancers while lowering risks of other cancers. …

NEW YORK – Wholesale gasoline prices on the Gulf Coast broke $3 a gallon Tuesday — far higher than prices at most U.S. pumps — as major refineries remained shut after Hurricane Katrina (search), trading sources said. This could spell a huge spike in retail prices for drivers throughout the …