Ever since Richard Nixon's 1973 promise to attain energy independence, successive U.S. presidents all have pledged the same goal, even as foreign supplies composed a larger and larger share of the U.S. energy mix. Now, almost 40 years later, a measure of independence is within reach. But as this booming mountain town in northeastern Pennsylvania shows, the quest for independence involves both ...

to China and Russia and in numerous trips around the country carefully documented by state media.The leade...

confronted a huge roadblock as Iranian ally Russia said it would oppose any new measures in the U.N. ...

program.The U.S. and Russia are the only other countries to master the space docking technique. It was "a...

Israeli scientist Daniel Shechtman won the 2011 Nobel Prize in chemistry on Wednesday for his discovery of quasicrystals, a mosaic-like chemical structure that researchers previously thought was impossible.The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences said Shechtman's discovery in 1982 fundamentally changed the way chemists look at solid matter. It initially faced strong objections from the scientific com...

CAIRO-The U.N. Security Council Thursday gave the go-ahead to Britain and France - backed by the U.S. and at least two Arab nations - to launch airstrikes to enforce a no-fly zone over Libya and to protect civilians in rebel-held areas from forces loyal to dictator Moammar Gadhafi. The resolution is designed to ground the aircraft that have given Gadhafi's forces a considerable edge over the r...

The control systems of Iran’s Bushehr nuclear plant have been penetrated by a computer worm unleashed last year, according to a foreign intelligence report that warns of a possible Chernobyl-like disaster once the site becomes fully operational.Russia’s envoy to NATO, Dmitry Rogozin, also has raised the specter of the 1986 reactor explosion in Ukraine, but suggested last week that th...

President Barack Obama is condemning an explosion that killed at least 35 people at Moscow's busiest airport, calling it "an outrageous act of terrorism against the Russian people."Russia's president, Dmitry Medvedev, said it looked like a terror attack. A state news agency says the blast may have been set off by a suicide bomber.Obama also extended his condolences to the Russian people, whom he s...

Russian officials say an explosion caused by an apparent terrorist attack ripped through the international arrivals hall at Moscow's busiest airport, killing 31 people and wounding about 130.President Dmitry Medvedev told officials "from the preliminary information we have it was a terror attack,"The state RIA Novosti news agency, citing sources in law enforcement, said the explosion Monday aftern...

Republicans blocked a last-ditch effort in the Senate to lift the military's ban on openly gay troops on Thursday, dealing a major blow to gay rights groups and making it unlikely Congress could repeal "don't ask, don't tell" any time soon.The 57-40 vote fell three short of the 60 needed to overcome procedural hurdles to lift the 17-year-old ban. Sen. Susan Collins of Maine was the lone Republican...

Harry Potter has cast his biggest box-office spell yet with a franchise record $125.1 million domestically over opening weekend, according to studio estimates Sunday."Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1" also added $205 million in 54 overseas countries, bringing the film's worldwide total to $330.1 million.In terms of domestic revenue, "Deathly Hallows: Part 1" came in ahead of the series...

Russia's Foreign Ministry says the arrest of 10 alleged Russian spies in the United States is a throwback to the Cold War.The ministry said in a statement Tuesday the U.S. actions are unfounded and pursued "unseemly" goals. It voiced regret that the arrests came even though President Barack Obama has moved to "reset" U.S. relations wth Russia.The FBI has arrested 10 people who allegedly spied for ...

The ambassador from the Republic of Georgia is visiting South Carolina to thank the crew of a Coast Guard cutter that provided humanitarian aide to his nation during its war with Russia two years ago.Georgian Ambassador Batu Kutelia (BAH'-too koo-TAY'-lee-ah) visits the Coast Guard cutter Dallas