WASHINGTON – About 1.5 million toy fishing poles featuring the cartoon characters SpongeBob Squarepants (search), Dora the Explorer (search), Tigger (search) and the cast of “Rocket Power” (search) are being recalled because their paint contains lead, the government said Wednesday. Zebco, a fishing equipment manufacturer based in Tulsa, Okla., is …

MESA, Ariz. – The Mesa Police Department is looking to add some primal instinct to its SWAT team. And to do that, it’s looking to a monkey. “Everybody laughs about it until they really start thinking about it,” said Mesa Officer Sean Truelove, who builds and operates tactical robots for …

NEW YORK – Two teenage brothers and their 7-year-old nephew were killed in an apartment fire that authorities believe may have been sparked by a stove left on for three days — a custom observed during Passover in some Orthodox Jewish (search) communities. The victims of Monday’s blaze were brothers …

LOS ANGELES – Two teenagers have pleaded guilty to stealing a computer belonging to Robert Blake’s (search) attorney that contained vital information in the actor’s murder case. The laptop computer was stolen from M. Gerald Schwartzbach’s (search) apartment Dec. 1 while the attorney was preparing for Blake’s trial in the …

Here’s what ought to make you crazy about the John Bolton (search) situation, in a nutshell. The Washington Post coverage of the story Wednesday demonstrates exactly how this is so stupid. They are hyperventilating about how the Democrats have Bolton on the ropes. Part of the attack is the claim …

NEW YORK – Peter Jennings (search) hasn’t returned to the air since his April 5 announcement that he has lung cancer, but he’s often shaping “World News Tonight” from behind the scenes. Jennings sometimes participates in the 9 a.m. daily conference call to set assignments for the day, said Jon …

Disney is reaching for the stars, bringing the beloved novel “The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy” (search) to the big screen this weekend. But blowing up the world is not without its risks. While many fans have been giving it the thumbs-up after sneak previews, M.J. Simpson (search), the unofficial …

NEW YORK – A group of seat holders on the New York Stock Exchange, led by billionaire investor and former NYSE director Kenneth Langone (search), are attempting to mount an effort to purchase the Big Board and override the exchange’s announced merger with all-electronic marketplace Archipelago Holdings Inc. (AX), sources …

PROVIDENCE, R.I. – A federal appeals court threw out the prison sentence of former Providence Mayor Vincent “Buddy” Cianci (search) and ordered him to be resentenced by a lower court on his conviction for racketeering (search) conspiracy. Under the ruling issued Tuesday in Boston, the 1st U.S. Circuit Court of …

ROME – An Italian F-16 (search) fighter jet intercepted a suspicious plane heading to Rome’s Ciampino airport (search) Friday, hours after the funeral of Pope John Paul II (search), and escorted it to a local military airport, an Air Force spokesman said. The plane was forced to land at 4:20 …