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Nine 7-Eleven store owners and managers who authorities say ran a “modern-day plantation system,” employing dozens of immigrant workers at New York and Virginia convenience stores, were just one thread in a vast human trafficking and forced labor web that stretches around the world and into American homes.Investigators filed indictments earlier this week against the eight men and one woman who wer...    

Forcing a combined American Airlines and US Airways Group to surrender slots at Reagan National Airport would risk fewer flights to small and medium-sized cities, US Airways CEO Doug Parker told lawmakers on Wednesday.

The new MERS virus, which has infected 64 people and killed 38 of them, is mostly spread in hospitals and it will take special care to prevent bigger outbreaks, experts reported on Wednesday.An investigation into the outbreak in Saudi Arabia showed 21 people were infected as patients who unknowingly went from one clinic to another, spreading the virus. It can spread quickly in the hospital if stri...    

The economy is growing, the labor market is improving and inflation is nothing to worry about. That's the Federal Reserve's widely-anticipated assessment of the economy, released Wednesday after a two-day meeting.The Fed said it would keep interest rates at historic lows near zero and that it would continue its bond buying program, known as quantitative easing, aimed at keeping the central bank's ...    

The new MERS virus, which has infected 64 people and killed 38 of them, is mostly spread in hospitals and it will take special care to prevent bigger outbreaks, experts reported on Wednesday.An investigation into the outbreak in Saudi Arabia showed 21 people were infected as patients who unknowingly went from one clinic to another, spreading the virus. It can spread quickly in the hospital if stri...    

In a major national security address in May, President Obama said it was time to take the United States off the war footing it has been on since the September 11 terrorist attacks -- and at one point stated, “This war, like all wars, must end.”  The speech was widely seen as a signal Obama views the war on terrorism as winding down.

A Fox News national poll released Wednesday finds American voters disagree. 

In this month’s issue of Vogue, Katy Perry reveals how she learned that her marriage to Russell Brand was over: via text message. That’s cold, but she's in good company, at least among these painfully awkward pop culture splits. Real or fictional, these breakups left us cringing.Carrie and Berger, 'Sex and the City'In one of the most famously embarrassing breakups in TV history, Berger (Ron Living...    

Until recently, the only crime that Cap’N Crunch could be accused of was cutting up the roofs of our mouths, despite his cereal’s delicious sweet corn taste. Now, an eagle-eyed cereal lover has found that Cap’N Crunch is not a captain at all, but a commander, according to the stripes on his uniform. Navy captains sport four stripes, while commanders have three—as the captain does—but many on the ...    

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George Zimmerman's parents were in a Florida courtroom Wednesday to "visibly advocate" for the former neighborhood watch volunteer charged with murdering Trayvon Martin, the family said in a statement.Robert and Gladys Zimmerman did not previously attend jury selection because they have received death threats and have been taking care of an elderly relative with Alzheimer's, their older son, Rober...    

Scorpions, crickets and other insects are inching their way into America's diets. Holly Firfer reports.

Cliffs Natural Resources Inc said on Wednesday that if iron ore prices fell further, it could scrap a key expansion at its Bloom Lake mine in Canada's iron-rich Labrador Trough region.

After supporters of the Senate immigration reform bill got a boost from a new report estimating that the bill would substantially decrease the federal budget deficit over the next two decades, conservative opponents of the legislation pushed back Wednesday, saying the legislation would fail to stop illegal immigration, decrease American wages and hurt the Republican Party.The nonpartisan Congressi...    

KABUL, Afghanistan -- Secretary of State John Kerry assured Afghan President Hamid Karzai that the government of Qatar took down a sign board under the name of "Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan," adding that the United States is committed to all its agreements with the Afghan government.The Taliban office "must not be treated as or represent itself as an embassy or other office representing the Afgh...    

Struggling student loan debtors are being tricked into paying up to $1,600 in fees to private firms offering "debt relief" that they could get for free, according to a report issued Wednesday by the National Consumer Law Center.Student loan debt relief ads began crowding their way onto media in recent months. Consumers deep in credit card debt have heard the pitch for years, in seemingly incessant...    

KABUL, Afghanistan -- Secretary of State John Kerry assured Afghan President Hamid Karzai that the government of Qatar took down a sign board under the name of "Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan," adding that the United States is committed to all its agreements with the Afghan government.The Taliban office "must not be treated as or represent itself as an embassy or other office representing the Afgh...    

Several people were rushed to the hospital during a pool party after organizers mixed liquid nitrogen with pool chlorine.

From the Funny or Die archives: Patton Oswalt tries to stop the Internet from taking over. For more go to funnyordie.com

Your daily recap on precious metals.

The head of The Associated Press blasted the Justice Department on Wednesday over its seizure of journalists' phone records, saying the move effectively could give dictatorships cover to harass their own media.