SANAA, Yemen — American unrest escalated in the Middle East on Thursday as demonstrators burned U.S. flags in Yemen and protesters descended on the embassy in Cairo for a third straight day.

Security was increased at American embassies and consulates around the world after a mob of Libyans attacked the U.S. Consulate in the eastern city of Benghazi, killing American Ambassador Christopher Stevens and three other Americans.

Wanis el-Sharef, eastern Libya’s deputy interior minister, said Thursday the …

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The U.S. ambassador to Libya, Christopher Stevens, and three other American diplomats were killed when suspected Libyan religious extremists stormed the U.S. Consulate in Benghazi late Tuesday, sparking a security crisis across the North African country and raising tensions across the Middle East.

Libyan officials spent the night in a manhunt trying to find those responsible for the killings, which occurred when an angry armed mob attacked the diplomatic complex in an apparent protest against an …

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A gunman has brought chaos to a separatist election victory rally in the Canadian province of Quebec, killing one man and wounding another.

The shooting cast a shadow over initial results indicating the Parti Quebecois was set to form a minority government after nine years in opposition.

PQ leader Pauline Marois was giving a victory speech in Montreal when shots were heard at the back of the hall.

She was rushed off the stage and a man was …

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Paul Ryan mostly got raves for the “optics” of his speech Wednesday night before the Republican National Convention, winning the image battle on the biggest night of his young political life. But by the time the reviews came piling in after midnight, the Republican vice presidential nominee had taken a serious beating for straying repeatedly from the facts.

The GOP’s newly minted Boy Wonder, just 42, bent or ignored the record on issues ranging from Medicare, …

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A federal court on Thursday blocked a controversial new voter ID law in Texas, ruling that the state failed to show that the law would not harm the voting rights of minorities.

The three-judge panel in the historic case said that evidence also showed that costs of obtaining a voter ID would fall most heavily on poor African Americans and Hispanics in Texas.

Evidence submitted by Texas to prove that its law did not discriminate was “unpersuasive, …

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Rep. Paul D. Ryan’s proposed federal budget — now starring as the centerpiece of the presidential campaign as he joins the Republican ticket — would reshape American government, achieving long-sought conservative goals and reversing an 80-year path of larger, more expensive federal programs.

Under Ryan’s plan, which has passed the Republican-controlled House twice in slightly different versions, the Internal Revenue Service would tax the wealthiest Americans less, but many of the poorest ones more; Medicare would …

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The U.S. Supreme Court on Thursday upheld the centerpiece of President Barack Obama’s signature healthcare overhaul law requiring that most Americans get insurance by 2014 or pay a financial penalty, a historic ruling that gave the White House a big win ahead of Obama’s re-election bid in November.

“The Affordable Care Act’s requirement that certain individuals pay a financial penalty for not obtaining health insurance may reasonably be characterized as a tax,” Chief Justice John Roberts …

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Egypt’s highest court declared the parliament invalid Thursday, and the country’s interim military rulers promptly declared full legislative authority, triggering a new level of chaos and confusion in the country’s leadership.

The Supreme Constitutional Court found that all articles making up the law that regulated parliamentary elections are invalid, said Showee Elsayed, a constitutional lawyer.

The ruling means that parliament must be dissolved, state TV reported.

Parliament has been in session for just over four months. It is …

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More than $1 million in public and private funds have been spent over the last year or so to renovate university residences of several new California State University presidents, improvements officials say are necessary as the pressure on campus leaders to raise funds becomes more acute.

Repairs to many of the homes had been delayed for years and the transition to new campus leaders provided a natural window to conduct the remodels, Cal State officials said.

The …

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Assemblyman Jared Huffman of San Rafael ran away with first place in Tuesday’s primary election for the new 2nd District congressional seat, but there remains some uncertainty about who Huffman will face in the November general election.

Huffman has 37.3 percent of the vote and Tiburon investment adviser Dan Roberts, the only Republican in the 12-candidate race, holds second place with a 15.3 percent share.

But West Marin progressive activist and author Norman Solomon, who is in …

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