A massive experimental drone designed by Boeing Co. engineers to fly for up to four days at a time completed its first test flight above the Mojave Desert at Edwards Air Force Base.

The drone, called Phantom Eye, and its hydrogen-fueled propulsion system have the potential to vastly expand the reach of military spy craft. The longest that reconnaissance planes can stay in the air now is about 30 hours.

In the test flight, which took place …

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RAMALLAH, Palestinian Territories — Palestinian prisoners in Israel are threatening to relaunch a hunger strike, a Palestinian official said on Sunday, blaming Israel for reneging on a deal that ended a recent one.

“There are still provocations in the prisons, and the prisoners are threatening to resume the strike if the situation remains as it is,” Palestinian prisoners minister Issa Qaraqaa said at a press conference in Ramallah.

Some 1,550 Palestinians imprisoned in Israel ended a hunger …

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“Welcome to the Mexican spring,” says a young student over a microphone on the campus of Mexico’s most famed university, the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM).

“It’s time for change; it is time for a new Mexico,” he continues, met by thunderous applause. Students in the audience are munching on potato chips with hot sauce and lemon and mango-flavored ices, and have gathered for the first general assembly of Mexico’s brand-new student movement known …

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(Reuters) – Wal-Mart Stores Inc, the world’s largest retailer and biggest seller of firearms in the United States, is dropping out of a conservative advocacy group in the United States that has been criticized for promoting “Stand Your Ground” gun laws.

Wal-Mart was suspending its membership in the American Legislative Council (ALEC), which the retailer joined in 1993, the company said late on Wednesday.

Other groups that have backed away from supporting ALEC, include Coca-Cola Co, Kraft …

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Four carwash workers filed suit Monday claiming that a family of carwash owners routinely withheld pay for overtime and denied them breaks during the summer.

The lawsuit is one of a series filed on behalf of carwash workers since 2008 in an attempt by unions and immigrant advocates to improve conditions in an industry in which competition is fierce, profit margins are low and workers are often undocumented immigrants from Mexico and Central America.

A Times report …

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Trayvon Martin’s fatal encounter with George Zimmerman was “avoidable,” and the teen was not doing anything criminal at the time of their confrontation on Feb. 26, a report by Sanford, Fla., police says.

The report, dated March 13, came nearly a month before a special prosecutor brought second-degree charges against Zimmerman, 28, in the death of 17-year-old Trayvon. He has pleaded not guilty and said he acted in self-defense.

“The encounter between George Zimmerman and Trayvon Martin …

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Women have been under economic assault in Washington for months. Deficit hawks have taken aim at social programs and civil rights protections that help keep women safe, healthy and able to participate in work and community life. To some lawmakers, none of that is more important than “saving” taxpayer dollars—which is often shorthand for robbing working women of both their earnings and their safety net.

The hostility toward women crested this week as conservative lawmakers pushed …

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Joining a growing number of municipalities, the Los Angeles City Council on Tuesday adopted a “responsible banking” ordinance that will require banks doing business with the city to disclose detailed data on loans and foreclosure activity by community.

Much of the information is already reported under federal law but can be hard to find in voluminous federal banking reports, said Miguel Santana, city administrative officer. The new law would bring the information together on a city …

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The deal under which some 1,600 Palestinian prisoners agreed on Monday to end a month-long fast against Israel’s prison policy was struck on the eve of Nakba (catastrophe) Day that marks Israel’s founding in a 1948 war when hundreds of thousands of Palestinians fled or were driven out of their homes.

Youths clashed with Israeli police and soldiers in several parts of the occupied West Bank on Tuesday, but there was no repeat of last year’s …

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SACRAMENTO — Gov. Jerry Brown released a plan to close California’s rapidly growing deficit by switching state offices to a four-day week, slashing welfare benefits and healthcare for the poor and relying on a variety of short-term fixes — all in the hopes that voters will give the state some breathing room by raising taxes in November.

The governor, who unveiled his revised budget proposal in the Capitol on Monday, is facing a nearly $16-billion budget …

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