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WASHINGTON -- President Barack Obama praised the sportsmanship of the San Antonio Spurs as "a great metaphor for what America should be all about." Obama hosted the Spurs at the White House on Monday to celebrate their victory in the 2014 NBA Finals.

Even though Harry Potter has graduated Hogwarts and moved onto bigger and brighter things (with decidedly less peril), J.K. Rowling is still creating magic with her words. As evidenced by her stunning takedown of Rupert Murdoch’s ignorant comments about the recent events in Paris. On Friday, the News Corp chairman had some stunningly misguided words for the Muslim people of the world in the wake of the Charlie Hebdo attack in Paris, calling for the “Moslems” of the world to take the blame. Terrorism, you see, is their problem and they’ll have to either fix it for the rest of...

HOUSTON - Houston police and U.S. Postal Inspectors worked together on a case involving numerous luxury cars being purchased with stolen identities. Police said the case began with a tip about a single car purchase that seemed "irregular." Police said five men used other people's identities to rack up hundreds of thousands of dollars in car purchases. Police said the men bought Porsches, Audis, Land Rovers, BMWs and a Chevy Camaro. "Most of the dealerships didn't know they had been a victim yet, before we were calling them saying, 'Hey, there's a problem with this deal, you might want to...

Former Miami Dolphins fullback Rob Konrad apparently fell off his boat off the South Florida coast but arrived safely on shore early Thursday morning after swimming at least 10 hours and nine miles through the Atlantic Ocean waters, according to the Coast Guard. Konrad was wearing only his underwear when he approached the driveway gate of 1800 S. Ocean Blvd. and told a Palm Beach police officer working a security shift about his incredible experience, a Palm Beach police report says.

BUENOS AIRES, Jan. 9 (UPI) -- In the eyes of Argentina's courts, female orangutan Sandra is a person -- or at least worthy of rights and protections similar to those of a human being. As Andrés Gil Dominguez, spokesperson for the Association of Professional Lawyers for Animal Rights in Argentina, puts it: she's no longer just an "object" in the eyes of the law. It's the first time an animal has been granted expansive basic rights on par with a human.

Dunkin’ Brands Group will open more than 1,400 doughnut shops in China over the next two decades, the Canton-based company said Thursday. Dunkin’ said its agreement with Golden Cup Pte. Ltd. is the largest development agreement in its 65-year history. The company, which currently has 16 outlets in China, said the first restaurant under the new agreement would open in late 2015.

DENVER -- The U.S. Olympic Committee chose Boston to bid for the 2024 Games in an attempt to bring the Summer Olympics to America after a 28-year gap. During a daylong meeting at the Denver airport, USOC board members chose Boston over Los Angeles, San Francisco and Washington, all of which have been lobbying to become the American choice for more than a year.

U.S. policy created for humanitarian reasons 50 years ago has fueled a criminal pipeline from Cuba to Florida, enabling crooks from the island to rob American businesses and taxpayers of more than $2 billion over two decades. A yearlong Sun Sentinel investigation found money stolen in the United States streaming back to Cuba, and a revolving door that allows thieves to come here, make a quick buck and return.

President Barack Obama is an admittedly big sports fan, so it shouldn't come as a huge surprise that he was watching the Cowboys-Lions game on Sunday. What might come as a surprise though is that Obama, a Chicago Bears fan, actually empathizes with Lions fans after Detroit's controversial 24-20 loss. The president told the Detroit News that he would be 'pretty aggravated' if he were a Lions fan.

Tuesday wasn’t Curt Schilling’s day to be elected to baseball’s Hall of Fame and the Boston Red Sox former great believes his politics are one reason he fell short of the necessary number of votes. Schilling’s former teammate, Pedro Martinez, was elected, along with Randy Johnson, John Smoltz and Craig Biggio. Although he and Smoltz have similar stats, Schilling fell 240 votes short.

A woman who left her 1-year-old child sitting alone at a Boynton Beach bar was arrested Sunday, police said.. Concerned customers at Banana Boat Lounge and Restaurant, at 739 E. Ocean Ave., told police a woman, later identified as Ashton Krauss, 28, of Ocean Ridge, went to an outdoor bar in the back of the restaurant at about 5:30 p.m. and put the child in a high chair.

HONOLULU, Jan. 4 (UPI) -- President Barack Obama and his daughters visited Pearl Jam frontman Eddie Vedder and family on the final day of their Hawaiian vacation on Saturday. The president and his family were renting a vacation home near Honolulu, Hawaii, where he was born, and they decided to visit Eddie Vedder while in Kailua. Vedder played the Hawaiian ukelele at a 2012 re-election fundraiser for Obama in Tampa, Fla.

WALTHAM, Mass. - A suburban Boston man is accused of killing his wife during an argument over a Christmas gift, reports CBS Boston. Julio Resto, 51, pleaded not guilty to murder and other charges in Waltham District Court Wednesday afternoon in the death of his wife, 42-year-old Gloria Resto. He was ordered held without bail. Police say Resto first tried to strangle his wife and then stabbed her with a kitchen knife in their apartment in Waltham early Wednesday morning. Julio told police his wife was upset with him because he did not buy her a Christmas gift, reports the...

AUGUSTA — Gov. Paul Le-Page’s administration is firing back at the federal government over its policy of putting welfare recipients’ photos on the cards used to access food stamps, which federal officials have warned could cause Maine to lose some program funding. In a Dec. 18 letter to the Food and Nutrition Service obtained by The Associated Press, Department of Health and Human Services Commissioner Mary Mayhew responded to several concerns raised by the agency last month and blasted officials for consistently putting up “roadblocks and barriers” in the state’s effort to prevent fraud and abuse.

A Haverhill woman is accused of swinging a large metal crucifix at a police officer — a cross that Haverhill authorties say had been placed in the manger at Sacred Hearts Church after the church’s creche was vandalized with a pig’s head on Christmas Day. At 3 p.m. yesterday, police were called to a church on Portland Street where a woman reportedly had written “666” on the outside of the building in at least 15 places. The building is home to a Spanish language Baptist church, La Iglesia Biblica Bautista.

MEMPHIS, Tenn. -- Texas A&M student assistant coach Michael Richardson was sent home early from the Aggies' appearance in the AutoZone Liberty Bowl after hitting West Virginia players in the first half of Texas A&M's 45-37 win on Monday at Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium. Cameras showed Richardson striking West Virginia players who ventured out of bounds during the first half on two separate occasions. He used his elbow to strike Mountaineer cornerback Daryl Worley in the back of the head and shoved running back Andrew Buie in another incident.

WORCESTER — Erika L. Murray gave birth to five children in the bathroom of her Blackstone home, and three did not survive — while those who did were essentially imprisoned in a bedroom behind a wall of dirty diapers and trash, a prosecutor said Monday. One of the survivors — a girl now 3 years old — was so badly neglected that when she was examined by doctors for the first time in her life, a pediatrician had to remove maggots from her ears before she could even hear those trying to speak to her, a prosecutor said in court...

Parx Racing-based rider Angel Suarez, who was a finalist for an Eclipse Award in 2012 as outstanding apprentice jockey, is in critical condition after being shot Sunday following an alleged break-in, assault and other offenses, according to multiple Philadelphia-area television news outlets. Bensalem, Pennsylvania, police told the news outlets that Suarez, 21, was shot by a resident Sunday evening in an apartment that Suarez had allegedly forcefully entered where he assaulted two residents.

Five people, including a 14-year-old boy, have been charged with murder in connection with a fatal shooting Monday morning during a home invasion in the Clearing neighborhood on the Southwest Side. Chicago Police announced early Wednesday that first-degree murder charges have been filed against: - An unidentified 14-year-old boy; - Schanise Barfield, 22, of the 200 block of North Leclaire Avenue; - Diamond Gamble, 23, of the 5000 block of West West End Avenue; - Nathaniel Jefferson, 24, of the 100 block of North Laramie Avnue; and - Quinton Washington, 24, of the 4900 block of West West End Avenue.

Boeing (NYSE: BA ) extended its sales lead over archrival Airbus (NASDAQOTH: EADSY ) in December. In its latest update on airplane orders, released last week, Boeing confirmed that 2014 "gross" orders for commercial aircraft reached 1,423 by mid-December, versus 1,328 planes for Airbus (at last report). After cancellations -- 106 at Boeing, but nearly three times as many at Airbus -- the U.S. aircraft maker's lead over its European rival only got bigger. This is good news for Boeing -- but, as we'll see in a moment, it might be bad news for one of Boeing's favorite customers: the...