Hurricane Earl weakened to a Category 1 storm Friday with winds of 85 mph, but the Northeast was still preparing to feel its fury.

Six job recruiters have been indicted in federal court in what the FBI has called the largest human-trafficking operation ever to result in charges in the United States.

A man gathering sweet corn in southern Michigan is the latest to have an unexpected encounter with an alligator.



Alligator - Maize - Corn - Michigan - Agriculture

The Obama administration says Mexico has met enough human rights requirements to release $36 million in previously withheld funds that were part of the $1.4 billion Merida Initiative.



Mexico - Human rights - Human Rights and Liberties - Advocacy Organizations - Africa

A federal appeals court has overturned a businessman's tax fraud conviction because the Los Angeles judge didn't postpone the case so the man could be at his son's deathbed.



Los Angeles - United States - Tax avoidance and tax evasion - United States courts of appeals - Trial

Authorities are searching a Northern California landfill for signs of a missing man whose father was killed last week.



California - Police - Northern California - United States - Landfill

A federal judge in Pittsburgh says a former airline pilot will spend nine months in prison for selling a powdered drink mix meant to help truck drivers, pilots and train engineers pass federal drug tests.



Aviator - DrugTest - Business - Truck driver - Recreation

An aircraft believed to be a cargo plane crashed Friday outside Dubai, an airport official said. There was no immediate word on casualties.



Dubai - United Arab Emirates - Middle East - Aircraft - Aviation

Some people who live on islands off the coast of Maine and New Hampshire have decided to play it safe and return to the mainland before the seas are churned up by Hurricane Earl.



Hurricane Earl - New Hampshire - Maine - United States - North Carolina

Some people who live on islands off the coast of Maine and New Hampshire have decided to play it safe and return to the mainland before the seas are churned up by Hurricane Earl.



Hurricane Earl - New Hampshire - Maine - United States - North Carolina

President Obama promised to lay out a broad package of ideas for job creation next week and slamming Senate Republicans for blocking his small business aid legislation.

The family at the center of the balloon boy hoax has moved out of the house where the fateful trip began, leaving Colorado for Florida.



Colorado - Balloon boy hoax - Florida - United States - Crafts

The two candidates facing off in Guinea's historic runoff election later this month say they'll respect its outcome.



Guinea - Two-round system - Africa - Politics - Campaigns and Elections

A Maine farmer-owned organic milk company is going to keep processing milk after all. David Bright, of Maine's Own Organic Milk, or MOOMilk, says a number of individuals and foundations have provided enough money to enable the company to sell its product to two Maine food banks.



Maine - Milk - United States - Food - Dairy

Police in Bosnia say they believe they have located a young woman shown in a video throwing puppies into a river.



Bosnia-Herzegovina - Police - YouTube - Law - Bosnia

A southern Michigan man simply wanted to gather some sweet corn for the family freezer. He didn't expect to have to deal with a 34-inch alligator rushing at him. Jeff Adamski of St. Joseph County was in a corn field near the Michigan-Indiana border when two women came running from a few rows over, screaming that they had seen an ...



Michigan - Sweet corn - Corn - Field Crops - Cereals

Business hiring is picking up, but not enough to make up for the massive losses of temporary government jobs.

Hurricane Earl is weakening but the National Hurricane Center says gusts of more than 70 mph are still possible on Cape Cod and Nantucket Island in Massachusetts as the storm moves northeast.



Massachusetts - Cape Cod - National Hurricane Center - Nantucket Massachusetts - Earth Sciences

Hurricane Earl is weakening but the National Hurricane Center says gusts of more than 70 mph are still possible on Cape Cod and Nantucket Island in Massachusetts as the storm moves northeast.



Massachusetts - Cape Cod - National Hurricane Center - Nantucket Massachusetts - Earth Sciences