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Guinness World Records has taken the title of world’s tallest man away from Ukrainian Leonid Stadnyk because he has continually refused to be measured in accordance with the publication’s guidelines, Reuters reported The title now reverts back to China’s Bao Xishun, who stands at 7 feet, 8.95 inches. Stadnyk stands …

BAGHDAD – Masked gunmen ambushed a bus carrying electoral officials in southern Iraq on Monday, killing two and seriously wounding a third, officials said. Two top members of a local committee preparing for provincial elections were killed, according to police and the head of Basra’s elections panel, Hazim al-Rubaie. Upcoming …

INSTITUTE, W.Va. – One worker was missing and a second injured in an explosion at a Bayer CropScience plant that left thousands of nearby residents being urged to stay indoors. The explosion, which sent a fireball hundreds of feet into the air and could be felt miles away, occurred about …

SAN FRANCISCO – Cindy Sheehan, an icon of America’s anti-war movement, has qualified to challenge House Speaker Nancy Pelosi for her seat in Congress. Sheehan, 51, says Pelosi failed to persuade her party to end funding for the Iraq war after Democrats reclaimed the House majority in the 2006 midterm …

DALLAS – A tow truck driver unknowingly hauled away a car with a 7-year-old asleep inside before returning the vehicle minutes later and speeding away, police said. The panicked parents of the missing boy watched the driver hurriedly unhook their car and take off as they met with authorities late …

BUCHAREST, Romania – Russian President Vladimir Putin scored a major diplomatic coup by scuttling the NATO membership bids of Ukraine and Georgia even before he reached the NATO summit. NATO’s plan to expand further into former Soviet turf collapsed Thursday when leaders — anxious to avoid angering Moscow — opted …

RENO, Nev. – Scientists urged residents of northern Nevada’s largest city to prepare for a bigger event as the area continued rumbling Saturday after the largest earthquake in a two-month-long series of temblors. More than 100 aftershocks were recorded on the western edge of the city after a magnitude 4.7 …

WASHINGTON – The Bush administration will use its authority to bypass more than 30 laws and regulations to finish building 670 miles of fence along the southwest U.S. border by the end of 2008, federal officials said Tuesday. Invoking the two legal waivers, which Congress authorized, will cut through bureaucratic …

BUENOS AIRES, Argentina – Fires allegedly set by farmers sent clouds of smoke across the Argentine capital on Thursday, disrupting air and highway travel and choking millions of Argentines. Some 270 square miles have burned in recent days, according to Interior Minister Florencio Randazzo. “We are facing a disaster caused …

WILMINGTON, N.C. – Traffic was backed up and police were called to control the crowd after a Wilmington gas station accidentally set the pump price at 35 cents a gallon. The Wilmington Star-News reported Friday that hundreds of drivers flooded a BP station for the cheap gas after the price …