BOSTON -- James "Whitey" Bulger's former partner returned to the witness stand Wednesday for a fifth day of testimony, with the defense harping on his role as an FBI informant while trying to discredit him as a liar.

Stephen "The Rifleman" Flemmi alleges he and Bulger were secret FBI informants for years while they ran the city's murderous Irish mob known as the Winter Hill Gang.

The 79-year-old confessed killer admitted Wednesday that he didn't like it when other prison inmates called him a "rat," but also took a verbal swipe at Bulger.

"I don't think anybody likes it," Flemmi said. "I don't think Mr. Bulger likes it either."

Bulger, 83, faces charges connected to 19 killings during the 1970s and '80s while leading the notorious gang. He fled Boston in 1994 and was one of the nation's most-wanted fugitives until his arrest in California two years ago.

Bulger attorney J.W. Carney Jr. said in court Wednesday that the defense is trying to show jurors that Bulger wasn't a government...

Officials at Fort Carson, an Army post in Colorado, are investigating several soldiers for sexual misconduct with underage girls, the Army confirmed on Wednesday.

In an email to reporters, officials at the Infantry post outside Colorado Springs confirmed the investigation but refused to give details.

“Fort Carson is currently investigating allegations against several soldiers for sexual misconduct with female minors,” the statement read.

“The command is aware of the cases and is closely monitoring the investigations of these soldiers. At this time, no further details can be released as law enforcement investigations are still pending.

“We assure the community that the Army is taking this situation seriously and updates will be provided as information is made available,” officials said.

Over the past year, Fort Carson soldiers have been linked to other sexual assault cases, according to local news reports, including Lt. Aaron Lucas, an artillery officer,...

A judge has ruled that Detroit’s bankruptcy can proceed, days after a state court judge ruled that the bankruptcy was unconstitutional.

U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Steven Rhodes, who was named as the judge on the bankruptcy case last week, said that his courtroom was the exclusive venue for the case and that, although he wasn’t ruling whether the bankruptcy violated state law, it was up to him to decide the case.

There are still many steps to be taken before Detroit’s petition for bankruptcy is granted, and Wednesday's ruling does not mean that Rhodes will allow the city to receive Chapter 9 protection, said Andrew D. Gottfried, a partner in the bankruptcy and restructuring practice of the law firm Morgan Lewis.

But the ruling does remove the first of what is sure to be many obstacles for the city in proceeding with its case.

“He hasn’t ruled on the merits of the petition yet,” Gottfried said. “He’s just saying he has jurisdiction.”

Detro...

Marc Fucarile left a Boston hospital Wednesday, the last of those wounded in the bombing that traumatized the city and the nation 100 days ago.

“Today marks the 100th day of me in the hospital, not being able to spend the night with my boy or fiancee. You know, it’s been tough,” Fucarile told reporters as his son, Gavin, stood next to him and giggled happily.

On April 15, two bombs exploded along the ending segment of the Boston Marathon. Three people were killed and more than 260 injured in the explosions.

The Boston Marathon attack

Fucarile lost most of his right leg and suffered severe burns and shrapnel wounds. Two other people in his group also lost legs.

Doctors, nurses, other employees and relatives were in the lobby of the Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital to bid Fucarile good luck. He has made 16 trips to the operating room for a total of 49 surgical procedures.

Fucarile, a 34-year-old roofer who wore a “Boston Wicked Strong” T-shirt, said going...

The place is among the most scenic hiking destinations in the entire Southwest, an expanse near the Arizona-Utah border so popular that officials use a lottery to decide who gets to walk its trails.

It’s known as The Wave and its signature landscape is among the most photographed in North America. But it might also be called the Devil’s Playground.

In the last month, three hikers have died here, falling prey to triple-digit summer temperatures and often-confusing landscape along the so-called Colorado Plateau and the dazzlingly colored sandstone patterns where no marked trail shows the way.

On Monday, Elisabeth Bervel, 27, of Mesa, Ariz., died of cardiac arrest after she and her husband left their two young children with relatives to hike in the Vermilion Cliffs National Monument -- not far from Utah's Zion National Park -- in celebration of their fifth wedding anniversary, according to the sheriff’s office in Kane County, Ariz.

Earlier this month, Ulrich and Patricia...

Yes, that really was George Zimmerman. Yes, helping that family from a car crash a few days after the verdict really does seem coincidental. But no, the wreck really wasn't a PR setup.

Or so said Zimmerman's trial attorney, Mark O'Mara, to the cameras perched outside his Orlando law offices Wednesday, which were there to record the latest minor episode in the closely watched saga.

Because it wasn't just O'Mara who was supposed to be standing in front of TV reporters Wednesday.

The members of the family Zimmerman helped from an SUV were supposed to be there too but backed out not long after it was announced that they would talk about what happened.

On July 17, with his wife and two children inside the vehicle, Mark Gerstle lost control of the family's 2004 Ford Explorer on an off-ramp in Seminole County, causing the SUV to leave the road and roll over, officials said.

Zimmerman, fresh off his acquittal for murder in the shooting death of 17-year-old Trayvon Martin, didn't witness the...

It’s unclear how long Lulu Martinez will be held in immigration detention -- or if she'll be deported.

Still, the 23-year-old college student, brought to the United States illegally as a child, says that she and eight others who staged an unusual and brazen protest at the Nogales port of entry in Arizona are hanging on.

“Overall, we are all doing okay giving our very best,” according to a post on Martinez’s Facebook page. “I am so incredibly grateful for all the support and for all those who are coming together to bring us home.”

FULL COVERAGE: Immigration

Martinez, an Illinois resident who was brought into the United States illegally at age 3, voluntarily flew back across the border recently in a protest aimed at showcasing the thousands of people deported from the U.S. under the Obama administration.

Two other young adults also brought into the U.S. illegally -- Marco Saavedra, 23, of New York and Lizbeth Mateo, 29, of Los Angeles -- also crossed...

Carlos Danger was the youngest candidate in history to be elected to the New York City Council, then won seven campaigns for a congressional seat until a sexting scandal forced him into an early and unwanted retirement. Now he wants your vote for mayor of New York City because he is the candidate of contrition and advocate of middle-class values.

Oh wait, that isn’t Carlos Danger at all. That is the biography of his avatar in the real world, Anthony Weiner. And as the movie “The Matrix” long ago showed, the line between the real world and what is perceived to be the real world may be nothing more than a blur or a wish.

Politics, of course, lives on such divides. While Weiner may be fighting for his political life -- again, Carlos Danger, his nom de electronic plume is doing just fine. Less than a day after Weiner admitted he hadn’t completely dropped his sexting habit despite his frequent protestations that he was off the juice since being forced to resign from...

HOUSTON -- U.S. Coast Guard and firefighting vessels were standing by as officials prepared to stem a natural gas leak and fire that erupted at a well off the Louisiana coast overnight and continued to burn Wednesday following a blowout, authorities said.

No one was injured and all 44 workers aboard the rig were evacuated before the fire started at 10:45 p.m. Tuesday, officials said.

The rig was still on fire Wednesday and the Coast Guard was restricting vessel traffic within 500 meters of the rig, while also recommending that others stay five miles away, said Lt. j.g. Tanner Stiehl. They were also enforcing Federal Aviation Administration temporary restrictions on air travel up to 2,000 feet above the area, he said.

Federal safety authorities said in a statement Wednesday morning that “as the rig fire continues, the beams supporting the derrick and rig floor have folded and have collapsed over the rig structure.”

Local officials said they did not fear the natural gas leak...

CLEVELAND — Prosecutors and lawyers for a Cleveland man accused of holding three women captive in his home for more than a decade signaled Wednesday that they are talking about a possible plea deal.

With a trial less than two weeks away, there was no mention of whether the prosecutor will seek the death penalty. Attorneys for Ariel Castro, 53, say a deal is dependent on taking the death penalty off the table.

“My understanding is that the parties have discussed possible pleas and that you're working to see if that would be an effective resolution, is that correct?” Judge Michael Russo asked.

Both sides responded “yes” without elaboration and left the courtroom without commenting. Last month, the judge had mentioned the possibility of a plea deal raised by the defense.

Castro mostly kept his head down during the brief hearing and quietly answered “yes” to routine questions from the judge.

The hearing focused on the trial date, Aug. 5, and...

It is a dangerous job requiring the skills of an acrobat with the desire to help people. He had done it dozens of times before, but this time a Las Vegas police officer’s successful rescue of a stranded hiker cost him his life.

When the alarm sounded Monday night about a hiker in danger, Las Vegas police officer David Vanbuskirk and his crew jumped into a helicopter and flew to a rocky ledge in an off-limits area near Mount Charleston northwest of the city. Vanbuskirk, a 13-year veteran of the department, donned his harness and went to work, officials said at an emotional news conference on Tuesday.

Vanbuskirk was lowered to the ledge, then linked the unidentified hiker to the rescue harness. The hiker was lifted to the airborne safety of the craft, but something went wrong on Vanbuskirk’s return and he plunged into the canyon, the first officer to die on duty since 2009, officials said. The cause of the accident is being investigated.

“This officer dedicated his life...