NEW YORK

A northern California judge has rejected the state's new protocol for lethal injections affecting death penalties. Judge Fay D'Opal, a Marin County Superior Court official, said correction officials had failed to explain why the single injection method, used in some other states, was not considered in the new rules; the current standard is a three drug injection method.

Graham Brown, a New York City born, who appeared on stage at London’s Globe Theatre has died at the age of 87 on Dec. 13 in New Jersey.

A consortium of software giant Microsoft Corp., private-equity group Silver Lake, and venture-capital firm Andreessen Horowitz are reworking their bid for a minority stake in Internet company Yahoo Inc., a source familiar with the matter said on Friday.

British-born journalist and atheist intellectual Christopher Hitchens, who made the United States his home and backed the 2003 U.S. invasion of Iraq, died on Thursday at the age of 62.

Christopher Hitchens was as divisive as they come in print, but the news of his death has elicited a universal outpouring of grief and respect from the journalistic community -- and from some unlikely sources.

The chief executive officer of the New York Times Janet Robinson will be retiring at year's end, an announcement made earlier today, conveniently two weeks before her departure. The New York Times has reported that the company could be looking to the technology sector for its new CEO.

Animal enthusiasts may find it hard to comprehend that anyone would be afraid of a cute, cuddly puppy, but studies prove that animal phobias are quite real and distinct from other types of phobias.

Mayor Michael Bloomberg has ruled that holiday decorations will not be hung this year in the Staten Island Ferry stations.

A rally in stocks fizzled, leaving major indexes with modest gains on Friday, as Wall Street was torn between hope that U.S. economic data signals better times ahead and fear Europe's debt crisis will engulf world economies.

A new showdown between the NYPD and Occupy Wall Street protesters looms as the movement heads back to the private space next to Duarte Square at noon on Saturday, Dec. 17 (hence the #D17 Twitter tag), after being excommunicated from the site last month by its owner, Trinity Church.

Six thousand registered nurses are ready to walk out of three of the biggest city hospitals, Mr. Sinai, Montefiore and St. Luke's-Roosevelt.

Comic book artist Joe Simon, who created Captain America with the late Jack Kirby, has died at age 98, a family spokesman said on Thursday.

Jazz musician Wynton Marsalis will join U.S. television network CBS as a cultural correspondent to provide coverage of cultural and educational topics, CBS said on Thursday.

The NDAA Bill 2012 contains language that allows the Pentagon to wage cyberwar against any domestic enemies of the state, including activists and independent news outlets.

Emily Post notwithstanding, there's probably no gracious way to projectile vomit in your host's living room. And it says something about the darkly funny antics of Carnage that said puking probably doesn't constitute the most socially awkward moment.

Italy's Prime Minister Mario Monti won a confidence vote in the Lower House on Friday to speed the passage of a 30 billion euro ($39 billion) austerity package aimed at speeding up the implementation of urgent measures that would stimulate growth in Italy's economy.

Police officials are investigating a fight between two bicyclists that left one of them in the hospital with multiple stab wounds.

A former NHL player and current television analyst for Versus has been charged with assaulting a 12-year old boy.

Steven Rattner, the former head of the United States auto task force and dubbed President Barack Obama's car czar, called the auto industry's 2009 bailout an unambiguous success Thursday. But he acknowledged that taxpayers, footing the $82 billion bill to bail out Chrysler, General Motors and Ally Financial, will lose about $14 billion of their investment.

James Bissett, the co-owner of Long Island Aquarium, was found dead Wednesday night in what police are calling an apparent suicide.

Just like the software Apple makes for its many computing devices, Steve Jobs, the bestselling autobiography of Apple's co-founder and cultural icon is ready for an update.