LOS ANGELES (AP) — A lawyer for the parent company of AEG Live LLC called Michael Jackson a freak on the day the singer signed a multimillion contract for a series of ill-fated comeback concerts, emails displayed for a jury on Wednesday showed.

SPOKANE, Wash. (AP) — A 37-year-old man arrested Wednesday has pleaded not guilty to mailing a threatening communication, after a pair of letters containing the deadly poison ricin were discovered in Washington state last week.

CHICAGO (AP) — The lawyer for an 87-year-old woman who accuses Donald Trump of cheating her in a skyscraper condo deal told jurors in Chicago on Wednesday that he was personally repulsed because he felt the "Apprentice" star conned his client and lied about it on the witness stand.

BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) — A dam that threatened to give way and flood a North Dakota town was holding back the water on Wednesday, though the 1,300 residents of Cavalier were still being told to stay away from their homes.

Mike Krzyzewski had decided to remain coach of the U.S. men's Olympic basketball team.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Obama administration acknowledged for the first time Wednesday that four American citizens have been killed in drone strikes in Pakistan and Yemen since 2009. The disclosure to Congress comes on the eve of a major national security speech by President Barack Obama in which he plans to pledge more transparency to Congress in his counterterrorism policy.

PHOENIX (AP) — Jurors in the Jodi Arias murder trial said Wednesday they were unable to reach a unanimous verdict on whether she should be sentenced to life in prison or death for killing her one-time boyfriend, prompting the judge to instruct them to keep trying.

MOORE, Okla. (AP) — Nicknamed 'The Wall,' 8-year-old Kyle Davis loved soccer and going to Monster Truck exhibitions at the fairgrounds with his grandfather. JaNae Hornsby, 9, loved to draw, sing, and be a big sister and cousin to her younger relatives.

By Barbara Liston and Mark Hosenball ORLANDO, Fla./WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A Chechen immigrant who was being questioned about his possible links to one of the Boston Marathon bombing suspects was shot and killed by a federal agent in Florida on Wednesday after he suddenly turned violent, the FBI said. A friend of the dead man identified him to Reuters as 27-year-old Ibragim Todashev, who had previously lived in Boston and knew Tamerlan Tsarnaev, the older of the two brothers suspected of planting two bombs at the marathon on April 15, killing three people and injuring 264. ...

PHOENIX (AP) — Jurors in the Jodi Arias murder trial said Wednesday they were unable to reach a unanimous verdict on whether she should be sentenced to life in prison or death for killing her one-time boyfriend, prompting the judge to instruct them to keep trying.

By Arshad Mohammed and Suleiman Al-Khalidi AMMAN (Reuters) - Washington threatened on Wednesday to increase support for Syria's rebels if President Bashar al-Assad refuses to discuss a political end to a civil war that is spreading across borders. Rebels called for reinforcements to combat an "invasion" by Hezbollah and its Iranian backers, days after Assad's forces launched an offensive against a strategic town that could prove to be a turning point in the war. ...

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Emails displayed in court show a lawyer for the parent company of AEG Live LLC referred to Michael Jackson as a "freak" on the day the singer signed a contract for his ill-fate comeback concerts.

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — NASCAR honored members of its royal families with inductions into the Hall of Fame on Wednesday.

SPOKANE, Wash. (AP) — The FBI says a 37-year-old man has been arrested following last week's discovery in Washington state of a pair of letters containing the deadly poison ricin.

PHOENIX (AP) — The Jodi Arias trial had all the ingredients of a circus the minute it started: sex and violence, a defendant more than willing to seek the spotlight, a judge who extended leniency in allowing lengthy testimony and cameras in court — and a media-savvy sheriff ready and willing to set up jailhouse interviews with his most famous inmate.

LUBBOCK, Texas (AP) — The driver of a parade float involved in a train wreck that killed four war veterans in West Texas told investigators that the oncoming train appeared to be stationary, and that he didn't notice anything was wrong until he saw people jumping from the float, according to documents released Wednesday.

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Voters approved a law limiting the number of medical pot shops in Los Angeles after politicians failed for years to corral the blossoming industry.

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — The Oklahoma medical examiner's office says it has positively identified all 24 victims of Monday's tornado that ripped across the Oklahoma City area.

ORINDA, Calif. (AP) — Photographer Wayne F. Miller, who produced some of the most indelible combat images of World War II and created a ground-breaking series of portraits chronicling the lives of black Americans in Chicago, has died at age 94.

WASHINGTON (AP) — At the center of a political storm, an Internal Revenue Service supervisor whose agents targeted conservative groups swore Wednesday she did nothing wrong, broke no laws and never lied to Congress. Then she refused to answer lawmakers' further questions, citing her Fifth Amendment right not to incriminate herself.

FORT WORTH, Texas (AP) — Zach Johnson always feels good when he gets to Colonial.

WASHINGTON (AP) — House Republicans pushed through a bill Wednesday to bypass the president to speed approval of the Keystone XL oil pipeline from Canada to Texas. Democrats criticized the legislation as a blatant attempt to allow a foreign company to avoid environmental review.

By Lesley Wroughton WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The World Bank has proposed a $150 million loan for Jordan to help it with the cost of thousands of Syrian refugees fleeing the civil war in Syria, Jordanian and World Bank board sources said on Wednesday. "The (World Bank) board should act on it in June," one source told Reuters. "Pressure on Jordan is increasing and the loan should help ease the economic burden." Close to 500,000 Syrian refugees, out of a total of 1. ...

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Hewlett-Packard is still scrambling to meet the growing demand for more versatile and less expensive mobile devices as a slump in its personal computer sales deepens, but the company's cost-cutting measures and focus on more profitable areas of technology appear to be easing the pain.

By Maria Golovnina and Guy Faulconbridge LONDON (Reuters) - A British soldier was hacked to death by two men shouting Islamic slogans in a south London street on Wednesday, in what the government said appeared to be a terrorist attack. A dramatic clip filmed by an onlooker just minutes after the killing showed a man with hands covered in blood, brandishing a bloodied meat cleaver and a knife. "We swear by almighty Allah we will never stop fighting you. ...

LA RUANA, Mexico (AP) — The farm state of Michoacan is burning. A drug cartel that takes its name from an ancient monastic order has set fire to lumber yards, packing plants and passenger buses in a medieval-like reign of terror.

LOS ANGELES (AP) — The incoming mayor of Los Angeles was able to defeat a fellow Democrat by depicting her as a pawn of utility union bosses in a city long friendly to labor, an outcome expected to echo beyond California as unions nationwide face threats to their clout.

PHOENIX (AP) — Jurors in the Jodi Arias murder trial said Wednesday they were unable to reach a unanimous verdict on whether she should be sentenced to life in prison or death for killing her one-time boyfriend, prompting the judge to instruct them to keep on trying.

A North Dakota advertising agency is suing the creators of a Cartoon Network show, alleging that they copied a state marketing campaign.

LAKELAND, Minn. (AP) — When high school student Zach Sobiech learned he didn't have much longer to live, his mother suggested he write letters to tell his loved ones goodbye. Instead, the Minnesota teenager turned to writing music — and his farewell song, "Clouds," became a YouTube sensation that has attracted more than 4 million views.

By Poornima Gupta SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Hewlett-Packard Co raised its 2013 earnings outlook after quarterly results beat low expectations, as CEO Meg Whitman's turnaround plan helped offset shrinking personal computer sales with enterprise computing services. While fiscal second-quarter profit plummeted 32 percent, Wall Street had braced for worse. HP shares gained 14 percent after the company projected full-year earnings per share of $3.50 to $3.60, raising the lower end by 10 cents, and fiscal third-quarter profit that topped analyst estimates. ...

GRAPEVINE, Texas (AP) — As protesters made one last stand, the Boy Scouts of America's leadership began a conference Wednesday that was expected to culminate in a long-anticipated vote on whether to allow openly gay Scouts — a decision that, either way, could deeply affect the organization's membership and funding.

HAGERSTOWN, Md. (AP) — The WikiLeaks organization and a handful of journalists asked a federal judge Wednesday to order greater transparency in the court-martial of an Army private who has acknowledged sending reams of classified document to the WikiLeaks website.

By Carey Gillam and Ian Simpson MOORE, Oklahoma (Reuters) - Tornado survivors thanked God, sturdy closets and luck in explaining how they lived through the colossal twister that devastated an Oklahoma town and killed 24 people, an astonishingly low toll given the extent of destruction. At least one family took refuge in a bathtub and some people shut themselves in underground shelters built into their houses when the powerful storm tore through the Oklahoma City suburb of Moore on Monday. ...

LONDON (Reuters) - Britain is investigating a possible Nigerian link to attackers suspected of hacking a soldier to death in London while shouting Islamic slogans, two sources with knowledge of the investigation told Reuters on condition of anonymity. Two suspects have been taken into custody after the attack, which the British government said appeared to be an act of terrorism. Police have not identified the suspects. The sources, speaking independently, said a Nigerian link was being investigated but gave no further details about the nature of the link. Police spokesmen declined to comment. ...

DETROIT (AP) — Tesla Motors, which makes a highly acclaimed $70,000 electric car, has paid off a startup loan from the U.S. government nine years early.

ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — A fourth-grade field trip to a Mississippi River park popular with fossil hunters turned deadly Wednesday when gravel saturated by persistent rain gave way, killing one child and injuring two others. A fourth child was missing.

SANTA CLARA, Calif. (AP) — The San Francisco 49ers suddenly have a huge void in their receiving corps as they chase another Super Bowl berth: Michael Crabtree is sidelined after surgery on his right Achilles tendon.

NEW YORK (AP) — Anthony Weiner knows there may be a lot of New Yorkers who would never consider voting for him again, but he says he's running for mayor because he wants to bring his ideas to the fore — and win.

LONDON (Reuters) - A possible Nigerian link to attackers suspected of hacking a soldier to death in London while shouting Islamic slogans is being probed, two sources with knowledge of the investigation told Reuters on condition of anonymity. Two suspects have been taken into custody after the attack, which the British government said appeared to be an act of terrorism. Police have not identified the suspects. The sources, speaking independently, said a Nigerian link was being investigated but gave no further details about the nature of the link. Police spokesmen declined to comment. ...