A new private rocket bound for the International Space Station roared to life for a history-making liftoff Saturday, but remained stuck on the ground following a last-second abort.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Florida (Reuters) - The launch of a privately owned Falcon 9 rocket from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station was delayed on Saturday when a computer detected a possible problem with one of the rocket's engines, a Space Exploration Technologies official said. Preparations for the company's trial cargo run to the International Space Station proceeded smoothly until 4:55 a.m. EDT (0855 GMT) when, instead of the Falcon 9 rocket's main engines igniting, an onboard computer scrubbed the launch. "Liftoff … we've had a cutoff. ...

BEIJING (Reuters) - Blind Chinese legal activist Chen Guangcheng obtained a passport at Beijing airport on Saturday after his release from hospital and will soon board a flight to the United States, a friend said, a move that would signal the end of a diplomatic crisis between the two countries. Chen told Jiang Tianyong, a prominent rights lawyer, by telephone that he and his family had been given their passports and were waiting to board their flight. "I just spoke to him and he said he was about to board the flight very soon," Jiang said. ...

With their Game 2 collapse still fresh in their minds, the Los Angeles Lakers avoided a sequel with the only game plan they're confident will work against the younger, faster Oklahoma City Thunder.

Judging by his appetite and appearance, Bodemeister has rebounded nicely from his vigorous trip in the Kentucky Derby and is ready to shine at the Preakness.

Minutes after President Barack Obama announced he supported gay marriage, the Democratic governor of Colorado choked back tears in Denver as he ordered state lawmakers to reconsider a civil-unions measure that Republicans had defeated the day before.

A bomb went off outside a school in the southern Italian city of Brindisi on Saturday, killing a 16-year-old student and injuring eight, two critically, media reports said.

Police say three protesters at the NATO summit in Chicago have been charged with terrorism conspiracy stemming from allegations that they planned to make Molotov cocktails.

Drawn together in this serene mountain outpost, leaders of the major industrialized nations are prodding Germany to balance its push for European fiscal austerity with doses of stimulus spending to avoid an economic calamity that could reverberate worldwide.