The Supreme Court on Thursday unanimously threw out attempts to patent human genes, siding with advocates who say the multibillion-dollar biotechnology industry should not have exclusive control over genetic information found inside the human body.

A proposal to build a massive rival to the Panama Canal across the middle of Nicaragua was overwhelmingly backed by lawmakers Thursday, capping a lightning-fast approval process that has provoked deep skepticism among shipping experts and concern among environmentalists.

News Corp. Chief Executive Rupert Murdoch on Thursday filed for divorce from his wife of 14 years, Wendi, seeking to end a marriage that had been irretrievably broken for more than six months, according to his spokesman.

A speeding commuter train slammed into another that had stopped between stations during the morning commute Thursday in suburban Buenos Aires, killing three passengers and injuring more than 300 on a line that has been under government control since a deadly crash last year.

Former Argentine President Carlos Menem was sentenced to seven years in prison Thursday for organizing contraband arms shipments to Croatia and Ecuador during his tenure.

Fishermen and rescue workers hauled dozens of people out of the sea after a ferry sank in the central Philippines on Friday, but at least two passengers drowned, authorities said.

An explosion at a chemical factory killed at least one person, injured 73 others and sent orange flames and plumes of black smoke billowing into the air in the U.S. state of Louisiana on Thursday.

The chairman of the House Intelligence Committee said Thursday that terrorists are already changing their behavior based on information from leaks about classified U.S. data gathering programs, but he offered no details.

A landmark immigration bill survived a major challenge in the Senate on Thursday when its bipartisan “Gang of Eight” sponsors beat back an amendment that would have delayed a pathway to citizenship for 11 million illegal residents.

A tanker truck carrying tar slammed into a highway toll booth that had been seized by protesting teachers Thursday, killing seven people and injuring 14, authorities in the western state of Michoacan said.