State representative Derrick Smith is shown leaving the Federal Building last month after he was charged with one count of accepting a bribe. | TOM CRUZE~Sun-Times

SPRINGFIELD — Defying calls for his resignation, indicted state Rep. Derrick Smith finally showed up for work Tuesday in the Illinois House, where he strode onto the House floor, was greeted…

ASSOCIATED PRESS April 18, 2012 1:59PM

Updated: April 18, 2012 2:00PM

The Illinois National Guard will be used during next month’s NATO summit to help transport foreign leaders around Chicago.

National Guard Major Troy Scott said guard troops will also conduct…

Halliburton Co. drilling a well using hydraulic fracturing in 2004. The company reported record revenue in North America even as natural gas production drops. (Los Angeles Times / April 18, 2012)

April 18, 2012 |  9:01 am

NEW DELHI -– India is expected to test-fire a nuclear-capable intercontinental ballistic missile as early as Thursday morning targeted to land in the Bay of Bengal, a device capable of reaching Shanghai or Beijing.

The 50-ton, 55-foot three-stage Agni-5 rocket, named after the Hindu god for fire and dubbed the “China killer” by some in India’s hyperactive press,…

U.S. Army National Guardsman Pfc. Philip Moore, 28, rests during a "down time" shift near the border fence with Mexico in Nogales, Ariz. (John Moore / Getty Images / June 22, 2011)

Originally published April 17, 2012 at 2:21 PM | Page modified April 18, 2012 at 5:53 AM

Warren Buffett says he has been diagnosed with early-stage prostate cancer but the 81-year-old chairman and CEO of Berkshire Hathaway Inc. is giving no indication he plans on retiring any time soon.

By JOSH FUNK

AP Business Writer…

JetBlue pilot Clayton Osbon, right, is escorted by FBI agents upon his release from Northwest Texas Hospital on Monday. He was then taken to federal court in Amarillo. His next hearing is scheduled for Monday. (Michael Schumacher / Amarillo Globe-News)

NEW YORK - Sales of prescription painkillers are exploding in new areas, and experts are worried that's creating a wave of addiction.

Pharmacies, hospitals and physicians dispensed the equivalent of 69 tons of pure oxycodone and 42 tons of pure hydrocodone in 2010. That's enough to give 40 5-mg Percocets and 24 5-mg Vicodins to every man, woman and child in the United States.

An analysis by The Associated Press shows distribution of the two drugs is booming from New York's Staten…