McLEAN, Va. (AP) — A district judge has ruled that key components of Virginia’s drunken driving laws are unconstitutional, citing a decades-old U.S. Supreme Court decision. The state law presumes that someone with a blood alcohol content of 0.08 or higher is intoxicated, denying their right to a presumption of innocence, Judge Ian O’Flaherty ruled…

WASHINGTON (AP) — The government is going to take a new look at the claims of about a third of the military veterans who now get disability payments for post-traumatic stress disorder. The Veterans Affairs Department will begin a yearlong review next month of 72,000 cases after an internal study found inconsistencies in the way…

WASHINGTON (AP) — Some religious leaders Thursday criticized this weekend’s evangelical rally on judicial issues, arguing that the event suggests an imposition of faith on matters of U.S. public life. “Those in public office must never make religion the lens,” through which constitutional matters are decided, said the Rev. C. Welton Gaddy, president of The…

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — Inspired by the documentary “Super Size Me,” Merab Morgan decided to give a fast-food-only diet a try. The construction worker and mother of two ate only at McDonald’s for 90 days — and dropped 37 pounds in the process. It was a vastly different outcome than what happened in the documentary…

(AP) — Miramax should clean out its closets more often. “The Great Raid,” one of a rush of delayed films the company finally is releasing, turns out to be an engaging World War II tale spotlighting a forgotten engagement in the Pacific campaign. A hybrid of “The Great Escape” and “Saving Private Ryan,” though it’s…

(AP) — John Singleton has had great artistic success putting a real human face on inner-city streets with the edgy personal films “Boyz N the Hood” and “Baby Boy.” He’s had solid commercial success piling on action and mayhem with the big, loud Hollywood flicks “Shaft” and “2 Fast 2 Furious.” In “Four Brothers,” Singleton…

(AP) — The makers of “Asylum,” a tale of forbidden love at a psychiatric hospital, expect far too much from their audience. This is a movie that can be appreciated only with endless concessions. The plot takes strange turns that are hard to swallow. The characters make unfathomable choices. Viewers are asked to believe the…

(AP) — Jennifer Connelly did it. Sarah Michelle Gellar did it. Naomi Watts has done it twice. Now Kate Hudson is the latest glamour girl to get freaked out on cue in a supernatural thriller, “The Skeleton Key.” This time, the perturbed spirits are haunting a creaky Louisiana plantation, but by now all these movies…

CRAWFORD, Texas (AP) — They were just a few miles away from each other Thursday, standing under a hot midday sun to express their concern about U.S. troops dying in Iraq. But President Bush and the grieved mother outside his ranch were worlds apart on how best to honor the dead. Bush said the United…

(AP) — “Heathers.” “Election.” Anything by Todd Solondz. Even “Cruel Intentions.” All of these films skewer their intended targets with more precision and depth than the similarly themed but overreaching “Pretty Persuasion.” Longtime music video director Marcos Siega and screenwriter Skander Halim apparently are trying to say something with this tale of Machiavellian manipulation at…