The virtuoso picker influenced a generation of guitarists and had a series of hits in the ’50s with wife Mary Ford. He invented an early solid-body electric guitar and pioneered new recording methods.

Les Paul, the virtuoso guitarist, entertainer and relentless innovator whose drive to produce the sounds he wanted from his recordings and instruments helped pave the way for rock ‘n’ roll, died today. He was 94.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Former Vice President Dick Cheney believes his old boss, President George W. Bush, gradually turned away from his advice during their second term in the White House, showing a surprising independence as he started taking more flexible positions on a range of issues, The Washington Post reported Wednesday.

PARIS (AP) — A Muslim woman garbed in a head-to-toe swimsuit — dubbed a “burquini” — may have opened a new chapter in France’s tussle between religious practices and its stern secular code.

LONDON (AP) — First the ship reported it had been attacked in waters off Sweden. Then it sailed with no apparent problems through one of the world’s busiest shipping lanes. And then it disappeared.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Federal Reserve delivered a vote of confidence in the economy Wednesday, saying it would slow the pace of an emergency rescue program and indicating the recession appears to be ending.

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Barack Obama awarded the nation’s highest civilian honor to 16 “agents of change” on Wednesday, highlighting their accomplishments as examples of the heights a person can reach and the difference they can make in the lives of others.

President Barack Obama, honoring the newest member of the U.S. Supreme Court today, hailed the seating of Associate Justice Sonia Sotomayor as “another step toward that more perfect union that we all seek.”

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) — Louisville men’s basketball coach Rick Pitino told police he had sex in a restaurant six years ago with a woman now accused of trying to extort millions of dollars from him. And when she told him two weeks later she was pregnant, he gave her $3,000 for an abortion.

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Barack Obama is turning his eyes West and hitting the Web as he steps up his counteroffensive against critics of a proposed health care overhaul.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. attorney in Albuquerque, N.M., didn’t see enough evidence when asked to prosecute some voter fraud cases in his state.