It’s not every day you get to see a bit of Civil War history acted out live in the desert Southwest. In fact, it’s only during “Civil War in the Southwest,” a sprawling 1860s-style encampment in which costumed history buffs re-enact three Arizona and New Mexico Civil War skirmishes — the battles of Picacho Pass, Valverde (N.M.) and Glorietta Pass (N.M.).

A second diorama version of the detailed Battle of Palmito Ranch scene is finished after a year of after-school and summer work by about 150 Highland High School students and history teacher Glen Frakes.

RAMALLAH, West Bank - Marking 40 years of Israeli occupation, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas warned Tuesday that his people are on the verge of civil war. He said the infighting is perhaps worse than living under Israeli military rule.

Stephen Bergauer, a junior at Chandler’s Hamilton High School, has been named a finalist in The National Civil War Student Challenge, a nationwide online contest launched by cable’s History Channel and Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. He is one of 30 finalists competing for up to $15,000 in college scholarship funds.

Stephen Bergauer, a junior at Chandler’s Hamilton High School, has been named a finalist in The National Civil War Student Challenge, a nationwide online contest launched by cable’s History Channel and Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. He is one of 30 finalists competing for up to $15,000 in college scholarship funds.

Stephen Bergauer, a junior at Chandler’s Hamilton High School, has been named a finalist in The National Civil War Student Challenge, a nationwide online contest launched by cable’s History Channel and Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. He is one of 30 finalists competing for up to $15,000 in college scholarship funds.

WASHINGTON — A Republican civil war is raging, with righter-than-thou conservatives dominating ever more primaries in a fight for the party's soul. And the Democrats hope to benefit.

CHESTER, Va. - Like many boys in the South, Sam White got hooked on the Civil War early, digging up rusting bullets and military buttons in the battle-scarred earth of his hometown.

WASHINGTON - Two of the Pentagon's most senior generals conceded to Congress on Thursday that the surge in sectarian violence in Baghdad in recent weeks means Iraq may descend into civil war.

WASHINGTON - Top members of the Bush administration urged Congress Thursday to quickly pass a $91 billion spending bill that includes money to continue the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

BAGHDAD, Iraq - Sunnis and Shiites traded bombings and mortar fire against mainly religious targets in Baghdad well into the night Tuesday, killing at least 68 people a day after authorities lifted a curfew that had briefly calmed a series of sectarian reprisal attacks.

COLOMBO, Sri Lanka — Following more than a quarter-century of civil war, Sri Lanka faces the daunting task of trying to reconcile and rebuild after its troops routed the last Tamil Tiger separatist rebels Monday and killed their feared leader.

LOCUST GROVE, Va.  -  Wal-Mart wants to build a Supercenter within a cannon shot of where Robert E. Lee and Ulysses S. Grant first fought, a proposal that has preservationists rallying to protect the key Civil War site.