NEW YORK – Alan Greenspan is in talks with major publishers about writing a memoir, which could net the Delphic former central banker more than $1 million, sources familiar with his proposal said Monday. Greenspan is represented by Washington-based lawyer Robert Barnett, who negotiated an $8 million advance for Sen. …

LONDON – Pharmaceutical company GlaxoSmithKline PLC (GSK) said Wednesday its fourth-quarter profit rose 45 percent and said it expects sales growth of its key drugs to continue this year. Glaxo, the world’s second-largest pharmaceutical company after Pfizer Inc. (PFE), said net profit for the three months to Dec. 31, 2005 …

LONDON – The Arctic Monkeys took home three major trophies, including best British band and best new band, at the NME Awards, firmly cementing the Sheffield quartet as the darlings of Britain’s music scene. The NME Awards, which were presented Thursday, are an edgier version of the Brit Awards, Britain’s …

This is how stupid our oil situation is getting. China is going to be pumping oil out of the Gulf of Mexico — at the same time the United States cannot. What? How’s that again? Here’s how it works, information courtesy Sen. Larry Craig of Idaho who made a speech …

WASHINGTON – The Bush administration, which failed to win new promises on currency flexibility from Chinese President Hu Jintao, pushed ahead on the issue Monday with meetings involving China’s top financial market regulators. U.S. officials said the meeting of the U.S.-China financial market working group would not address currency flexibility …

FORT WORTH, Texas – A judge who halted an execution because the inmate was mentally ill has agreed to force the man to take anti-psychotic medication so he can be put to death. The inmate, Steven Kenneth Staley, 43, has refused to take his medication. A jury decided he should …

DES MOINES, Iowa – Republican Sen. John McCain is courting conservative activists, crucial to any White House hopes, in an early test of his political strength. He has his work cut out for him in Iowa. “I don’t want to say it’s an insurmountable hurdle, but it’s a big, big …

NEW ORLEANS – A judge says he tossed out a 22-year-old kidnapping and molestation claim against Michael Jackson because the pop star proved he was miles away from where the abduction allegedly occurred. U.S. District Judge Eldon Fallon dismissed the case last Thursday. The reasons for his decision were posted …

WASHINGTON – Lawmakers accused the Internal Revenue Service on Wednesday of unfairly targeting small businesses with more audits and burdensome rules in its drive to collect unpaid taxes. The agency plunged “full ahead, pell mell, after the mom and pops,” the chairman of the House Small Business, Rep. Donald Manzullo, …

LINCOLN, Ala. – About 500 residents evacuated their homes after a train carrying sodium cyanide rear-ended a second train and caught fire, authorities said. No injuries were reported. The collision Wednesday evening in north Alabama sent flames and a plume of black smoke into the air that could be seen …