WASHINGTON – A Democratic senator asked congressional investigators Monday to examine whether the Social Security Administration’s (search) use of taxpayer money to poll the public was legal. Sen. Frank Lautenberg (search) of New Jersey made the request to the Government Accountability Office (search) after The Associated Press reported Sunday that …
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NEW YORK – Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (WMT) remained in the top spot in Fortune magazine’s 2005 ranking of the 500 largest publicly traded U.S. companies, and oil and metal producers benefited from soaring commodity prices. Wal-Mart was No. 1 on the Fortune 500 for the fourth straight year, with 2004 …
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VATICAN CITY – Mourning pilgrims packed churches around Rome on Sunday to remember Pope John Paul II in services presided over by cardinals, who praised the late pope for touching hearts worldwide but were careful not to stray from scripted homilies. The throngs of pilgrims who attended the late pope’s …
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PHILADELPHIA – The city of Philadelphia will become the largest U.S. Internet “hot spot” next year under a plan to offer wireless access at about half the cost charged by commercial operators, city officials said Thursday. Last year, officials unveiled a pilot scheme offering users of Wi-Fi (search)-enabled computers access …
Read More »WASHINGTON – Police on Monday tackled and dragged away a man with two suitcases who stationed himself in front of the west side of the Capitol and asked to see the president. The man refused to say anything else to an officer who tried to talk with him, authorities said. …
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WASHINGTON – A Senate committee on Tuesday hailed President Bush’s choice to be the next NASA administrator while giving rocket scientist Michael Griffin (search) a daunting list of tasks, including saving the Hubble telescope (search) and speeding the delivery of a new manned space vehicle. Members of the Senate Commerce …
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CAMDEN, N.J. – Trump Hotels & Casino Resorts (search) won court approval Tuesday to emerge from bankruptcy, breathing new life into Donald Trump’s (search) cash-strapped casino empire. Four months after Trump’s company filed for Chapter 11 (search), U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Judith Wizmur signed off on the company’s reorganization, a bonds-for-equity …
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BANGKOK, Thailand – Myanmar’s junta likely used chemical weapons in a recent attack against ethnic rebels near the Thai border, an international human rights group said Friday. London-based Christian Solidarity Worldwide (search) said it has “circumstantial evidence” that Myanmar (search) forces fired an artillery shell that emitted yellow smoke and …
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WASHINGTON – The number of Americans applying for initial jobless claims (search) plunged 36,000 last week, the largest drop in more than three years, the Labor Department (search) said on Thursday, partially because of difficulties in calculating seasonal adjustments. New claims for state unemployment insurance benefits fell to 296,000, the …
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LONDON – The U.N. health agency said Wednesday that Brazil, France, Germany and Japan — as well as Canada and the United States — are among 18 countries that received vials of a pandemic flu strain that could spark a global epidemic. The World Health Organization urged labs to destroy …
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