VIENNA, Austria – Iran has started small-scale enrichment of uranium — a process that can produce fuel for nuclear reactors or bombs, diplomats said Monday. “Uranium gas has been fed into three machines,” one senior diplomat familiar with Iran’s nuclear file said on condition of anonymity because he was not …

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti – Election workers counted ballots into the night as Haitians anxiously awaited the results of presidential elections that officials hailed as a success despite delays that caused many polls to open late. A massive turnout all but overwhelmed electoral officials, who said early results would not be available …

SAN FRANCISCO – Google Inc. is joining EarthLink Inc. in a bid to build a wireless network in San Francisco that would offer basic Internet access for free and charge about $20 per month to surf the Web at higher speeds. The partnership, revealed late Tuesday night, represents the first …

RALEIGH, North Carolina – In the month since a rape scandal broke at Duke University, campus counselors have been swamped with calls from sexual assault victims whose own painful memories have been stirred up, the director of the university women’s center said. “I will tell you that our psychologist … …

Small businesses that provide health insurance must now make extra efforts to protect their employees’ personal information, under a new federal regulation. The goal of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act’s new security rule, which went into effect on Friday, is to adopt national standards to protect the confidentiality …

This is a partial transcript from “Hannity & Colmes,” April 11, 2006, that has been edited for clarity. SEAN HANNITY, CO-HOST: We continue our special series that we call “Follow the Money.” It’s a special as we head to tax day, April 15. It’s just four days away. And before …

MORA, N.M. – A wildfire forced the evacuation of two small towns as it burned across 10,000 acres of grass and ponderosa pine trees in northeastern New Mexico, authorities said. Firefighters battling the blaze were helped by calmer weather overnight, state Forestry Division spokesman Dan Ware said Thursday. The fire …

WASHINGTON – A Pennsylvania congressman is pushing a bill that would posthumously award a Congressional Gold Medal to the passengers and crew members killed aboard United Flight 93 on Sept. 11, 2001. Rep. Bill Shuster, a Republican whose district contains the western Pennsylvania field in Shanksville, Pa., where the planed …

REDMOND, Wash. – Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) wants to sell smaller businesses on the idea that its products can offer the traditional benefits of desktop computer software while taking advantage of growing Web-based tools. At a Microsoft-sponsored conference in Dallas this week, the Redmond company plans to promote ways that Dynamics, …

ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. – Vince Rennich and Alan Angeloni consider themselves among the losers in New Jersey’s battle to ban smoking indoors. Although acting Gov. Richard J. Codey signed a law Sunday banning smoking in bars, restaurants and most other indoor public places, the rule excludes casino gambling areas. Rennich, …