WASHINGTON – Weeks before one of its companies sought U.S. approval for its ports deal, the United Arab Emirates contributed $100 million to help victims of Hurricane Katrina, officials confirmed Thursday. The Bush administration said the money it received from the United Arab Emirates was nearly four times as much …

OSLO, Norway – Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas on Wednesday proposed an international conference to jump-start stalled peace talks with Israel, and he said the election of a Hamas government, sworn to Israel’s destruction, was no obstacle. Speaking in the Norwegian capital where Israel and the Palestinians secretly hammered out their …

BAGHDAD, Iraq – The top U.S and British diplomats made a surprise trip to Iraq on Sunday to prod the country’s struggling leaders to end nearly four months of wrangling and form a new government. “We’re going to urge that the negotiations be wrapped up,” Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice …

INDIANAPOLIS – Nine former employees of a county juvenile detention center were charged Monday with using their positions of authority to have sex with teenage girls. The nine workers were accused of having sex with six girls who were 13 to 15 years old at the time. Marion County Prosecutor …

BAGHDAD, Iraq – A bomb hidden in a minibus exploded near the offices of anti-American cleric Muqtada al-Sadr in eastern Baghdad on Tuesday, killing two Iraqi civilians and wounding three, police said. The minibus that just pulled to the side of the street in a market, about 400 yards from …

NEW DELHI – Two bombs exploded at New Delhi‘s main mosque shortly after hundreds of worshippers offered Friday prayers, injuring at least six people, the mosque’s chief cleric said. The two blasts occurred within 30 minutes of each other at the Jama Masjid mosque, said Police Chief K.K. Paul. “We …

MIAMI – An invasion of privacy lawsuit filed by a woman who claims she participated in a sex video with Scott Stapp and Kid Rock was dismissed by a judge who said the woman cannot sue if she remains anonymous. Miami-Dade Circuit Judge Gerald Hubbart on Wednesday told a lawyer …

This is a partial transcript from “The Beltway Boys,” April 8, 2006, that has been edited for clarity. Watch “The Beltway Boys” Saturday at 6 p.m. and 11:30 p.m. ET and Sunday at 2:00 a.m. and 6:30 a.m. ET. FRED BARNES, CO-HOST: Let’s check out our ups and downs, starting …

JERUSALEM – With his chair empty and a small brown gavel lying untouched in front of it, ailing Prime Minister Ariel Sharon was declared permanently incapacitated by Israel’s Cabinet on Tuesday, officially ending his five-year tenure. Sharon, 78, suffered a devastating stroke Jan. 4 and has been in a coma …

FIREBAUGH, Calif. – Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger declared a state of emergency Thursday in nine counties damaged by more than two weeks of severe rainstorms and flooding. The declaration helps accelerate the flow of state dollars to local and county response agencies that have been straining to cope. Schwarzenegger visited a …