UNITED NATIONS – U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan said Tuesday a negotiated settlement with Iran over its nuclear program should be sought, and he warned that military intervention would be “unwise and disastrous.” Annan, who steps down as U.N. chief Dec. 31, issued the warning as the Security Council debated a …

WASHINGTON – Hurricane Katrina convulsed the nation with its massive destruction. Now Democrats believe it could wreak havoc again in a tide of voter resentment that could sweep Republicans from power. On the verge of Katrina’s one-year anniversary, Democrats from New Orleans to New Haven, Conn., to New York are …

PETALUMA, Calif. – John Mark Karr displayed a deep fascination with JonBenet Ramsey long before he was arrested in her death. Karr, who told reporters Thursday that he was “with JonBenet when she died” but that “her death was an accident,” began teaching children in Georgia and Alabama before he …

WASHINGTON – Just try deciphering the Federal Reserve’s policy statements for clues about where interest rates are heading. It can be like trying to make sense of hieroglyphics. Experts are needed to translate the symbols or pictures used in ancient Egypt, and the same is true for Fed-speak. Legions of …

LOS ANGELES – Jack Warden, an Emmy-winning and Academy Award-nominated actor who played gruff cops, coaches and soldiers in a career that spanned five decades, has died. He was 85. Warden, who lived in Manhattan, died Wednesday at a hospital in New York, Sidney Pazoff, his longtime business manager, said …

DUBLIN, Ireland – Martin Sheen, star of the TV drama series “The West Wing” and dozens of Hollywood films, began a new career Friday — as a full-time student. Sheen, 66, who recently finished seven seasons playing President Josiah Bartlett on the Emmy-winning TV series, registered at National University Galway …

NEW YORK – In one of the more unusual twists in the current wave of stock options irregularities, cable TV operator Cablevision Systems Corp. (CVC) said it granted options to an executive after he died. Cablevision restated its financial results Thursday because of the improper stock options practices and also …

RICHMOND, Va. – Republican Sen. George Allen refused to concede defeat Wednesday, even as Democrat Jim Webb declared victory and began assembling a transition team. With Republican Sen. Conrad Burns’ loss in Montana, the Democrats would gain control of the Senate if Webb’s lead holds. The margin between the two …

WASHINGTON – With less than 24 hours to go before the midterm congressional elections, Saddam Hussein‘s death sentence has become a talking point on the campaign trail to swing voters. It’s no surprise then that it took just hours for President Bush to try to capitalize on what many view …

MINNEAPOLIS – Under a settlement to a federal lawsuit, up to 100 Somali Muslims who are current or former workers at Gold’n Plump Inc. will receive a total of $365,000. The settlement was filed in Minneapolis on Friday. It sprang from allegations of religious discrimination at the company’s chicken processing …