LOS ANGELES – The police detective who told actor Robert Blake (search) his wife was dead testified Thursday that Blake responded with a cry, but the officer said “it didn’t seem to me to be a sincere cry.” John Michael Coffey (search) was the latest in a string of prosecution …

WASHINGTON – The new Congress convened Tuesday with the House moved to re-elect Dennis Hastert (search) as speaker after majority Republicans retreated on efforts to weaken ethics rules. Lawmakers got down to the business of considering President Bush’s ambitious agenda after the swearing-in of 41 new members. The Senate also …

A young woman’s sex life may influence her risk of kidney infection. New research shows that women younger than 50 who have sex at least three times per week, take a new partner, or recently used spermicides have a higher risk of kidney infections. Diabetes, urinary incontinence, and a history …

WASHINGTON – Democrats should have talked more directly about fundamental values and ideals in last year’s presidential campaign, Sen. Edward M. Kennedy (search) said Wednesday, outlining a progressive agenda aimed at moving the party and the nation forward. Democrats must do a better job speaking about the principles they believe …

WAI, India – Thousands of sobbing relatives struggled to identify the blackened and bruised bodies of loved ones in a hospital Wednesday, a day after a stampede during a religious procession to a hilltop temple killed at least 258 people and injured 200 in western India. The chain-reaction tragedy began …

LAS VEGAS – Looks like the days of “Girls, Girls, Girls” are over for Motley Crüe frontman Vince Neil (search). Neil, 43, the band’s lead singer, married girlfriend Lia Gerardini, 37, Sunday at the Four Seasons hotel. With MC Hammer officiating, the pair exchanged vows in front of a celebrity …

NEW YORK – Actress Betty White (search) — yes, that Betty White — goes flesh-toned for a scene in her new TV movie. During the filming of the Hallmark Channel original movie “Annie’s Point,” (search) White, 83, and co-star Amy Davidson went bare, sort of, for a grandmother-granddaughter skinny-dipping scene. …

NEW YORK – Surging oil prices, a falling dollar, triumphant IPOs and megamergers: 2004 was a year that brought gossip, suspense and greed back to the forefront, after three years of glum market news. Here’s a selection of the year’s biggest stories: Oil Prices Through the Roof After hitting bottom …

WASHINGTON – President Bush’s secret morning intelligence briefing (search) is getting an overhaul, drawing on new sources of information and trimming others, nearly four months after a presidential commission criticized the daily report for being ineffective. In a rare look at how the president receives his intelligence each day, two …

PRISTINA, Serbia-Montenegro – At least three blasts rocked the center of Kosovo’s capital on Saturday, and one targeted the U.N. (search) mission headquarters. An Associated Press reporter saw at least three U.N. vehicles set ablaze in the parking lot of the U.N. mission headquarters in Pristina (search). There were no …