ATLANTA – BellSouth Corp. said Monday its “thorough review” found no indication it gave telephone records to the National Security Agency as part of a federal anti-terrorism surveillance program. A report last week by USA Today identified BellSouth, along with AT&T Inc. and Verizon Communications Inc., as companies that had …

TEHRAN, Iran – Iran’s President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said Thursday Iran was ready to discuss “mutual concerns” over his country’s nuclear program, but he refused to first suspend uranium enrichment. His comments came a day after world powers backed off a demand that Iran commit to a prolonged moratorium on uranium …

Zarqawi Was Alive After Blast — Gen. Caldwell said Friday that Zarqawi was still alive after planes dropped two 500-pounds bombs on his safehouse when Iraqi and U.S. troops arrived at the scene but died shortly after. Jump to: More Stories | Photo Essays | Blogs VIDEOS • Gen.: Zarqawi …

UNITED NATIONS – Governments must do more to keep their stockpiles of small arms secure from thieves and smugglers, U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan said on the first day of a major conference on reducing the illegal trade of such weapons. In a speech to the conference Monday, Annan told delegates …

BELGRADE, Serbia – Lawmakers on Thursday demanded a vigorous investigation into claims that hundreds of newborn babies may have been stolen from delivery clinics across Serbia. For several years, parents throughout Serbia have expressed suspicion that their infants — who were said to have died shortly after birth — were …

Should would-be donors be allowed to sell their organs for money as a way to ease growing waiting lists for transplants? Some experts think so, and the idea is causing some controversy as policy makers struggle to find ways to cut the number of Americans now dying on transplant waiting …

ALEXANDRIA, Va. – Unexpectedly allowed back in court, confessed Al Qaeda conspirator Zacarias Moussaoui kept quiet Wednesday while a Muslim woman from Pakistan and a Navy veteran with a friend who was at the Pentagon on Sept. 11 cleared preliminary hurdles to sit on his sentencing jury. U.S. District Judge …

LAFAYETTE, La. – Why not lay hundreds of miles of pipeline and pump sand along the coast to create speed bumps against hurricanes? How about building barriers out of barges? How feasible would it be to grow new cypress swamp forests to fend off storm surge? Better still, why not …

BOSTON – Not long ago, a friend asked me to give a talk at the local library, hoping I’d say “something different on retirement savings.” That’s no small challenge, because any discussion of retirement planning typically boils down to “Are you saving enough?” and/or “You need to save more.” I …

ALAMOGORDO, N.M. – A 16-year-old boy convicted of killing his father, stepmother and stepsister will remain in state custody until he is 21, after a judge ruled Thursday that the teen should be sentenced as a juvenile, not an adult. State District Judge James Waylon Counts ruled the state failed …