WASHINGTON – Attorney General Alberto Gonzales (search), passed over twice for a seat on the Supreme Court, said Wednesday that Hispanics should get over their disappointment and give Harriet Miers (search) a chance to show why she deserves to be confirmed. “Some, including many members of this organization, I know …

KANDAHAR, Afghanistan – A Taliban (search) ambush touched off fierce fighting in southern Afghan mountains that left eight police and four rebels dead, officials said Saturday. Insurgents hiding behind rocks attacked the police as they were driving slowly on rough roads in Helmand province late Friday in search of a …

SAN FRANCISCO – The latest “Got Milk?” commercial hit a little too close to home for Major League Baseball. Poking fun at the league’s steroid scandal, the television ad for the California Milk Processor Board (search) talks about a player getting pulled from a game “after testing positive for a …

TEHRAN, Iran – Two bomb blasts Saturday at a shopping center in Ahvaz (search), near Iran’s southwestern border with Iraq, killed four people and wounded at least 75 others, state television reported. The explosions hit a shopping mall in central Ahvaz, the capital of oil-rich Khuzestan province. Shops in Naderi …

GUSH ETZION, West Bank – Palestinian gunmen in a speeding car opened fire on a crowded bus stop Sunday, killing three Israelis and wounding four others in the deadliest attack on Israelis in more than three months, Israeli officials said. Minutes later, militants carried out a second drive-by shooting elsewhere …

Got a baby or toddler who isn’t on a regular sleep schedule? You may want to check how much TV they’re watching. A new study links TV viewing to irregular bedtimes and naptimes in kids who are less than 3 years old. While the study did not explore why television …

MUZAFFARABAD, Pakistan – With snow falling on parts of Kashmir (search), the U.N.’s emergency relief chief said Thursday that time was running out for many hungry, homeless survivors of a massive earthquake and urged aid agencies to speed up efforts in remote villages. The plea came as aid workers struggled …

WASHINGTON – Investigators at the Education Department have contacted the U.S. attorney’s office regarding the Bush administration’s hiring of commentator Armstrong Williams (search) to promote its agenda. The action was disclosed by Sen. Frank Lautenberg (search), D-N.J., who has pressed for a criminal fraud investigation focused on questions about whether …

CHICAGO – Procter & Gamble Co. (PG) Monday said it is changing the manufacturing formula for some of its products to work around shortages of raw materials, including petroleum. Supplies of key commodities like petroleum and coffee have been disrupted by recent hurricanes in the United States. But while P&G …

DAMASCUS, Syria – Syria’s interior minister, who effectively controlled Lebanon (search) for two decades, was found dead in his office Wednesday, days before the release of a U.N. report that could implicate high-ranking officials in the murder of Lebanon’s former prime minister. The Syrian government called the death of Brig. …