NEW YORK – After five months in prison and a weekend spent at her 153-acre suburban estate, Martha Stewart (search) reported back Monday to her company’s corporate headquarters in Manhattan and spoke to her employees. “All of you are my heroes,” Stewart told the crowd. “It’s really wonderful to be …

WASHINGTON – The heart of President Bush’s plan for Social Security (search), allowing younger workers to create personal accounts in exchange for a lower guaranteed government benefit, is among the least popular elements with the public, Republican pollsters told House GOP (search) leaders Tuesday. The pollsters also stressed the political …

JAKARTA, Indonesia – Two strong earthquakes rocked Indonesia’s eastern province of Maluku on Sunday, but there were no immediate reports of damage or casualties, the local geological agency said. The first quake of magnitude-6.4 struck just about 40 minutes after midnight; the second, measuring 6.0 magnitude, came at 7:40 a.m., …

WASHINGTON – Challenging the White House, 59 former American diplomats are urging the Senate to reject John R. Bolton’s (search) nomination to be U.S. ambassador to the United Nations. “He is the wrong man for this position,” they said in a letter to Sen. Richard Lugar (search), chairman of the …

KABUL, Afghanistan – Debbie Rodriguez’s “girls” are at the forefront of an Afghan cultural change, one where women play a stronger role in this nation’s economic fabric. This week, as many in the world reflected on the achievements made by women around the globe, Rodriguez’s beauty students kept their expectations …

ASHKELON, Israel – A 20-year-old Palestinian recruited from a mosque in Gaza by Hamas (search) militants told The Associated Press in a jailhouse interview Tuesday that he received weeks of military training in a Hamas camp in Syria this year. The allegations by Osama Mattar, now in Israeli custody, mark …

WASHINGTON – Federal regulators expressed concerns Wednesday over some check cashers, money transmitters and others being cut off from banking services and said they hope to soon issue provisions to address the problem. Some banks are closing the accounts of some of these “money-services” businesses out of fear they might …

NEW YORK – Even as Amina Wadud was preparing to lead an Islamic prayer service, her plans drew sharp criticism from Muslim religious leaders in the Middle East. Wadud, a professor of Islamic studies at Virginia Commonwealth University (search), was scheduled to lead a two-hour service Friday at Synod House …

NEW YORK – Former WorldCom Inc. finance chief Scott Sullivan (search), who has become the star witness against Bernard Ebbers (search), admitted Wednesday to a history of lies, saying he had deceived shareholders, analysts and the board while his staff undertook an $11 billion accounting fraud. Sharply questioned by the …

SAN FRANCISCO – Keith Knudsen (search), the longtime Doobie Brothers (search) drummer who was part of the band during a string of hits that included “Taking it to the Streets” and “Black Water,” died of pneumonia Tuesday. He was 56. Knudsen had been hospitalized for more than a month, according …