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WASHINGTON – During President Bush’s State of the Union address, Claude Allen had a coveted box seat as a guest of the first lady. He sat there with an embarrassing secret. For weeks as he worked side-by-side with Bush on policy that would be included in that Jan. 31 address, …

BAGHDAD, Iraq – Heliborne U.S. and Iraqi troops pressed their sweep through a 100-square-mile swath of central Iraq on Friday in a bid to break up a center of insurgent resistance, the U.S. military said. No resistance or casualties were reported. “We believe we achieved tactical surprise,” Lt. Col. Edward …

SEATTLE – Seattle rock band Pearl Jam announced Wednesday that it will release its eighth studio album — and first since 2002 — in early May. The self-titled CD is also its first release on its new label, J Records. The album’s first single, “World Wide Suicide,” will be made …

JERUSALEM – Acting Prime Minister Ehud Olmert briefed the U.S. last week on his plan to impose Israel’s final borders with the Palestinians if efforts to restart peace talks fail, an Olmert spokesman said Sunday. Spokesman Asaf Shariv said that an Olmert aide presented the plan in a telephone call …

WASHINGTON – Legislation to curb excesses of both lobbyists and lawmakers reached the Senate floor Monday as leaders from both parties warned that the integrity of Congress is at stake. The legislation, which would require lobbyists to be more open about the meals they buy and the trips they arrange …

CARACAS, Venezuela – Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez warned that if U.S. troops were to invade any Latin American country, “revolutionaries” from across the region would join forces to battle the Americans. Chavez’s remark in a speech Monday night confirmed what many in Venezuela have long presumed: that his government would …

GREENBELT, Md. – A former National Security Agency computer analyst was sentenced to six years in prison Thursday for taking home classified documents and storing them in boxes in his kitchen after he left his job. The federal sentencing guidelines called for at least nine years behind bars for Kenneth …

SAN FRANCISCO – Dell Inc.’s (DELL) announcement that it will expand its use of Advanced Micro Devices Inc. (AMD) microprocessors is another win for the smaller chip maker against larger rival Intel Corp. (INTC) Dell said Thursday it would begin using AMD’s chips in a new line of servers and …

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Five years after the Sept. 11 attacks, investigators are still looking into the U.S. government’s response to the hijackings, specifically to determine why aviation and military officials inaccurately reported their performance on that day. The Defense Department inspector general will soon release a report into whether the …

LONDON – The eldest son of British Prime Minister Tony Blair was discharged from a hospital on the Caribbean island of Barbados on Friday after being treated for a stomach ailment, officials said. Euan Blair, 22, was admitted to a hospital while vacationing with his family in the former British …