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RAMALLAH, West Bank – Israeli forces blew up three buildings in Yasser Arafat’s headquarters and shelled his master bedroom on Thursday, in what Israel said was part of a series of reprisals for the killing of 17 Israelis in a car bomb attack. The fiery attack, in which an 18-year-old …

NEW YORK – The big test for the stock market will come after the summer. By that time, the secret will be out on whether Wall Street is dealing with a bona fide economic recovery or just a head fake. Just as important, the market will know whether the economy’s …

BELGRADE, Yugoslavia – With the army’s chief of staff defying orders to quit, President Vojislav Kostunica on Tuesday lobbied top generals to back his decision to fire the commander and end the latest political crisis in Yugoslavia. In a move likely to find approval among Western governments, Kostunica fired Col. …

LAGOS, Nigeria – Angry mobs stabbed and set fire to bystanders Thursday in rioting that erupted after a newspaper suggested Islam’s founding prophet would have approved of the Miss World beauty pageant. At least 50 people were killed and 200 injured, Nigeria’s Red Cross president said. The violent demonstrators in …

NEW YORK – As President Bush on Saturday praised U.S. lawmakers for passing bills such as terrorism insurance, port security and homeland security, he said NATO’s invitation to more countries to join its alliance will help in the global war on terror. Bush, speaking from Europe during his weekly radio …

BOSTON – U.S. Sen. John Kerry said Sunday that only objections from his family or political elders would deter him from running for the presidency in 2004. The Massachusetts Democrat denied reports that he might file a statement of candidacy as early as this week, but he said he believes …

WASHINGTON – When Congress last week pledged up to $100 billion to support insurance companies in case of future terrorist attacks, the measure was aimed at spurring huge construction projects that had been stymied by a lack of coverage. But some officials are hard-pressed to find even one project delayed …

LOS ANGELES – Harry Potter is working box-office magic again, though the boy wizard couldn’t quite conjure up a revenue record. Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, the second movie based on the fantasy book series by J.K. Rowling, took in $28.86 million domestically on opening day Friday, distributor …

WASHINGTON – U.S. officials announced charges Wednesday involving alleged plots to sell drugs to finance weapons purchases for Usama bin Laden’s Al Qaeda organization and a Colombian paramilitary group. The separate cases show the threat to national security from the “toxic combination of drugs and terrorism,” Attorney General John Ashcroft …

WASHINGTON – The Bush administration, wanting to energize efforts to financially paralyze terrorists, plans to offer a reward of up to $5 million for information that results in the breakup of networks used to finance terrorists organizations. The Treasury and State departments are slated to announce the reward Wednesday afternoon, …