WASHINGTON – Safe for a decade, military bases (search) in the United States face an uncertain future. The Pentagon plans to shut down or scale back some of the 425 facilities, the first such effort to save money in 10 years. The downsizing is part of Defense Secretary Donald H. …

BAGHDAD, Iraq – Kurdish leaders insisted Tuesday they have no plan to secede from Iraq even if they want the new constitution to give them the right to do so — one of the issues that forced a delay in finishing the draft charter. Meetings were to resume Wednesday among …

FERNLEY, Nev. – Authorities here say they can only hope for the best in the case of a missing 8-year-old Fernley girl who was abducted on Friday by a convicted sex offender. Fernando Aguerro (search), 47, has fled to his native Mexico. He told his sister in Las Vegas he …

SPACE CENTER, Houston – NASA is investigating whether repairs to a small crack in the foam on Shuttle Discovery‘s (search) fuel tank may have caused a 1-pound section of the insulation to break off during liftoff, officials said late Friday. The shallow crack — just six-tenths of an inch long …

MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – Don Knotts’ (search) failing health has forced his hometown to indefinitely postpone a parade and film festival in his honor that had been scheduled for Aug. 12-14. A doctor for the 81-year-old Emmy-winning actor advised him not to travel from Beverly Hills, Calif., said Stacey Brodak, executive …

This is a partial transcript from “The O’Reilly Factor,” August 18, 2005, that has been edited for clarity. BILL O’REILLY, HOST: Now for the top story tonight, reaction from Jessica’s family. Joining us from Miami is Herb Cohen, who’s one of the attorneys representing Jessica’s father, Mark Lunsford (search). What …

WASHINGTON – Infants have been stopped from boarding planes at airports throughout the United States because their names are the same as or similar to those of possible terrorists on the government’s “no-fly list.” It sounds like a joke, but it’s not funny to parents who miss flights while scrambling …

AMMAN, Jordan – Iraq’s Al Qaeda (search) wing claimed responsibility Tuesday for a rocket attack that barely missed U.S. warships docked in the Jordanian port of Aqaba. The Internet statement was signed Abu Maysara al-Iraqi, the spokesman for Al Qaeda in Iraq. That group is headed by the Jordanian-born Abu …

TOKYO – The marshlands of southern Iraq (search), reputed inspiration for the biblical Garden of Eden (search), have recovered rapidly since the fall of Saddam Hussein (search), whose regime turned much of the lush waterscape into arid salt flats, the United Nations said Wednesday. New satellite imagery shows a rapid …

Mari Frank, a lawyer and author of two books on the subject, offers tips on how to protect your good name. DURING THE PAST FEW MONTHS, thousands of consumers have received letters with disturbing news: files with their Social Security numbers and other sensitive information have been lost or stolen. …