LOS ANGELES – The Walt Disney Co. (DIS) Board of Directors Friday announced they raised the company’s annual cash dividend by 12.5 percent over last year to 27 cents per share. The dividend is payable Jan. 6, 2006, to shareholders of record at the close of business Dec. 12, 2005. …

WASHINGTON – Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice is getting mostly high marks from European leaders after a trip there viewed by some observers as a test of her ability to convince allies that the United States remains committed to the human rights of terrorism detainees. At the White House on …

Dear Friends — I am pleased to announce the thirty readers who will be receiving free copies of the “Family Guide to College Savings” by CPA Joe Hurley. Your first name and an excerpt of your letter (below) will tell you if you were chosen. Please be patient! Your books …

PROVIDENCE, R.I. – After nearly three years of infighting and courtroom skirmishes, a library on Thursday will auction off its most valuable holding — John James Audubon‘s celebrated “The Birds of America.” The Providence Athenaeum is among several nonprofit institutions that have turned to selling their most prized art to …

A new malicious worm squirming through America Online Inc.’s AIM network has the ability to carry on an instant-messaging conversation with potential victims. Researchers at IMLogic Inc.’s Threat Center spotted the new threat and warned that virus writers are continuing to push the social engineering envelope to trick computer users …

MIAMI BEACH, Fla. – A seaplane carrying at least 19 people to an island in the Bahamas crashed in a ball of fire and smoke in the waters off Miami Beach Monday, apparently killing all those aboard, local authorities said. “All of the bodies have been recovered,” said Jorge Gonzalez, …

WASHINGTON – The curtain is rising on a pitched political drama in Pennsylvania featuring the parties’ brightest stars, big sums of money and two well-known candidates for Senate — who in turn are trading charges of negative campaign tactics. And it’s not even 2006 yet. More than nine months out, …

BAGHDAD, Iraq – Coalition troops launched Operation Shank in Ramadi Friday, a day after insurgents in that city were videotaped walking the streets and firing mortar rounds. Approximately 200 Iraqi Army soldiers, along with 300 Marines from 3rd Battalion, 7th Marine Regiment, deployed to Ramadi, 70 miles west of Baghdad, …

SANTA MARIA, Calif. – In a stunning development, Michael Jackson‘s (search) lawyers decided Friday not to present a defense rebuttal in the pop star’s child molestation trial, which means closing arguments could begin as early as Wednesday. The defense suddenly rested after prosecutors, in a final move, showed the jury …

SANTA ANA, Calif. – A jury Monday decided a factory worker should get the death penalty for killing Samantha Runnion (search), a 5-year-old girl who was seized kicking and screaming outside her home in a case that stirred outrage and led to stronger efforts to rescue abducted children. Alejandro Avila …