WASHINGTON – President Bush highlighted U.S. preparedness for the upcoming hurricane season as he marked a change of command Thursday at the U.S. Coast Guard, which rescued 33,000 people after Hurricane Katrina. “The whole world saw your skill and bravery during the hurricanes last year,” Bush said at Fort McNair, …

LONDON – What was meant to be a friendly chat to promote the new “X-Men” movie turned into a frosty discussion about race on a popular morning radio program, but the British Broadcasting Corp. defended its disc jockey. Oscar-winning actress Halle Berry appeared on Chris Moyles’ Radio One breakfast show …

ATHENS, Greece – Flights were canceled and motorists stuck in gridlock Athens streets on Wednesday, as transport workers and other unions staged a 24-hour nationwide strike. The subway, buses and trams canceled all services, while courts, government offices, schools and public utilities were closed. State hospitals operated on a skeleton …

NEW YORK – Faced with opposition from conservative groups and some pornography Web sites, the Internet’s key oversight agency voted Wednesday to reject a proposal to create a red-light district on the Internet. The decision from the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers reverses its preliminary approval last June …

WASHINGTON – Air purifiers, cosmetics, sports equipment, computers, clothing, bedding, household appliances, medical devices. Nearly every item of daily life could be made — and made better, say supporters — with nanotechnology. But with billions spent by U.S. taxpayers and private industry on nanotechnology research and product development, some policymakers, …

UNITED NATIONS – The United States bowed to pressure from its allies on Tuesday and agreed to support a new program to temporarily funnel additional humanitarian aid directly to the Palestinian people. A statement by Mideast peacemakers, issued after a day of closed-door diplomatic meetings, did not suggest precisely how …

WASHINGTON – A House panel gave a tongue-lashing to the Department of Homeland Security Wednesday before approving a $32.1 billion spending plan for the troubled agency. The Appropriations Committee approved by voice vote the agency’s budget for the fiscal year beginning Oct. 1 after quarreling over — and defeating — …

BOSTON – Better buckle up. That was the message from the Massachusetts Senate as it approved a bill Thursday giving police the ability to pull over drivers and cite them solely for not using seat belts. Current state law allows police to cite drivers for not buckling up only if …

WASHINGTON – Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, under pressure from business leaders, retreated Monday from a plan that would have used a tax increase on oil companies and other businesses to fund a $100 gasoline rebate for millions of motorists. Frist, the Tennessee Republican, had proposed an accounting change that …

ZANZIBAR, Tanzania – Preliminary investigations have failed to yield an explanation of why hundreds of dolphins left their deep offshore habitat, got stranded in shallow waters and later washed up dead on Zanzibar’s northern coast, a scientist said Tuesday. “It is a mystery,” Narriman Jiddawi, a marine biologist at the …