story

BOSTON – Sen. Edward M. Kennedy said it was “good to be home” after flying back to Massachusetts on Monday, one week after undergoing an aggressive and delicate surgery to treat a cancerous brain tumor. Kennedy left the Duke University Medical Center in Durham, N.C., on Monday morning and arrived …

CHICAGO – The nation’s biggest mortgage lender engaged in “unfair and deceptive” practices to get homeowners to apply for risky mortgages far beyond their means, according to a civil lawsuit Illinois’ attorney general planned to file Wednesday. The lawsuit against Countrywide Financial Corp. — planned for the same day shareholders …

NEW YORK – “Nightline” will focus on the humanitarian crisis in the Congo with the help of an unusual correspondent — Ben Affleck. The 35-year-old actor took a “Nightline” crew on his recent fact-finding mission to Africa with the goal of spreading the word on a story that gets relatively …

NEW YORK – As Paris Hilton’s sidekick on “The Simple Life,” Nicole Richie showed a flair for comedy — and an impish glee at cracking jokes at others’ expense. The 26-year-old celebutante will again display a caustic streak in an upcoming guest spot on NBC’s “Chuck,” portraying the mean-spirited high …

HARARE, Zimbabwe – Four opposition party activists were killed and three homes firebombed near the capital as militants linked to the ruling party and army continued a campaign of intimidation ahead of a runoff election, the opposition said Thursday. The activists were abducted Wednesday in the township of Chitungwiza, 15 …

VIENNA, Austria – Austrian authorities say a passenger from Slovakia has been arrested at Vienna’s international airport after he caused a disturbance aboard a Delta jetliner, but dispute reports that he set a curtain on the plane on fire. Officials say U.S. sky marshals overpowered the unidentified man during a …

MOGADISHU, Somalia – Somali pirates kidnapped a German family of three and a French captain from a yacht off the Gulf of Aden, officials said Tuesday. Somali security forces launched a rescue mission. The captives were seized Monday and taken to a mountainous area near Puntland, a semiautonomous region of …

WASHINGTON – Gennifer Flowers and Paula Jones want to offer Internet viewers the lurid details of the encounters they claim with former President Clinton, before he won the White House — for $1.99 a pop. The two women, whose names were widely known in the early 1990s as they claimed …

The partner of the July 21 attempted bomber Hussain Osman has been found guilty of failing to tell police about his plan to attack a London Tube station. Yeshi Girma, 32, was convicted by an Old Bailey jury of not informing police of Osman’s plans for “carnage and mass murder.” …

Naomi Campbell is going bald, a friend of the fiery supermodel told the U.K. tabloid The Sun. The 38-year-old, who was charged last week with assaulting two police officers during an alleged luggage rage incident at Heathrow Airport, started losing her hair 15 years ago, the friend said. “That’s been …