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I hate to say it, but it’s time to kick old Walter Cronkite around. Cronkite is 89 so he should be getting a free pass for everything, but his statement this weekend that it’s time to get out of Iraq deserves a little attention. Cronkite is famous, of course, for …

AUSTIN, Texas – The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday declined to intervene in a dispute between the University of Texas and an online dating service upset that the school blocked thousands of unsolicited e-mails. The high court let stand a federal appeals court’s ruling that UT did not violate the …

WASHINGTON – Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, who took a leading role in the Terri Schiavo case, said Sunday it taught him that Americans do not want the government involved in such end-of-life decisions. Frist, considered a presidential hopeful for 2008, defended his call for further examinations of the brain-damaged …

MOSCOW – Iran’s top nuclear negotiator said Wednesday that a Russian proposal to enrich uranium for the Islamic republic needs more work and renewed a threat that Tehran will forge ahead with the technology that can make nuclear arms if the issue is referred to the U.N. Security Council. Ali …

LOS ANGELES – Bad sequels and remakes tortured movie audiences last year, and they provided a smorgasbord for the Razzies, an Academy Awards spoof that pays heed to the worst in Hollywood. Four of the five worst-picture nominees for the Razzies were sequels or remakes, led by “Son of the …

NEW YORK – U.S. self-serve gasoline prices rose sharply in the first week of 2006 and could hit $2.50 a gallon in the next few weeks as the cost of crude oil climbs, according to AAA, the nation’s largest organization for motorists. The nationwide average price forself-serve regular gasoline now …

Consumers battered by a multitude of economic woes came roaring back in November, pushing retail sales up by the largest amount in four months. The nation’s retailers saw sales rise by 1 percent last month, following three straight months of lackluster performance. Sales were flat in August and had fallen …

MEXICO CITY – Mexican police arrested the symbolic leader of a six-month-long protest movement that took over southern Oaxaca city, hours after he gave a news conference saying he had come to the capital to start talks with the government. Flavio Sosa, whose heavyset, bearded presence became an emblem of …

BAGHDAD, Iraq – Iraq’s national security adviser on Sunday said that Iraq needs more “strategic patience” from Washington to defeat terrorist violence that threatens to swarm the region if the U.S. pulls out too soon. Mouwaffaq al-Rubaie also asked Washington and regional leaders to back his plans to give general …

SAN ANTONIO – Former Congressman Ciro Rodriguez defeated seven-term Republican Henry Bonilla in a runoff election Tuesday, adding another Democrat to Congress. With more than half the precincts reporting in the state’s largest district, Rodriguez had 57 percent to Bonilla’s 43 percent. They were the top vote-getters in a special …