NEW YORK – “American Idol” (search) said Monday it was adding more phone lines for this week’s “Final Three” show in an effort to help fans get through to vote for their favorite contestants. “With the volume of calls this season already exceeding last year’s, we felt it was important …

LONDON – The rebellious Prince Harry (search) is not bucking one family tradition — he began a military career Sunday at an elite British academy. Prince Charles’ (search) youngest son enrolled at the prestigious Royal Military Academy Sandhurst in Surrey, southern England, for a 44-week officer training course. “I am …

SAN FRANCISCO – The finger that a woman claimed she found in a bowl of Wendy’s (search) chili was severed in the tailgate of a truck during a work accident, an employee of an asphalt company said. Pat Hogue, an estimator with a Las Vegas asphalt maintenance company, told the …

ALBANY, N.Y. – The Bush administration is scrambling to find a way to close a loophole that allows convicted rapists and other high-risk sex offenders to receive Viagra (search) at taxpayer expense. The state comptroller’s office called attention to the situation on Sunday, saying audits from 2000 through March found …

NEW YORK – PalmOne Inc. (PLMO), a maker of pocket-sized computers and mobile phones, Tuesday said it will pay $30 million to software maker PalmSource Inc. (PSRC) for all rights to the “Palm” brand name, and will change its name to Palm Inc. later this year. PalmOne, whose products include …

Whew. The panic factor got mighty high for a moment there in Washington Wednesday. Your e-mails on that later in the blog. First, though, our plans for Thursday: The Bolton vote: Some former heavy-hitters are weighing in to support the president’s nominee for U.S. ambassador to the U.N.; but his …

NEPAL – Climber Ed Viesturs reached the summit of Nepal’s towering Mount Annapurna (search) on Thursday, becoming the first American to scale all the world’s tallest peaks, reports from the mountain said. Viesturs, 44, of Seattle, reached the 26,540-foot summit in the afternoon, which was the last of the world’s …

BOSTON – The Legislature on Tuesday overrode Gov. Mitt Romney’s (search) veto and approved a bill designed to propel Massachusetts to the forefront of embryonic stem cell research. The bill immediately became law over Romney’s objections, after both chambers exceeded the two-thirds vote needed to override a veto. The vote …

Drum roll, lights and sirens please. It’s time to check out the Clintons again. We have to do that ever so often because the two-for-one team is positioning Hillary to become president. So Tuesday in Denmark, Bill Clinton (search) was visiting the prime minister and he said things were looking …

TBILISI, Georgia – Impatient crowds broke through police lines at a square in Georgia’s capital ahead of a scheduled speech by President Bush (search) on Tuesday, raising security concerns before the address. Bush was not at the square when the crowds poured in. Thousands of people poured onto Freedom Square …