KUWAIT CITY – Arab Gulf nations are planning to send a delegation to Iran to discuss its nuclear standoff with the United Nations, the German foreign minister said Sunday after talks with Kuwaiti leaders. Such a delegation would be the first major diplomatic foray by Gulf nations in the confrontation. …

NEW YORK – Halle Berry says she wants to adopt a child — someday. “I will adopt if it doesn’t happen for me naturally,” the 39-year-old actress said in a recent interview with TV newsmagazine “Extra.” “I will definitely adopt. And I probably will adopt even if it does happen …

WASHINGTON – The Senate’s top Democrat says Veterans Affairs Secretary Jim Nicholson should resign, calling his leadership a threat to national security after the VA lost another computer containing veterans’ personal data. “Enough is enough,” Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., said Tuesday. “Less than a month after promising to …

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. – Philip Morris was ordered by a jury to pay $8 million in damages to the widow of a smoker who died of lung cancer in a case that could set a standard for some 8,000 similar Florida lawsuits. The six jurors deliberated over two days before …

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico – After years of secrecy, the Pentagon has disclosed the names, ages and home countries of everyone held at the isolated Guantanamo Bay Naval Base in southeastern Cuba as a suspect in the U.S.-led war on terror. None of the most notorious terrorist suspects was included …

TRENTON, N.J. – Merck & Co., looking for a boost to fight off its Vioxx-related losses, could get it from the first big advance against cervical cancer in a half-century. The drugmaker is awaiting approval soon for Gardasil, a vaccine which blocks infection by the four human papilloma virus types …

The YMCA is the latest high-profile organization forced to inform its customers of a computer theft that may place individuals’ personal data at risk of identity fraud. According to the group, a laptop containing the customer records of approximately 65,000 individuals, including debit card, credit card and Social Security data, …

SINGAPORE – The disputed Himalayan region of Kashmir is key to a permanent peace between Pakistan and India, a top Pakistani general told a security conference Sunday, and accused New Delhi of starting the nuclear arms race in South Asia. The comments by Gen. Ehsan ul-Haq, the Chairman of Joint …

TAMPA, Florida – Two Saudi men accused of boarding a school bus full of students won’t be prosecuted if they complete a pretrial intervention program for first-time offenders, the state attorney’s office said Monday. Mana Saleh Almanajam, 23, and Shaker Mohsen Alsidran, 20, were charged with misdemeanor trespassing after boarding …

LOS ANGELES – “How beauteous mankind is!” For lovers of William Shakespeare, memorizing one of Hamlet’s soliloquies or recalling whether “The Tempest” is a romance or a tragedy just got easier. Web search leader Google (GOOG) on Wednesday launched a site devoted entirely to the Bard, http://www.google.com/shakespeare, that allows U.S. …