ISLAMABAD, Pakistan – A Tanzanian Al Qaeda operative who was captured in Pakistan last year and is on the FBI list of most-wanted terrorists was handed over to U.S. officials and flown out of the country months ago, Pakistani security officials said Tuesday. Ahmed Khalfan Ghailani (search) is wanted in …

BANGKOK, Thailand – Pop star Ricky Martin (search) will visit tsunami-battered areas and comfort children affected by the Dec. 26 disaster during a visit to Thailand this week, an official said Monday. Martin, chairman of the Ricky Martin Foundation, will focus on orphans and “families broken by the disaster,” Foreign …

WASHINGTON – The nation’s largest senior lobby — AARP (search) — has launched a $5 million ad campaign to stop President Bush’s efforts to partially privatize Social Security. AARP is considered a formidable voice on Capitol Hill, but the organization is even more successful at making money. The nonprofit group …

NAIROBI, Kenya – A peace accord ending Africa’s longest-running civil war requires Sudan’s (search) government to withdraw at least 91,000 troops from the rebel-controlled south, a rebel official said Sunday, revealing new details of the deal signed last week. The forces must pull out within 2 1/2 years, while a …

CHICAGO – A judge Tuesday threw out a civil lawsuit filed against William Kennedy Smith (search) by a former personal assistant who alleged he sexually assaulted her. Smith, the nephew of Sen. Edward Kennedy (search), has repeatedly denied he assaulted Audra Soulias (search). “[The lawsuit] had no merit from the …

WASHINGTON – The senior Democrat on the House Judiciary Committee protested President Bush’s re-election Wednesday with a new report claiming serious election irregularities and “significant disenfranchisement” of voters in Ohio. The report by Rep. John Conyers (search) of Michigan says Congress should challenge the Electoral College vote when it is …

Thursday on “DaySide” Have you heard about this retired U.S. General who has been sent over to Baghdad? He is General Gary Luck (search) and Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld (search) sent him to Iraq several days ago, reportedly to do a top to bottom review of what we are doing …

An official in a small tourist town sued his colleagues Friday, saying they’re unfairly targeting him for recall over his refusal to recite the Pledge of Allegiance (search) at board meetings. Estes Park town trustee David Habecker (search), who describes himself as agnostic, says the words “under God” in the …

MOSUL, Iraq – A suicide car bomber attacked an office of a major Kurdish party Wednesday, killing or injuring at least 20 people, an official of the Kurdistan Democratic Party (search) said. The attack occurred at the KDP office in the town of Sinjar, three miles southwest of Mosul, KDP …

SAN FRANCISCO – Apple Computer Inc. (AAPL) chief executive Steve Jobs (search) unveiled a very small $499 computer on Tuesday and a flash memory-based music player called the iPod Shuffle. The new products seek to make inroads against the traditionally more affordable PC market and against lower-cost competitors to Apple’s …