MONACO – Prince Albert (search) has taken over the regency of Monaco (search) because his ailing father, Prince Rainier III, is unable to exercise his royal functions, the palace said Thursday. The announcement was made in a brief statement from the palace, which gave no updates on the health of …

This is a partial transcript of “The Big Story With John Gibson,” March 7, 2005, that has been edited for clarity. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) SCOTT MCCLELLAN, WHITE HOUSE SPOKESMAN: This was a tragic incident and the President was calling to express our regret about the incident. He also assured Prime …

WASHINGTON – Former President Bill Clinton (search) maintained his Tuesday schedule, including a trip to the White House to brief President Bush about Indian Ocean tsunami (search) efforts, but his future plans may be curtailed as he is due to check into the hospital Thursday for surgery. Clinton, who had …

NEW DELHI – India (search) is considering buying American F-16 fighter jets for its air force, a news report said Sunday, just days after New Delhi protested a U.S. decision to sell the same aircraft to India’s neighboring archrival, Pakistan (search). India’s air force now depends mainly on aging Russian …

AMMAN, Jordan – The United Nations (search) expects Syrian President Bashar Assad (search) to produce a timetable for the full withdrawal of Syrian troops and intelligence officers from Lebanon, U.N. envoy Terje Roed-Larsen said Friday. Speaking in Amman, where he sought Jordanian support for a U.N. Security Council resolution calling …

ARLINGTON, Va. – A grieving father is trying to gather the facts behind an uprising on Nov. 25, 2001, at the makeshift prison in Afghanistan where CIA officer Johnny Micheal “Mike” Spann (search) became the first American casualty of the Afghan war. Johnny Spann, a 56-year-old real estate company owner …

NEW YORK – The Swiss company at the heart of a new report on the oil-for-food scandal (search) repeatedly lied about its links to Secretary-General Kofi Annan’s (search) son, one investigator said, going much further in his criticism than the document itself. The investigator, Mark Pieth, also rejected Annan’s declaration …

JERUSALEM – A car bomb exploded early Thursday near a Jewish shrine in the West Bank (search) as hundreds of Israeli worshippers prayed there, causing no injuries but damaging nearby Palestinian homes and underscoring the vulnerability of the Mideast truce declared last month. Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas (search), meanwhile, urged …

NEW YORK – Circuit City Stores Inc. (CC), the No. 2 U.S. electronics chain, Monday said its chief operating officer, John Froman, is resigning, effective March 1, and it has not yet named a successor. The Richmond, Va.-based retailer also announced that it severed ties with online retailer Amazon.com Inc. …

WASHINGTON – Jewelry retailer Zale Corp. (ZLC) Friday said Valentine’s Day sales were strong, signaling good results in the current quarter and lifting its shares 10 percent. The company also said earnings for the second quarter ended Jan. 31 rose to $99.2 million, or $1.91 per share, from $97.3 million, …