TORONTO – Prime Minister Paul Martin (search) apologized to the nation Thursday night for a corruption scandal that has shaken his Liberal Party (search), delivering a rare televised address aimed at rescuing his minority government. Acknowledging the allegations of money laundering and kickbacks have created an “unjustifiable mess,” the embattled …

WASHINGTON – The House voted Wednesday to eliminate federal estate taxes (search) in 2010 and beyond, a repeal that Republicans hailed but many Democrats said would reward the richest families at the steep cost of deeper federal deficits. House lawmakers voted 272-162 to prevent the tax on inherited estates from …

Weekdays at 1 p.m. ET • Click here for FREE TICKETS to our studio audience and to order a VHS copy of the show call FDCH eMedia at 1-888-44-FOXTV. The College of Cardinals (search) is meeting in secret to elect the next pope. At the end of today’s conclave, we …

GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip – Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas (search), who is trying to reform his ineffectual security apparatus, on Tuesday named a new head of the powerful agency in charge of reining in militants, officials said. The new chief of the Preventive Security Service is Rashid Abu Shbak, who …

RAMALLAH, West Bank – Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas (search) complained in remarks published Wednesday that the Israeli government is inciting against him and that it has violated agreements reached at a summit in February. It was Abbas’ harshest public criticism of Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon (search) since the Palestinian …

Cigarette smoking has already been identified as a risk factor for multiple sclerosis (MS). Now new research for the first time also implicates smoking in the progression of the degenerative disease. Researchers from the Harvard School of Public Health reported that current and past smokers with multiple sclerosis were more …

ALEXANDRIA, Va. – After 20 hours, a standoff between police and an armed man holding his son hostage ended Wednesday with officers fatally shooting the suspect when he threatened them with a gun. “The child is fine,” said Capt. John Crawford, an Alexandria Police (search) spokesman. After the shooting, officers …

KABUL, Afghanistan – An airstrike on a suspected insurgent camp killed three civilians and four militants in central Afghanistan (search), the U.S. military said Saturday. Afghan security forces opened fire during a celebration in a western city, killing a mother and her daughter. The shootings, which occurred Friday during celebrations …

NEW YORK – Stocks tumbled Friday, with the Dow losing almost 200 points on Wall Street’s worst day so far in 2005, as disappointing results from IBM and mediocre industrial production figures pointed to a slowing economy and fed investors’ worries. The Dow Jones industrial average (search) was down 198.41 …

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico – Two Roman Catholic (search) priests in Puerto Rico’s countryside were charged with sexually abusing four girls, police said Wednesday. Revs. Jose Florencio Martinez Corvera (search), 39, and Manuel de la Cruz Sanchez Rivera (search), 49, both of El Salvador, were arrested Monday, police officer Maria …