NEW YORK – NBC Universal has acquired a controlling interest in MSNBC, the all-news cable channel, from its partner in the venture, Microsoft Corp. (MSFT), the companies said Friday. NBC, a unit of General Electric Co. (GE), will wind up with an 82 percent stake in the cable news network, …

FORT DRUM, N.Y. – Vice President Dick Cheney argued forcefully Tuesday against an early withdrawal of U.S. forces from Iraq, saying that would be “unwise in the extreme” and increase the risk of terrorist attacks in the United States and other nations. “On this both Republicans and Democrats should be …

NEW YORK – An Omega watch that John F. Kennedy wore at his 1961 inauguration sold for $420,000 Thursday at an auction of Kennedy memorabilia that also included hundreds of everyday items like desk calendars and party invitations. The Swiss watch company Omega purchased the timepiece and will display it …

In a widely expected move, the Federal Reserve raised a key interest rate by a quarter-percentage point to 4.25 percent and signaled that while it is not yet done raising rates, its 1-1/2 year credit-tightening campaign has entered a final stage. The U.S. central bank’s rate-setting Federal Open Market Committee …

BAGHDAD, Iraq – Mariam al-Rayes still remembers the words of a skeptical colleague at law school. “You cannot work as a lawyer because people do not trust women lawyers,” he told her many years ago. Since then, al-Rayes has successfully practiced law and gone on to become one of nearly …

JERSEY CITY, N.J. – Police officers searched the Hackensack River and its banks on Tuesday for the body of an officer believed to have died when his vehicle plunged off an open drawbridge in heavy rain and fog. The body of one officer, Shawn Carson, was recovered shortly after the …

NEW YORK – Sales at chain stores rose in the week before Christmas, retailers said Wednesday, with last-minute shoppers and the late Hanukkah holiday boosting the bottom line. However, some retailers said most transactions took place on Dec. 23 and were disappointed shoppers did not take advantage of the extra …

NEW YORK – Fans of “American Idol” won’t have to change their weekly plans. FOX announced that it will keep the popular talent show on Tuesday and Wednesday nights following its season premiere on Jan. 17. The network had been considering moving one night of the show to Thursdays, generally …

geJoin host Brit Hume and FOX’s Team Washington weekdays at 6 p.m. ET for “Special Report” — Find out what’s happening inside the Beltway and on the world stage. On tonight’s edition of “Special Report”… • Saddam Hussein sat stone-faced in a Baghdad courtroom Tuesday as a woman testified behind …

ATLANTA – A deadly bacterial illness commonly seen in people on antibiotics appears to be growing more common — even in patients not taking such drugs, according to a report published Thursday in a federal health journal. In another article in the New England Journal of Medicine, health officials said …