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NEW YORK – A week before the last installment of “Star Wars” opens, George Lucas (search) stopped by “The O.C.” On Thursday’s episode of the FOX show, the master Jedi guest starred as himself. In a lucky twist of fate for one of the show’s lead roles Seth Cohen (Adam …

HARTFORD, Conn. – The state House of Representatives on Tuesday gave final approval to a 10-year, $100 million plan to fund stem cell research (search), seeking to position Connecticut to compete with other states in the emerging scientific field. The state Senate has already approved the measure, and it now …

TEHRAN, Iran – Iran will endure U.N. economic sanctions rather than give up nuclear fuel development, the vice president said Wednesday ahead of a new round of meetings with European countries trying to rein in its nuclear program. Iran (search) is vowing to restart its uranium reprocessing activities, an early …

This is a partial transcript from “The O’Reilly Factor,” May 9, 2005, that has been edited for clarity. Watch “The O’Reilly Factor” weeknights at 8 p.m. and 11 p.m. ET and listen to the “Radio Factor!” BILL O’REILLY, HOST: In the “Personal Story” segment tonight, about 10 years ago, the …

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan – Pakistan on Saturday denied a media report that an unmanned CIA Predator aircraft killed a senior Al Qaeda (search) operative near the Pakistan-Afghanistan border earlier this week. ABC News, quoting unidentified intelligence sources, reported Friday that senior Al Qaeda operative Haitham al-Yemeni (search) was killed by a …

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. – A fire gutted the luxury bus Ashley Judd (search) was using during the shooting of an independent film in Arkansas, officials said Wednesday. Judd and hundreds of extras were shooting a nightclub scene Monday for the movie “Come Early Morning” at the Hollywood Country Club (search) …

NEW YORK – A former senior investigator on the Independent Inquiry Committee (search) who thinks the panel has gone too soft on U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan (search) in its Oil-for-Food investigation has been called to testify before Congress next week. Rep. Chris Shays (search), chairman of the House Government …

NEW YORK – “Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire,” (search) the fourth installment of the film series based on the J.K. Rowling (search) novels, will be released simultaneously to both conventional theaters and in the big-screen IMAX (search) format on Nov. 18. “We previously committed to releasing two of …

WASHINGTON – Aides to Republican lawmakers said Wednesday they are reviewing a 2003 trip to Ireland (search) to determine if a lobbyist paid for it — as congressional records indicate. If the records are accurate, the trip by Sen. Gordon Smith (search) of Oregon, former Sen. Don Nickles (search) of …

MOSCOW – Widespread power outages have hit Moscow (search). Russia’s energy minister blames it on a fire and explosion at a substation. The Ministry of Emergency Situations says outages are reported throughout southern Moscow and as far as 120 miles away. Subway lines and trolley-buses have been forced to shut …