NEW YORK – Keira Knightley has donated the Vera Wang gown she wore to this year’s Oscars to raise money for Oxfam’s relief work in East Africa. The burgundy silk-taffeta one-shoulder gown, which was custom-made for the 21-year-old actress, will be up for bid on the eBay auction Web site …

WASHINGTON – Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice on Monday cautioned Palestinian voters, who will choose a parliament this week, that terrorism is not a pathway to peace. With the Islamic militant Hamas party running neck-and-neck with Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas’ Fatah party before Wednesday’s balloting, Rice said it does not …

NEW YORK – The Federal Reserve on Tuesday raised the benchmark federal funds rate to 4.5 percent from 4.25 percent, the central bank’s 14th interest rate hike in a row since it began tightening in June 2004. The following is a chronology of the Federal Reserve’s changes in the federal …

Quick, stuff that dumb bird’s mouth with crackers! A blabbermouth parrot named Ziggy squawked “I love you, Gary” — spilling the beans to his owner on his girlfriend’s affair, according to the BBC. According to reports in the British media, Suzy Collins had been shacking up with a former co-worker, …

Want Greta’s blog delivered directly to your e-mail box? Click here to sign up! I have posted some pictures today. We traveled up Capitol Hill yesterday to interview Senator Barack Obama, D-Ill. In addition to the interview with the senator (we aired Part 1 last night and Part 2 airs …

ARROYO GRANDE, Calif. – Want to retire a millionaire? Try Peter Drucker‘s solution: “The best way to predict the future is to create it.” But will your New Years resolutions help you create this nirvana? Fuggetaboutit: Promises toasted at midnight, in a party mood, tipsy from the champagne, tossing confetti, …

KABUL, Afghanistan – Seven Taliban rebels have escaped from Afghanistan’s main high-security prison, officials said Tuesday. The men broke out of Policharki Prison on the outskirts of the capital of Kabul on Sunday while relatives were visiting them, and 10 prison guards suspected of aiding the escape have been arrested, …

IRVINGTON, N.J. – If killer nurse Charles Cullen stops cooperating with a probe into his crimes, New Jersey authorities say, they’ll withhold the one thing they have that he really wants: permission to donate a kidney to an ailing acquaintance. Cullen notified authorities earlier this week that he would no …

Go “On the Record” weeknights at 10 p.m. ET! Tests conducted to determine whether 13 trapped men in West Virginia’s Sago Mine are still alive were discouraging thus far, mine officials said Tuesday, adding that carbon monoxide levels in parts of the mine are far above the normal limit. We’ll …

DALLAS – A $20 bill mysteriously printed on top of an ordinary fruit sticker sold Friday for $25,300, an auction company official said. The flawed note bears a red, green and yellow Del Monte sticker next to Andrew Jackson‘s portrait. The buyer at the auction in Orlando, Fla., did not …