WASHINGTON - Social Security benefits for 50 million people will go up 5.8 percent next year, the largest increase in more than a quarter century.

So President Obama wants to end so-called “tax loopholes” for American oil and gas companies? Sounds like a good idea, until you learn that what the president is really asking. The “Close the Big Oil Tax Loopholes Act” essentially asks American taxpayers and businesses to shoulder the economic brunt of the Administration’s ambitious green energy objectives.

Work has begun on a city of the future. We’ve heard that one before, but this plan has serious money behind it.

Republican candidates for Senate squared off in Ahwatukee at the Grace Inn on Tuesday, each answering questions about ways they would like to shrink the federal government.

ISFAHAN, Iran - U.N. inspectors removed the final seals from equipment at a uranium conversion plant in central Iran on Wednesday, paving the way for Tehran to fully open the facility despite U.S. and European calls for it to maintain a suspension.

With temperatures finally falling and the holidays near, it’s easy to forget we live in the desert. Reliable water and electricity supplies are the foundations for our thriving metropolitan area.

WASHINGTON - The Bush administration told Iran on Tuesday that any enrichment of nuclear fuel on Iranian territory was unacceptable, as Russia appeared to close ranks with the United States over Tehran's nuclear program.

Perhaps no day of the year is more representative of romantic relationships than Valentine's Day. Billions of dollars will go toward chocolate, diamonds and dinners to show that special someone that we love them.

January 31, 2005

Scottsdale is heralding 2005 as the year it starts flinging open the gates to its promised land — the McDowell Sonoran Preserve.

TEHRAN, Iran - Iran agreed on Tuesday to suspend uranium enrichment and give inspectors unrestricted access to its nuclear facilities, crucial steps demanded by the U.N. watchdog that could ease the standoff over fears Iran is seeking to build nuclear weapons.

TEHRAN, Iran - Iran said Friday it would continue to limit the operations of the U.N. nuclear watchdog agency, setting the stage for a confrontation with the United States.

WASHINGTON - President Bush promoted his most trusted foreign policy adviser to Secretary of State on Tuesday, tapping Condoleezza Rice to replace warrior-turned-diplomat Colin Powell as part of a sweeping second-term Cabinet overhaul.

KRANJ, Slovenia - President Bush said Tuesday the United States and Europe must rally to keep Iran from developing a nuclear weapon, calling the threat an incredible danger to world peace.

BEIJING - North Korea on Monday agreed to stop building nuclear weapons and allow international inspections in exchange for energy aid, economic cooperation and security assurances, in a first step toward disarmament after two years of six-nation talks.

BEIJING - North Korea agreed Monday to stop building nuclear weapons and allow international inspections in exchange for energy aid, economic cooperation and security assurances, a breakthrough that marked a first step toward disarmament after two years of six-nation talks.

WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama, urging Congress Friday to press forward on "comprehensive immigration reform," warned that the absence of federal action will only encourage "misguided efforts" such as those in Arizona.

In the next two years, the state Land Department plans to auction properties totaling roughly 2,700 acres for tens of millions of dollars in north Scottsdale and in northeast Phoenix.

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TEHRAN, Iran - Iran said Sunday it has ended all voluntary cooperation with the U.N. nuclear watchdog but would still hold talks with Moscow on a proposal to enrich Iranian uranium in Russia, reversing an earlier decision to abandon those talks.

A funny thing happened to me the other day at my son's soccer practice.

December 25, 2004

WASHINGTON — Uncompromising and politically emboldened, President Barack Obama urged a deeply divided Congress Tuesday night to embrace his plans to use government money to create jobs and strengthen the nation's middle class. He declared Republican ideas for reducing the deficit "even worse" than the unpalatable deals Washington had to stomach during his first term.

The Bush administration hailed North Korea's agreement to shut down its nuclear weapons program Monday but warned that the pledge must be followed by action. "Now we've got to verify whether that happens," President Bush said.