NEW YORK – Procter & Gamble Co. (PG) Monday raised its quarterly dividend (search) 12 percent, marking the 49th consecutive year the maker of Tide laundry detergent and Old Spice deodorant has increased its payout. The dividend of 28 cents per share, up from 25 cents, is payable May 16 …

WASHINGTON – Federal Reserve (search) policy-makers, concerned about inflation, debated last month whether to signal the possibility that they might move more aggressively to raise interest rates, according to minutes of their March meeting released Tuesday. Specifically, the policy-makers discussed whether they should at some point abandon their stance of …

EASTON, Pa. – After the remnants of Hurricane Ivan filled their little ranch house with several feet of water, Dale and Charlotte Barr spent $40,000 to get it back in shape. They were just about to tackle the last room — the kitchen — when the Delaware River (search) overflowed …

NETZER HAZANI, Gaza Strip – Under heavy army guard, families in this Jewish settlement gathered Saturday for the Passover (search) seder, or ritual meal, the last time they and thousands of other settlers are likely to celebrate the holiday in the Gaza Strip. Some said they try not to think …

WASHINGTON – Deputy Attorney General James Comey (search), a veteran of terrorism and organized crime prosecutions, said Wednesday he will leave his post this fall. Comey, 44, has been the second in command at the Justice Department since 2003, when he was appointed by President Bush to serve with then-Attorney …

CHOEUNG EK, Cambodia – About 50 Cambodians brought food offerings and lit incense before 8,000 skulls Wednesday at one of Cambodia’s most notorious killing fields to honor those who died there under the genocidal Khmer Rouge (search) regime. The ceremony at the mass graves of Choeung Ek, which included blessings …

NEW YORK – A U.S. military pilot and a sergeant were being held on federal narcotics charges after admitting they flew an Air Force jet from New York to Germany and returned with 290,000 pills of Ecstasy (search) worth millions of dollars, authorities said Wednesday. Capt. Franklin Rodriguez, 35, and …

BOSTON – Boston Scientific Corp. (BSX) said its first-quarter profit rose 85 percent as the medical device maker extended a more than yearlong profit surge on sales of its market-leading drug-coated heart stent (search). The company said, however, that it expects sales growth to return to more moderate levels in …

WASHINGTON – A government advisory group proposed national ethical guidelines for human embryonic stem cell research (search) Tuesday and recommended research institutions establish oversight committees to enforce them. “A standard set of requirements for deriving, storing, distributing, and using embryonic stem cell lines — one to which the entire U.S. …

This is a partial transcript of “Special Report With Brit Hume,” April 19, 2005, that has been edited for clarity. Watch “Special Report With Brit Hume” weeknights at 6 p.m. ET (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) JOSEPH CARDINAL RATZINGER, FUTURE POPE BENEDICT XVI (through translator): We are moving toward a dictatorship of …