WASHINGTON – Identity thieves who might have been worried that Congress would block their way into people’s bank accounts will likely get a reprieve until at least early 2006, but that doesn’t mean lawmakers are ignoring the problem. “Congress is absolutely taking this seriously,” said Consumers Union policy analyst Susanna …

NEW YORK – After standing on a city street for more than 28 hours, with only a blanket to protect him from the cold and rain, Peter Gonzalez had no doubt about what he should do next: stay up all night playing video games. The 19-year-old college student was among …

MIAMI – The busiest and costliest Atlantic hurricane season on record officially — and mercifully — draws to a close Wednesday, with hundreds of thousands of Americans still dealing with the devastation wrought by Katrina, Rita and Wilma. Despite the end of the June 1-to-Nov. 30 season, hurricanes could still …

MURRIETA, Calif. – A car carrying three people suspected of burglarizing dozens of homes led authorities on a wild chase across several Southern California counties Wednesday after sheriff’s deputies said they came face to face with the trio leaving a home they had just burglarized. The pursuit, which began in …

LOS ANGELES – Jason Bateman (search) of FOX’s “Arrested Development” (search) underwent surgery Tuesday to remove a benign polyp in his throat, his publicist said. Cara Tripicchio, a spokesman for Bateman, said the operation went smoothly and the 36-year-old actor was doing well. Production on “Arrested Development” will be on …

NEW YORK – Joey Buttafuoco (search) is working on ABC’s “Desperate Housewives” — at the show’s concession stand, anyway. Buttafuoco, who made national headlines in the early 1990s when his teenage girlfriend shot his wife in the face, is working in craft services on the Hollywood sets of TV shows, …

WASHINGTON – U.S. housing starts fell 5.6 percent in October as construction of both single-family and multifamily homes slid, while a drop in permits for future groundbreaking was the largest in more than six years, the government said on Thursday. October housing starts declined to a 2.014 million unit annual …

BUSAN, South Korea – National Security Adviser Stephen Hadley won’t say if he was the source who told Washington Post reporter Bob Woodward that Bush administration critic Joseph Wilson’s wife worked for the CIA. But Hadley volunteered on Friday that some administration officials say he’s not the leaker. Accompanying President …

WASHINGTON – President Bush will get back to business on the homefront after his trip to Latin America and will have a few days to tend to problems at home before taking off for distant lands again. Bush returned from Panama late Monday at the end of a five-day trip …

RICHMOND, Va. – The U.S. government has inserted itself in a high-stakes patent fight over the popular BlackBerry device, saying it wants to make sure federal workers won’t be cut off from mobile access to their e-mail. The Justice Department filed a “statement of interest” earlier this week to explain …