LOS ANGELES – It’s a girl for “Hitch” (search) star Kevin James (search). James’ wife, Steffiana, gave birth to the couple’s first child, Sienna-Marie, on Friday, the actor-comedian’s publicist, Jennifer Allen, said in a statement Tuesday. The couple were married in June 2004. James, 40, played a bumbling suitor in …

NEW YORK – Tom Petty (search) will receive the Century Award (search), Billboard’s highest honor for creative achievement, at this year’s Billboard Music Awards (search). The show will air live on the FOX network from the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas on Dec. 6. “This award comes at …

WASHINGTON – President Bush’s tax panel (search) on Tuesday endorsed a drastically simplified income tax system that envisions eliminating most deductions, credits, savings incentives and other tax breaks, replacing them with a few simpler benefits. Taxpayers would pay roughly the same amount of tax under the simplified system as they …

TEHRAN, Iran – Pro-democracy reformers denounced Iran’s hard-line president Sunday for calling for Israel’s annihilation, saying it harmed the country’s international standing. President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad (search) said Wednesday that Israel is a “disgraceful blot” that should be “wiped off the map,” prompting international condemnation and an Israeli demand that Iran …

ITASCA, Ill. – OfficeMax Inc. (OMX), the nation’s third biggest office supplies retailer, on Wednesday reported a fiscal third-quarter net loss, reversing a profit in the year-ago period, weighed down by sluggish retail sales and lost revenue from the company’s paper and forest products businesses, which it sold last year. …

PASADENA, Calif. – Nicollette Sheridan (search) is keeping the title of “Desperate Housewife (search),” but she’s no longer a fiancee. Sheridan, who plays Edie Britt on the hit ABC (search) show, and Swedish actor Niklas Soderblom have called off their engagement, People magazine reported Wednesday. The couple “have parted ways …

WASHINGTON – Contrary to recommendations from his own internal watchdog, CIA Director Porter Goss (search) will not order disciplinary reviews for a former director, George Tenet (search), and other officials criticized for their performance before the Sept. 11 attacks. Goss said in a statement Wednesday that the report from the …

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – A fugitive couple accused of killing a prison guard during a daring courthouse escape were indicted on first-degree murder charges and could face the death penalty, prosecutors said Thursday. A grand jury returned separate murder indictments against former prison nurse Jennifer Hyatte (search), 31, and her career …

WASHINGTON – Supreme Court nominee Harriet Miers (search) pledged unflagging opposition to abortion as a candidate for the Dallas City Council in 1989, according to documents released Tuesday. She backed a constitutional amendment to ban the procedure in most cases and promised to appear at “pro-life rallies and special events.” …

LOS ANGELES – Retail gas prices rose an average of 10 cents in the past two weeks as Hurricane Rita idled refineries along the Gulf Coast, squeezing production capacity already hurt by Hurricane Katrina, the nationwide Lundberg Survey said. The weighted average price for all three grades rose to $2.93 …