BERLIN – Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld (search) pledged Wednesday that U.S. military forces “will continue to play a strong role” in Afghanistan even after NATO allies expand their peacekeeping operation across the country next year. At the conclusion of a two-day NATO meeting, Rumsfeld took reporters’ questions about the …

WASHINGTON – Store-bought swordfish contained mercury levels (search) above the legal limit in a study released Thursday by environmental groups. A University of North Carolina Lab found elevated mercury concentrations in 24 swordfish samples from supermarket chains including Safeway, Shaws, Albertsons and Whole Foods. Groups that paid for the analysis …

A credit card for plastic surgery? That, and nine other unusual offers from banks and credit card issuers. We’ll be honest: When we set out searching for unusual credit cards, we didn’t dream of finding a card for plastic surgery or one with a $25,000 monthly sweepstakes. With almost 900 …

WASHINGTON – Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff (search) said Thursday that 1,400 National Guard troops per day are being sent to New Orleans to control looting and lawlessness, quadrupling its regular police force by the weekend. Already, 2,800 National Guardsmen are in the city to help local police since Hurricane …

If you couldn’t comfortably live without your income, the answer is yes. Here’s a buyers guide. Forty-five-year-old Robert Schenker of Woodbury, N.Y., is the breadwinner of his family. He’s also a Type I diabetic and understands that this gives him a higher-than-average chance of becoming disabled and unable to work. …

WASHINGTON – The American Bar Association will grade Samuel Alito in the coming weeks. Alito is likely to receive the same rating that he did in 1990 when President Bush’s father, George H.W. Bush, nominated him to the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals — unanimous well-qualified, the highest rating. …

Millions of Americans braved congested roads, airports and train stations to get to someone else’s house for Thanksgiving turkey this year as harsh weather caused treacherous conditions in some parts of the country. Meanwhile, most of the more than 140,000 U.S. troops in Iraq got a traditional Thanksgiving meal of …

HONOLULU – Fake lava bursts from a 26-foot volcano at the Bishop Museum’s new $17 million Science Center, which hopes to increase attendance with dramatic new exhibits about the Pacific island chain. Museum officials tout the volcano as one of the nation’s leading exhibits, as reporters toured the 16,500-square-foot building …

NEW YORK – The Weather Channel forecast: a high-pressure system of comedy. The cable channel will feature Lewis Black — known for his rants on Comedy Central’s “The Daily Show” — in a handful of segments starting Wednesday night. He’s the first in what the Weather Channel hopes is a …

WASHINGTON – Vegetarian groups are trying to use Asian bird flu to drive a wedge between people and the meat on their dinner plates. People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) staged a small demonstration on Wednesday outside Agriculture Department headquarters with banners telling people, “Bird Flu Kills: Go …