LOS ANGELES – “Robots” (search) ruled the box office as the animated family flick debuted with $36.5 million — a solid opening, but well below the $46.3 million premiere of the filmmakers’ previous hit, “Ice Age.” While “Ice Age” (search) opened with little competition for the family crowd, “Robots” faced …

VATICAN CITY – Pope John Paul II (search) is expected to bless the faithful on Sunday from a window of the hospital treating him for a breathing crisis, his spokesman said Friday. Papal spokesman Joaquin Navarro-Valls (search) told reporters outside Rome’s Gemelli Polyclinic hospital that the 84-year-old pontiff likely would …

WASHINGTON – Reporting for his first day as attorney general, Alberto Gonzales (search) told Justice Department employees their priority would remain combatting terrorism “but we will do so in a way that’s consistent with our values.” Gonzales was opposed by many Democrats because of his work on administration polices they …

WASHINGTON – Iraq will need time to build up forces sufficient to handle a potential threat from its neighbors — specifically Iran — even after Baghdad (search) proves capable of overcoming the insurgency at home, Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld (search) said Sunday. Both Rumsfeld and Vice President Dick Cheney, …

NEW YORK – U.S. stock investors will look next week at the Chicago (search) purchasing managers’ index and the February payrolls report to assess the economy’s health, strategists and traders said. Tensions in the Middle East (search) also will get renewed attention on Wall Street (search) after a fatal bombing …

NEW YORK – Are you a Lohan girl, living in a Lohan world? Lindsay Lohan (search), the red-haired “Mean Girls” star, is getting the Barbie (search) treatment with a new doll made in her likeness. The doll is dressed in full red-carpet splendor, wearing a beige dress and a faux …

LOS ANGELES – Robert Blake’s (search) attorney opened his defense by attacking the credibility of a Hollywood stuntman, one of the key witnesses for the prosecution in the actor’s murder trial. M. Gerald Schwartzbach (search) on Tuesday called the wife and son of stuntman Gary McLarty, who had testified that …

NEW YORK – Christina Aguilera (search) says she was shocked when a Valentine surprise turned into a marriage proposal. The 24-year-old pop diva says music executive Jordan Bratman (search), her boyfriend of two years, popped the question at Big Sur, Calif., last Friday after recreating a romantic dinner the two …

WASHINGTON – Back from stroking U.S. allies in Europe, President Bush now is lobbying a home-front target: wary lawmakers returning from a long congressional break, where they heard their constituents’ concerns about Social Security (search) overhaul. The lawmakers got an earful from voters back home. Now, Bush wants them to …

TORONTO – Prime Minister Paul Martin was expected to announce later in the week that Canada will not sign on to the U.S. ballistic missile plan, after his newly appointed ambassador to Washington triggered a row by suggesting Ottawa (search) had already joined the contentious program. Most Canadians are opposed …