BAGHDAD, Iraq – A defense witness stunned the court trying Saddam Hussein and fellow regime members Tuesday by testifying that nearly two dozen Shiites the defendants are accused of killing are still alive. The claim by the anonymous witness prompted Chief judge Raouf Abdel-Rahman to order an inquiry. Defense lawyers …

COLUMBIA, S.C. – The South Carolina House on Wednesday passed a pair of bills that would allow prosecutors to seek the death penalty for some repeat child molesters. Support for the package picked up steam after a man was charged with kidnapping two girls and raping them in a dungeon …

TOKYO – A Walkman brand cell phone enabling users to download music onto their handsets will go on sale in the Japanese market next month in a joint project between KDDI and Sony, KDDI Corp. announced Monday. KDDI Corp., Japan’s second-largest mobile phone company, scheduled a news conference Monday morning …

WASHINGTON – The Pentagon is looking at ways the military can help provide more security along the U.S. southern border, defense officials said Thursday, once again drawing the nation’s armed forces into a politically sensitive domestic role. On Capitol Hill on Thursday, the House voted 252-171 to allow Defense Secretary …

WASHINGTON – The Senate plan to provide illegal immigrants with a shot at citizenship probably is a deal-breaker that will prevent passage of a compromise on immigration overhaul, the House’s lead negotiator said Sunday. “The words ‘path to citizenship’ is a buzzword for amnesty. We ought to be honest, it …

ROCKVILLE, Md. – Convicted sniper John Allen Muhammad grew increasingly frustrated as he and prosecutors questioned potential jurors Monday for his second trial in the Washington-area shootings that terrorized two states in the fall of 2002. It was hard to find anyone who didn’t already believe he was responsible for …

IRVINGTON, Ky. – Severe thunderstorms that lashed through Kentucky, Tennessee and Indiana left five people dead and a 4-year-old girl missing, authorities said Friday. The girl’s mother and another adult got out of their vehicle safely before a rain-swollen creek swept the car away with the child about 50 miles …

WASHINGTON – House Speaker Dennis Hastert complained directly to President Bush about the FBI’s unprecedented raid on Rep. William Jefferson‘s office on Tuesday, while officials said senior Democrats worked to ease the Louisiana lawmaker out of a powerful committee assignment, at least temporarily. “Obviously we are taking note of Speaker …

WASHINGTON – Taxpayers have no right to challenge nearly $300 million in tax breaks that Ohio’s elected officials used to entice DaimlerChrysler AG to build a new plant in Toledo, the Supreme Court ruled unanimously Monday. By ruling that the taxpayers had no right to sue, the justices avoided deciding …

WASHINGTON – A little-known spy agency that analyzes imagery taken from the skies has been spending significantly more time watching U.S. soil. In an era when other intelligence agencies try to hide those operations, the director of the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency, retired Air Force Lt. Gen. James Clapper, is proud …