BAGHDAD, Iraq – Unidentified gunmen abducted a French engineer as he was on his way to work Monday in Baghdad, police and the French foreign ministry said, the latest in a wave of kidnappings of Westerners. The trial for Saddam Hussein resumed, and defense attorneys walked out briefly after judges …

NEW YORK – Wall Street overcame its recent caution Wednesday, with a raft of acquisitions propping up stocks and lower-than-expected gross domestic product growth easing inflation fears. Acquisitions in the technology and pharmaceutical industries promised to reinvigorate those lagging sectors. Google Inc. (GOOG), Seagate Technologies (STX) and IBM Corp. (IBM) …

WASHINGTON – The House passed a $453.3 billion defense spending bill Thursday, including $50 billion for the Iraq and Afghanistan wars and other funding such as for rebuilding after Hurricane Katrina. The bill, which now goes to President Bush for his signature, was approved by the Senate Wednesday after Democrats …

BAGHDAD, Iraq – Excerpts from the testimony at Tuesday’s session of Saddam Hussein‘s trial by “Witness A,” a woman whose identity was kept secret. From behind a curtain, with her voice disguised, she testified about how she was 16 years old when she was arrested in the Shiite Muslim town …

SEOUL, South Korea – A prominent South Korean scientist stood by his purported breakthroughs in stem cell technology Friday amid accusations he falsified key evidence, but he still requested that a landmark scientific article be withdrawn due to errors. Hwang Woo-suk’s article, published by the journal Science in May, purported …

WASHINGTON – A federal judge is considering ordering the release of two Chinese Muslims held at Guantanamo Bay, which would be an unprecedented step in the legal battles surrounding the Bush administration’s treatment of detainees. U.S. District Judge James Robertson raised the possibility, eight months after the U.S. military found …

NEW YORK – Manufacturing activity in the U.S. Mid-Atlantic region improved slightly in December, but new orders and the outlook for factory jobs slipped, according to the Philadelphia Fed’s report published on Thursday. The Philadelphia Federal Reserve Bank said its business activity index edged up to 12.6 in December from …

If milk thistle curbs liver disease, science hasn’t adequately proven it yet, according to a report in The American Journal of Gastroenterology. Doctors from California and Europe reached that conclusion after reviewing 13 studies of milk thistle. No significant liver benefits were seen in patients with liver disease who took …

WASHINGTON – Bird flu appears more likely to wing its way around the globe by plane than by migrating birds. Scientists have been unable to link the spread of the virus to migratory patterns, suggesting that the thousands of wild birds that have died, primarily waterfowl and shore birds, are …

Taken properly, Tylenol (acetaminophen) is a safe painkiller. But taking too much Tylenol can lead to liver failure. That overdose risk is well-known and noted on Tylenol’s label. Now, a new study shows a rise in cases of acute (sudden) liver failure reportedly linked to Tylenol overdoses. The researchers included …