BAGHDAD, Iraq – U.S. Marines broke down doors and raided houses Monday on the second day of an offensive aimed at cracking down on insurgent activity in several troubled cities west of Baghdad (search). The forays occurred as Shiites of the winning United Iraqi Alliance (search) met in Baghdad to …

HARTFORD, Conn. – College researchers are studying whether electric light changes hormone levels in women and makes breast cancer more prevalent in developed countries. Richard Stevens, a cancer epidemiologist at the University of Connecticut (search), said there is no scientific consensus on why there is a higher rate of breast …

COLOMBO, Sri Lanka – The infant dubbed “Baby 81” (search) after being found in the debris of Asia’s tsunami (search) and the couple desperately trying to claim him underwent DNA tests (search) Wednesday that could resolve a case that has come to symbolize families torn apart by the disaster. Nine …

WASHINGTON – Howard Dean (search) still appears to be the front-runner in the race for Democratic National Committee (search) chairman despite a late sprint by a relatively unknown but well-connected upstart. The former presidential candidate and ex-governor of Vermont won majority backing Monday from the Association of State Democratic Chairs …

WASHINGTON – Social Security (search) reform will be the number one item of President Bush’s domestic agenda in the State of the Union address Wednesday night. But while the president formulates his plan, some Democrats say any proposal to create personal savings accounts will go nowhere. Nonetheless, one Democratic representative …

LONDON – “The Aviator” soared Saturday at the British Academy Film Awards (search), taking four prizes including best film. The abortion drama “Vera Drake” won three, including best director for Mike Leigh. “The Aviator” — which has 11 nominations for the Feb. 27 Academy Awards — had led the field …

NEW YORK – Tyco International Ltd.’s (TYC) ex-head of human resources testified Monday that she was never asked to hide details of compensation paid to top executives Dennis Kozlowski (search) and Mark Swartz (search) from the company’s board of directors. In her third day on the stand, Patricia Prue, senior …

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. – A jury on Thursday began deliberating the fate of defrocked priest Paul Shanley (search), who is charged with raping a boy at his church outside Boston in the 1980s. The jury got the case after lawyers clashed over the validity of the repressed memories Shanley’s accuser said …

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – Richard Scrushy’s (search) lawyers tried to discredit the testimony of a former HealthSouth executive Thursday, portraying him as a participant in a huge fraud rather than the innocent outsider he claimed to be. Attempting to undercut Leif Murphy’s testimony that he quit the rehabilitation giant after Scrushy …

COLUMBIA, S.C. – Former New York City Mayor Rudolph Giuliani (search) didn’t want to talk politics during an appearance here Wednesday night. But his reticence did little to quiet the whispers that the visit was a way for him to test the political waters for a possible presidential run. “It’s …