BAGHDAD, Iraq – Gunmen assassinated a top Iraqi Foreign Ministry official Saturday evening in a drive-by shooting while he stood outside his Baghdad home, police said. Jassim Mohammed Ghani (search), the ministry’s director-general, was killed at about 9 p.m. in western Baghdad’s al-Kharijiyah (search) district, Capt. Talib Thamer said. Officials …

WASHINGTON – A former FBI (search) whistle-blower who urged the agency to investigate terrorism suspect Zacarias Moussaoui (search) in the weeks before Sept. 11, 2001, is considering a race for Congress in Minnesota. Coleen Rowley (search) told The Associated Press on Monday she will make a decision by early next …

WASHINGTON – Mixing conciliation with tough talk, Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon (search) pledged Tuesday to cooperate with Mahmoud Abbas (search) but said the Palestinian leader’s statements criticizing violence as a political tool “must be translated into real action on the ground.” Sharon could not have picked a friendlier audience. …

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – Richard Scrushy‘s (search) defense rested Wednesday without the fired HealthSouth Corp. (search) chief taking the stand to deny charges that he directed a $2.7 billion fraud at the rehabilitation chain. After calling more than 20 witnesses to rebut prosecution claims that Scrushy was at the heart of …

An antibiotic commonly used to treat acne may help slow or prevent the vision loss frequently associated with diabetes, a new study suggests. Researchers found that rats treated with the antibiotic minocycline had about 50 percent less diabetes-induced damage to the retina — the nerves in the back part of …

NEW YORK – A federal judge has delayed the sentencings of John Rigas (search) and his son Timothy, convicted last year in the massive fraud at Adelphia Communications Corp. (search) , until June 13. The sentencings had been set for Wednesday. Prosecutors said the delay was because of a pending …

In early tests on humans, a new hepatitis C drug had the most powerful punch yet seen against this major cause of liver cancer. The drug, from Vertex Pharmaceuticals, is code-named VX-950. Liver specialist Henk W. Reesink, MD, of academic Medical Center in Amsterdam, Netherlands, presented the findings at Digestive …

NEW YORK – Duke Energy Corp. (DUK) on Monday said it agreed to buy smaller power company Cinergy Corp. (CIN) for about $9 billion to diversify its fleet of power plants in the Midwest and revive a struggling wholesale power business. Duke’s merchant energy business DENA is expected to turn …

Should we worry about North Korea’s (search) nukes? Here’s the Council on Foreign Relations questions and answers about the NoKos and nukes. Listen up and then you decide if you’re worried or should be. Question: What nuke weapons programs do the NoKos have? Answer: They have the capability for plutonium …

WASHINGTON – The conflicting accounts of how U.S. military guards handled Muslim prisoners’ Korans at Guantanamo Bay (search) show two sides of a psychological war between the terror suspects and their holders. Detainees have claimed guards used the holy books as a weapon to break their will to resist interrogation. …