HUNTSVILLE, Ala. – Traces of an explosive used to bomb an Alabama abortion clinic were found in Eric Rudolph‘s (search) home in North Carolina, a federal agent testified Tuesday in a key pretrial hearing for the serial bombing suspect. Richard Alan Strobel, an explosives expert for the Bureau of Alcohol, …

REDWOOD SHORES, Calif. – Business software maker Oracle Corp. (ORCL) beat out German rival SAP AG in its bid to buy Retek Inc. (RETK), reaching an agreement to purchase the retail software maker for about $670 million, Oracle said Tuesday. Redwood Shores-based Oracle said in a news release that its …

CARACAS, Venezuela – Hugo Chavez (search), the left-wing leader who is moving toward totalitarian rule at home in Venezuela and backing guerrilla movements in the region, could become a test for the new Bush administration. “I think we have to view, at this point, the government of Venezuela as a …

WASHINGTON – President Bush’s (search) plan for the Navy calls for buying fewer ships, while China (search), a potential security hot spot, is increasing and repositioning its fleet. It’s a prospect that concerns some lawmakers. The plan is contained in Bush’s 2006 budget proposal, which Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld …

Washington – The White House said Wednesday that North Korea’s nuclear initiative is a threat to world peace and urged the secretive regime in Pyongyang (search) to resume talks aimed at ending the program. “North Korea’s nuclear program and nuclear weapons programs and its past and continuing proliferation activities are …

HARTFORD, Conn. – Connecticut’s legislature moved closer to legalizing civil unions for same-sex couples, as a key panel approved a measure that could make it the first state in the country to recognize gay unions through legislative action rather than court order. The legislature’s Joint Judiciary Committee voted 25-13 to …

LOS ANGELES – Sandra Dee (search), who at the height of her fame in the 1960s was arguably the biggest female teen idol of her time, has died, leaving a legacy of film roles that includes “Gidget” (search) and “Tammy and the Doctor.” “She was Gidget, and she was Tammy, …

NOGALES, Ariz – Governors of Arizona and the Mexican state of Sonora (search) on Friday announced new steps to make the border region safer and to combat border-related crime but said they want their federal governments to do more. Arizona Gov. Janet Napolitano (search) and Sonoran Gov. Eduardo Bours spoke …

ROME – Italy’s Red Cross (search) treated four Iraqi insurgents with the knowledge of the Italian government last year and hid them from U.S. forces in exchange for the freedom of two kidnapped aid workers, a top Italian Red Cross official said in an interview published Thursday. Maurizio Scelli, the …

Patients often worry that stress and anxiety of infertility treatment will reduce their chances of becoming pregnant, but a new study from Sweden shows this fear to be unfounded. Researchers assessed stress levels among women undergoing their first in vitro fertilization treatment and found similar pregnancy rates in women reporting …