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BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – Prosecutors urged jurors Wednesday to convict former HealthSouth Corp. (search) CEO Richard Scrushy (search) in a $2.7 billion fraud, claiming he pulled off the huge crime with the stroke of a pen by signing financial statements he knew were false. Projecting HealthSouth budgets on a screen and …

ELKHART, Ind. – A 3-year-old boy upset that his mother wouldn’t let him use a crane vending machine to try to win a small stuffed animal took matters in his own hands. He climbed up the chute to get the prize himself. Danielle Manges (search) said she took her eyes …

WASHINGTON – Faced with an extended stalemate, the Bush administration has asked China (search) to redouble its efforts to lure North Korea (search) back to negotiations on its nuclear weapons program. The appeal, disclosed by a State Department official on condition of anonymity, reflects a growing frustration over North Korea’s …

WASHINGTON – Pentagon spokesman Lawrence Di Rita (search ) said Wednesday there are no credible allegations that U.S. military personnel at Guantanamo Bay threw a Koran down the toilet — despite allegations contained in newly released FBI documents. Terror suspects at the Guantanamo Bay (search) prison told U.S. interrogators as …

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti – The former prime minister under ousted President Jean-Bertrand Aristide (search) is flying into exile after months in detention, a Western diplomat and a radio station reported Sunday. Former Premier Yvon Neptune (search), who had been held without charge for 10 months in connection with political killings during …

MUSKOGEE, Okla. – The tipster who helped crack the case of a beheaded 4-year-old girl went to police with his suspicions nearly a year ago and recently tricked the child’s mother into providing a hair sample that he taped to a photograph and mailed to Kansas City, a community activist …

NEW YORK – Former President Bill Clinton (search) and Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee (search) — two politicians whose love of junk food landed them in the hospital — are hoping to help the next generation shape up. The two announced a campaign Tuesday to stem the tide of obesity (search) …

WASHINGTON – President Bush (search) is marking this Memorial Day (search) weekend with words honoring men and women who have died in the nation’s service to provide freedom for Americans today. “Our citizens live in freedom because patriots are willing to serve and sacrifice for our liberty,” Bush said Saturday …

FOUNTAIN VALLEY, Calif. – A woman who was attacked in a park restroom escaped, in part, because she was slippery with sunscreen, Orange County (search) authorities said. The woman, whose identity was not released, told authorities that she had been jogging Sunday morning on a trail in Mile Square Regional …

LOS ANGELES – A federal judge has ordered Exxon Mobil Corp. (XOM) to pay damages to more than 10,000 gas station owners who were overcharged for their gasoline for more than a decade, a ruling that could cost the company $1.3 billion, an attorney for the plaintiffs said on Friday. …