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WASHINGTON – Several large shareholders of MCI Inc. (MCIP) say they are unhappy with the planned $6.75 billion sale of the company to Verizon Communications Inc. (VZ) and suggest that Qwest Communications International Inc. (Q) should press its higher offer. “The company in my opinion is being given away,” said …

CARACAS, Venezuela – Kidnappers holding the mother of Detroit Tigers pitcher Ugueth Urbina (search) kept her in a dense jungle and surrounded the area with explosives to keep her from fleeing, police said Saturday. Maura Villarreal (search) was rescued Friday in a police raid that lasted eight hours and ended …

McMINNVILLE, Tenn. – The lawyer for a former Warren County elementary teacher accused of having sex with a 13-year-old boy pleaded not guilty for his client Wednesday. A Nov. 15 trial date has been set for Pamela Rogers Turner (search), 27, who is charged with 15 counts of sexual battery …

The Earth may be on the brink of a worldwide epidemic from a bird flu virus (search) that may mutate to become as deadly and infectious as viruses that killed millions during three influenza pandemics of the 20th century, a federal health official said Monday. Dr. Julie L. Gerberding, head …

ROME – A top Vatican official responded to a sensitive question that many Roman Catholics have been asking for a while: Would ailing Pope John Paul II (search) ever consider stepping down? “Let’s leave that hypothesis up to the pope’s conscience,” said the Holy See’s No. 2, Cardinal Angelo Sodano, …

WASHINGTON – Officials from a new federal voting commission cited improvements in the country’s election system in the first congressional review of the 2004 election, which has sparked lawsuits and numerous complaints of irregularities. House Administration Committee Chairman Bob Ney, R-Ohio, called a hearing Wednesday to examine the successes and …

CHARLESTON, S.C. – A teenager who shot and killed his grandparents as they slept is “a shy, decent boy” who was led to kill by the antidepressant Zoloft (search), his attorney said as the boy went on trial. Christopher Pittman (search), now 15, is being tried as an adult for …

Suicide rates (search) have dropped steadily since Prozac (search) and similar antidepressants hit the market. The findings challenge recent claims that Prozac, Paxil (search), Zoloft (search), and the other drugs in the class known as selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) increase suicide risk. As a result of such fears, physicians …

WASHINGTON – A political give-and-take to form a coalition is expected now that election results show no Iraqi group won the votes needed to form a new government on its own, lawmakers said Sunday. “That’s really part of that democracy that we’re all so happy that they’re moving toward,” said …

OSLO, Norway – A Norwegian doctor called in for military service would have made Cpl. Klinger of the American television series “MASH” proud. The doctor rubbed sour cream in his hair, poured sticky liqueur in his shoes, spilled beer on his clothes and sat in a closet smoking 40 cigarettes …