An official for the U.S. Food and Drug Administration told a congressional subcommittee Tuesday that a blood thinner that killed more than 80 Americans may have been intentionally contaminated. “FDA’s working hypothesis is that this was intentional contamination, but this is not yet proven,” Dr. Janet Woodcock, director of the …

CANBERRA, Australia – Runners carried the Olympic torch unimpeded through Australia’s capital Thursday cheered by thousands waving Chinese flags, but critics of China protested nearby and a skywriting airplane wrote “Free Tibet” overhead. Australian organizers claimed victory because they largely avoided the chaotic scenes that marred relay portions held in …

BAGHDAD – Families stroll the park’s sidewalks and picnic in the shade as laughing children clamor to see the main attraction — lions once owned by Saddam Hussein’s son, Odai. Damaged after the 2003 U.S.-led invasion, the Baghdad Zoo has made a startling comeback, and thousands of Iraqis are flocking …

The creator of phony profile on MySpace whose cruel messages may have led to the suicide of a 13-year-old suburban St. Louis girl has spoken out for the first time, admitting she created the site with the active participation of the mother of one of the dead teen’s friends. Megan …

WASHINGTON – The government is taking too long to secure radioactive materials across the country that could get into terrorists’ hands, according to a government report. Radioactive material used for legitimate purposes in medical equipment and food, for instance, could be used to create an explosive device known as a …

PARIS – Two French humanitarian workers were kidnapped Friday in Afghanistan, spirited at gunpoint out of the house they were sleeping in, aid group Action Against Hunger and the French Foreign Ministry said. The two are believed to be alive, the Paris-based group said in a statement. The kidnappers burst …

A dwarf planet circling the sun out beyond the orbit of Neptune has been rechristened Makemake after a Polynesian god and designated the third of the solar system’s new class of plutoids, the International Astronomical Union (IAU) announced Saturday. Makemake is a small, red-tinged world that ranks among the largest …

A former Boston stripper has come forward saying she slept with Yankee third baseman Alex Rodriguez twice in 2004 — and that Cynthia Rodriguez “did the right thing” by filing for divorce. “A leopard doesn’t change his spots,” Candice Houlihan told Boston Herald. “Good for her. I think she’s doing …

CARSON CITY, Nev. – The 28 branches of 1st National Bank of Nevada and First Heritage Bank, operating in Nevada, Arizona and California, were closed Friday by federal regulators. The banks, owned by Scottsdale, Ariz.-based First National Bank Holding Co., were scheduled to reopen on Monday as Mutual of Omaha …

LOS ANGELES – The widow of producer Aaron Spelling paid a whopping $47 million for a two-story condo atop a Century City residential tower that’s still under construction, her lawyer said. The price paid by Candy Spelling for the 16,500-square-foot property works out to $2,848 a square foot, a record …