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LOS ANGELES – Former NFL defensive lineman Al Lucas (search) died Sunday from a presumed spinal cord injury sustained while trying to make a tackle for the Los Angeles Avengers (search) during an Arena Football League game, the team said. Lucas was taken to California Hospital (search) and all attempts …

TEHRAN, Iran – Iran (search) on Tuesday rejected Canada’s (search) demand that it allow an international team of forensic scientists to examine the corpse of a photojournalist who died in Iranian custody. Zahra Kazemi (search), a 54-year-old Canadian photographer of Iranian origin, died in July 2003, several days after being …

• John Paul II was the longest serving pope of this past century, serving for 24 years (1978-2002). • The first non-Italian pope in 455 years, John Paul II was also fluent in eight languages, among them Polish, Italian, French, English, German and Spanish. • Besides taking part in Vatican …

To all of you yelling at me about the car chases (search), enough already! Do you think I run this network? I just do what I’m told. 😉 But here’s an e-mail that added a new angle: I lived in L.A. for 24 years… One of the main reasons for …

LINCOLNSHIRE, Ill. – Fortune Brands Inc. (FBO), a supplier of goods ranging from Jim Beam bourbon to Titleist golf balls and a partner in this week’s takeover deal for British liquor company Allied Domecq PLC (search), said Friday its first-quarter profit grew 10 percent on higher sales. Its shares rose …

HUMPHREY, Arkansas – Five little boys from three different families died along with the mother of two of the youngsters when a mobile home was destroyed by flames, authorities said. The fire Wednesday had engulfed the trailer by the time firefighters arrived. Investigators did not know how the blaze began …

Cholesterol-lowering drugs called statins may reduce disability after a stroke. Researchers reporting at the American Academy of Neurology 57th Annual Meeting say stroke victims who were taking cholesterol-lowering statin drugs before their stroke are more likely to recover and go home than those not on these medications. For those victims …

LOS ANGELES – Texas Instruments Inc. (TXN), the world’s largest maker of chips for cell phones, on Monday reported a 12 percent rise in quarterly profits, as manufacturing and operating expenses fell and new orders increased modestly from the end of last year. TI shares rose almost 6 percent in …

WASHINGTON – Despite their largest congressional majorities in decades, Republicans are struggling with internal dissent as they try to ride out a House ethics controversy and win a Senate (search) showdown over confirmation of President Bush’s court nominees. The worries are short-term and longer range, political as well as philosophical …

TORONTO – Five explorers using huskies and wooden sleds reached the North Pole on Tuesday, setting a world record by coming in several hours earlier than a 37-day trek by American explorer Robert E. Peary (search) for the same journey in 1909, the expedition team said. British explorer Tom Avery …