ALEXANDRIA, Va. – The death-penalty trial of Al Qaeda conspirator Zacarias Moussaoui is back on track after a judge reversed course and agreed to admit some evidence about aviation security. U.S. District Judge Leonie M. Brinkema relented Friday from her earlier order barring all such testimony. She had issued that …

NEW YORK – MTV owner Viacom Inc. (VIA) plans to enter the business of connecting youth viewers on the Internet this year, a top Viacom executive said on Wednesday, amid threats of losing its cool cachet to News Corp. (NWS). For MTV, once a music video cable channel that transformed …

LONDON – Margaret Atwood has had enough of long journeys, late nights and writer’s cramp. Tired of grueling book tours, the Booker Prize-winning Canadian author on Sunday unveiled her new invention: a remote-controlled pen that allows writers to sign books for fans from thousands of miles away. Some fear Atwood’s …

ROME – Prosecutors in Milan said Friday they have requested that Italian Premier Silvio Berlusconi be indicted on corruption charges. The premier is accused of ordering the payment in 1997 of at least $600,000 to British lawyer David Mills — whose indictment also was being sought — in exchange for …

NEW LONDON, Conn. – A hearing to determine whether a U.S. Coast Guard Academy football player should be court-martialed on sexual assault charges ended Tuesday with the defense declining to call any witnesses. Coast Guard Cadet Webster M. Smith, 22, has been accused by seven female cadets of misconduct ranging …

NEW YORK – Consumer electronics retailer Best Buy Co. Inc. (BBY) Thursday reported higher fourth-quarter profits, driven by strong demand for flat-panel televisions and MP3 players, and forecast fiscal-year earnings above Wall Street targets. The retailer, aiming to boost sales by converting stores to a “segmented” format that tailors products …

Becoming a father may really mess with your head, or at least a monkey’s head. A new study shows that marmoset monkey fathers display differences in brain structure and hormone receptors compared with nonfathers. More study is needed to determine if the same changes occur in other mammals, like human …

BALTIMORE – Electricity usage hit record highs, municipalities tried to protect their elderly residents and tourists sought out air-conditioned attractions as a heat wave that has baked the mid-Atlantic region extended to a fourth day Thursday. The region was eagerly anticipating a break, however, with temperatures on Friday expected to …

SEATTLE – A man accused of storming Seattle’s Jewish Federation offices, killing one woman and wounding five others in a fit of rage over U.S. foreign policy, pleaded not guilty Tuesday to murder and other charges. Naveed Afzal Haq, 30, had indicated in court last week that he wanted to …

ALBANY, N.Y. – A college president who died while swimming off the South Carolina coast may have had an underlying medical problem that led to his death, police said Monday. State University of New York at Albany President Kermit Hall, 61, and his wife were swimming at a beach resort …