FRANKFURT, Germany – Argentina and the Netherlands transformed the World Cup’s toughest group into a stroll to the second round. Faced by tricky matches from the start, they both feared early elimination. Instead, they made it to the last 16 with a game to spare. Now they meet in Frankfurt …

Forget the Flintstones, all you need for your daily vitamin dose is a pair of souped-up skivvies. Trendy Australian undies maker aussieBum has rolled out vitamin-infused undies called Essence, according to The New York Post. Company founder Sean Ashby told the paper health-care giant Bayer developed the drawers’ special blend …

HOUSTON – Jurors in the fraud and conspiracy trial against former Enron Corp. chiefs Kenneth Lay and Jeffrey Skilling got a taste Wednesday of the self-congratulatory culture that permeated the company months before it collapsed in scandal and bankruptcy. Lay and Skilling occasionally headlined employee meetings during the company’s halcyon …

HOUSTON – Andrea Yates once advised a fellow inmate that she could escape prosecution by pretending to be mentally ill and persuading a psychiatrist she suffered from serious disorders, according to court documents filed Thursday by prosecutors. Felicia Doe, who spent four days in a jail block with Yates in …

CHICAGO – A federal judge Wednesday refused to let defense lawyers interview two jurors involved in former Gov. George Ryan‘s racketeering and fraud trial. “I don’t think there is a basis here to permit an inquiry,” U.S. District Judge Rebecca R. Pallmeyer said in response to the lawyers’ request. Pallmeyer …

AMMAN, Jordan – Veiled and chained at the ankles, a 35-year-old Iraqi woman went on trial Monday on charges of trying to carry out a suicide attack on a Jordanian hotel. Sixty-three people died when suicide bombers struck three hotels in Amman last Nov. 9. Sajida Mubarak al-Rishawi, 35, is …

JUNEAU, Alaska – Alaska‘s law on marijuana possession is considered the most liberal in the country — but its governor wants to change that, saying pot has evolved into “a dangerous drug.” Republican Gov. Frank Murkowski argues that recreational use of pot should no longer be protected by Alaskans’ right …

JAKARTA, Indonesia – Police asked Playboy magazine Thursday to stop publishing its Indonesian edition out of fears it could enrage Muslims, and officials of the publication said they were considering the request. Previously, police and government officials said that there were no laws to ban the magazine, which does not …

NEW YORK – An additional 150 tiny bone fragments have been recovered from the rooftop of a skyscraper near the World Trade Center site, a spokeswoman for the medical examiner’s office said. The latest remains were recovered at the end of last week, and one more week of recovery work …

WASHINGTON – The Bush administration is considering diplomatic and economic options to deter Iran from developing nuclear weapons if diplomacy at the United Nations fails, and it envisions sanctions if Tehran won’t back down, U.N. Ambassador John Bolton said Thursday. “It would be, I think, simply prudent to be looking …