DUNKARD, Pa. – Rescue workers from neighboring states have joined in a search for a 12-year-old girl reported missing after leaving her family’s home in southwestern Pennsylvania to ride her all-terrain vehicle. Gabrielle Miranda Bechen has been missing since early Tuesday morning, when she went riding on roads and trails …

BAGHDAD, Iraq – The prosecutor asked for the death penalty against Saddam Hussein and two of his top co-defendendants, saying in his closing arguments Monday that the former Iraqi leader and his regime committed crimes against humanity in a “revenge” attack on Shiite civilians in the 1980s. The arguments brought …

NORWALK, Ohio – A couple accused of forcing some of their 11 adopted, special-needs children to sleep in cages pleaded not guilty Wednesday to child endangering and other crimes. Michael and Sharen Gravelle were arraigned before Huron County Common Pleas Judge Earl R. McGimpsey and agreed to be tried together …

CONCORDE, N.H. – The Episcopal Church‘s first openly gay bishop, V. Gene Robinson, has started treatment for alcoholism, a spokesman said Tuesday. Diocese of New Hampshire spokesman Mike Barwell said Robinson told clergy the news in an e-mail Monday. Barwell referred further questions Tuesday to other officials who were not …

LAGOS, Nigeria – The deadly H5N1 bird flu virus has been detected on a large commercial chicken farm in Nigeria — the first reported outbreak in Africa, the World Organization for Animal Health said Wednesday. The outbreak appears to be restricted to birds, and no human infections have been reported, …

BOLIGEE, Ala. – Gov. Bob Riley said Wednesday that the nine church fires in rural Alabama during the past week appear linked, as investigators checked out witness reports of two men in a sport-utility vehicle near a number of the fires. Authorities have ruled arson in five Baptist church fires …

RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil – Emergency workers on Saturday recovered the flight-data recorder and the bodies of 19 people who died when their plane exploded on impact in a crash in a mountainous region outside Rio de Janeiro. Remains of the victims were brought to the city’s morgue for identification. …

This is a partial transcript from “Hannity & Colmes,” April 21, 2006, that has been edited for clarity. SEAN HANNITY, CO-HOST: Amid allegations that Duke lacrosse players raped a stripper on March 13, the Duke lacrosse coach of 16 years, Mike Pressler, has resigned, and the university has decided to …

NEW YORK – Fuel costs are up. So is the average house size, the number of appliances we use and the level of comfort we expect year-round in our home. Of course, being comfortable — or lazy — has a price, and you want to cut your energy bills. Click …

WASHINGTON – More tax cuts, fewer lawsuits, and stronger intellectual property rights were all cited as key factors in preserving the nation’s entrepreneurial spirit at the start of the Small Business Administration’s annual gala on Wednesday. Yet, hanging heavy over every issue at the event, part of National Small Business …