Nation and World

WASHINGTON (AP) — Invoking the name of Edward M. Kennedy, Democrats united Saturday night to push historic health care legislation past a key Senate hurdle over the opposition of Republicans eager to inflict a punishing defeat on President Barack Obama. There was not a vote to spare.

BRUNSWICK, Maine (AP) – The rumble of Navy patrol aircraft flying overhead will soon be a thing of the past as the remaining P-3 Orions depart from Brunswick Naval Air Station.

HALIFAX, Nova Scotia (AP) – The United States will do its part to reduce corruption in Afghanistan by examining its own contracts and projects, even as it is demanding the same from the Afghan government, Defense Secretary Robert Gates said Friday.

ATLANTA (AP) – Four North Carolina patients at a single hospital tested positive for a type of swine flu that is resistant to Tamiflu, health officials said Friday.

WASHINGTON (AP) – Suitably opaque, Section 2006 takes up only a few dozen lines in a sweeping health care bill that runs to 2,074 pages and mentions neither Sen. Mary Landrieu nor her state of Louisiana.

WHEAT RIDGE, Colo. (AP) – A billboard showing President Barack Obama wearing a turban has sparked a lot of attention at the suburban Denver used car dealership that put it up. The sign, completed Friday by artist David Lee, shows a grinning, cartoonish Obama and bears the words “PRESIDENT or JIHAD?”

KABUL (AP) – Underpaid, under-equipped and under-trained, Afghanistan’s 93,000-member police force is the weak link in an ambitious security strategy to hand over defense of the country to Afghans so American and other foreign troops can go home.

CHICAGO (AP) – A new law will help the state get more federal money to pay hospitals that care for the poor.

PHILADELPHIA (AP) – A Pennsylvania university’s requirement that overweight students take a fitness course to graduate has raised the hackles of students and the eyebrows of health and legal experts.

WASHINGTON (AP) – The fleet of new cars and trucks sold to U.S. consumers averaged 21 miles per gallon (9 kilometers per liter) in the 2008 model year, a modest increase over the previous year, the Environmental Protection Agency reported Friday.

LOS ANGELES (AP) – California is investigating several companies suspected of bilking churches nationwide of hundreds of thousands of dollars through fraudulent computer leasing schemes, authorities said Friday.

LAS VEGAS – Michael Jackson’s doctor bought a powerful anesthetic in Nevada and had it shipped to California, where it was found at the pop singer’s bedside after he died, court documents show.

WASHINGTON – The first federal anti-discrimination law in nearly 20 years takes effect today, prohibiting employers from hiring, firing or determining promotions based on genetic makeup.

TRAVERSE CITY, Mich. (AP) – Asian carp may have breached an electronic barrier designed to prevent the giant invaders from upsetting the ecosystem in the Great Lakes and jeopardizing a $7 billion sport fishery, officials said Friday.

WASHINGTON (AP) — With no margin for rebellion, Senate Democrats pushed toward a crucial weekend test vote on their sweeping health care bill Friday, and wavering moderates appeared to be falling in line on President Barack Obama's signature issue.

WASHINGTON (AP) — In a sharp improvement, more than half of U.S. states added jobs in October, though economists said many of the gains likely occurred in temporary employment.

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) – A spokeswoman for Jaycee Dugard says only Dugard and her family should decide when and if a film is made based on the 18 years she spent with the man charged with kidnapping her.

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) – The U.S. Army will allow the media limited coverage of Sarah Palin’s appearance at Fort Bragg, but will bar reporters from interviewing her or her supporters on the post, officials said Thursday.

TWENTYNINE PALMS, Calif. (AP) – Two days before shipping off to war, Marine Pfc. Jesse Sheets sat inside a trailer in the Mojave Desert, his gaze fixed on a computer that flashed a rhythmic pulse of contrasting images.

LIMA, Peru (AP) – Police say a gang in the Peruvian jungle has been killing people and draining fat from the corpses to sell on the black market for use in cosmetics, although medical experts say they doubt a major market for fat exists.

WASHINGTON (AP) – The foreclosure crisis likely will persist well into next year as high unemployment pushes more people out of homes, pulls down housing prices and raises concerns about the broader economic recovery.

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Federal prosecutors have charged three men with diverting traffic from the Web site of Philadelphia-based telecommunications provider Comcast Corp.

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) – Thousands of starry-eyed children all over the world are writing letters to the jolly man at the North Pole this holiday season, but they’re not likely to get a response from Santa Claus or his helpers.

WASHINGTON (AP) – After months of maneuvering, the Senate stands at the brink of a historic battle over health care with President Barack Obama and his allies on one side and Republicans, outnumbered but unflinching, on the other.

GUANTANAMO BAY NAVY BASE, Cuba – Guards didn’t go through the prison camps Wednesday and unpin the presidential closure order from detainee bulletin boards. And the detention center didn’t put in an urgent call for reinforcements.

ATLANTA (AP) — A problem with the FAA system that collects airline flight plans caused widespread flight cancellations and delays nationwide Thursday, the second time in 15 months that a glitch created such problems.

SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — A woman charged in the 2002 kidnapping of Elizabeth Smart pleaded guilty Tuesday as part of a deal with federal prosecutors and asked Smart to forgive her for all the pain she had caused.

NEW YORK (AP) — For many women, getting a mammogram is already one of life's more stressful experiences.

VANCOUVER, British Columbia (AP) — Seismologists say a earthquake struck off Canada's pacific coast province of British Columbia.

BOSTON (AP) — A Scottish man is facing charges after the Philadelphia-to-London flight he was on made an unscheduled stop in Boston because he was allegedly being belligerent and disruptive.

MARIETTA, Pa. (AP) — Malaria. Tuberculosis. Alzheimer's disease. AIDS. Pandemic flu. Genital herpes. Urinary tract infections. Grass allergies. Traveler's diarrhea. You name it, the pharmaceutical industry is working on a vaccine to prevent it.

DENVER (AP) — Colorado Gov. Bill Ritter plans to direct medical marijuana dispensaries to start paying sales tax.

LEXINGTON, Missouri (AP) — Prosecutors in Missouri have filed 15 additional sex charges against a father and his adult sons who were already accused of sexually abusing children.

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) — Sarah Palin's book is highly anticipated in her home state — but she's no Harry Potter.

MOSCOW (AP) — A Russian icebreaker carrying more than 100 tourists, scientists and journalists on a cruise around Antarctica was struggling to free itself from sea ice about 5 miles (8 kilometers) from clear water on Tuesday, a shipping company said.

SAVANNAH, Ga. (AP) — An Army cook and single mom may face criminal charges after she skipped her deployment flight to Afghanistan because, she said, no one was available to care for her infant son while she was overseas.

WASHINGTON (AP) — America's small cities are losing some of their traditional appeal to upwardly mobile families seeking wholesome neighborhoods, a stable economy and affordable living.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — Space shuttle Atlantis rocketed into orbit Monday with six astronauts and a full load of spare parts for the International Space Station.

CHICAGO (AP) – They’re antsy and edgy, tired of waiting for promotion opportunities at work as their elders put off retirement. A good number of them are just waiting for the economy to pick up so they can hop to the next job, find something more fulfilling and get what they think they deserve. Oh, and they want work-life balance, too.

Gannett News Service

WASHINGTON (AP) – Americans are worried about the fine print in the health care overhaul, an Associated Press poll says, and those concerns are creating new challenges for President Barack Obama as he tries to overcome doubts in Congress.

MOSCOW (AP) – Fears of a repeat of last winter’s cutoff in Russian gas deliveries to Europe cast a shadow over Russia’s summit with the European Union, to be held Wednesday in Sweden.

ROME (AP) – World leaders at a food summit today rallied around a new strategy to fight global hunger and help poor countries feed themselves, but failed to pledge funds sought by the U.N.

WASHINGTON (AP) – The government paid more than $47 billion in questionable Medicare claims including medical treatment showing little relation to a patient’s condition, wasting taxpayer dollars at a rate nearly three times the previous year.