Pelosi says Dems near deal on health care bill (AP)
FULL STORY - AP health Thu, 11 Mar 2010 01:21:27 GMT

US President Barack Obama speaks on healthcare and health insurance reform at Arcadia University in Glenside, Pennsylvania. Obama has launched a populist assault on price-gouging American insurance firms, escalating his last-ditch bid to pass a historic health reform bill.(AFP/Saul Loeb)AP - Democrats claimed momentum Wednesday in their drive to enact the sweeping health care legislation sought by President Barack Obama, citing near agreement on crucial issues despite persistent Republican efforts to knock them off stride.


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(AP)

US-Israel row highlights quandary over settlements (AP)
FULL STORY - AP world Thu, 11 Mar 2010 01:09:58 GMT

U.S. Vice President Joseph Biden, left, talks with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas ahead of their meeting in the West Bank city of Ramallah, Wednesday, March 10, 2010. Israel's new plan to build 1,600 homes for Jews in Palestinian-claimed east Jerusalem overshadowed Vice President Joe Biden's visit to the West Bank on Wednesday. Biden was to hold talks with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and Prime Minister Salam Fayyad, in part to ease their doubts about the latest U.S. peace efforts. (AP Photo/Tara Todras-Whitehill)AP - An open diplomatic row during the visit of Vice President Joe Biden has shined a spotlight on the U.S. failure to rein in Israeli settlement ambitions and deepened Palestinian suspicions that the United States is too weak to broker a deal.


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(AP)

Female WWII aviators honored with gold medal (AP)
FULL STORY - AP politics Thu, 11 Mar 2010 01:10:03 GMT

Wearing her WASP uniform from World War II, Eleanor Brown of Victoria, Texas, attends a Congressional Gold Medal ceremony on Capitol Hill in Washington, Wednesday, March 10, 2010, to honor the Women Airforce Service Pilots, or WASPs. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)AP - They flew planes during World War II but weren't considered real military pilots. No flags were draped over their coffins when they died on duty. And when their service ended, they had to pay their own bus fare home.


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(AP)

Church abuse scandal reaches pope's brother (AP)
FULL STORY - AP world Thu, 11 Mar 2010 01:10:10 GMT

FILE - In this Sept. 13, 2006 file picture Pope Benedict XVI, right, walks with his brother priest Georg Ratzinger in Regensburg, southern Germany. The pope's brother says in a newspaper interview that he slapped pupils across the face after he took over a renowned German boys' choir in the 1960s. He also says he was aware of allegations of physical abuse at an elementary school linked to the choir, but did nothing about it. In an interview with the Passauer Neue Presse published Tuesday March 9, 2010 , he said 'repeatedly administered a slap in the face' to pupils at the Regensburger Domspatzen boys choir. He says it was common then and he stopped after Germany banned corporal punishment in 1980. (AP Photo/Diether Endlicher,File)AP - Church abuse scandals in Germany have reached the older brother of Pope Benedict XVI and are creeping ever closer to the pontiff himself.


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(AP)

Pa. suspect: Caretaker by day, 'Jihad Jane' online (AP)
FULL STORY - AP us Thu, 11 Mar 2010 01:10:10 GMT

In this June 26, 1997 booking photo released by the Tom Green County Jail in San Angelo, Texas, is shown Colleen R. LaRose. LaRose, the self-described 'Jihad Jane' who thought her blond hair and blue eyes would let her blend in as she sought to kill an artist in Sweden, is a rare case of an American woman aiding foreign terrorists and shows the evolution of the global threat, authorities say. LaRose is accused in an indictment filed Tuesday, March 9, 2010, of actively recruiting fighters, as well as agreeing to murder the artist, marry a terrorism suspect so he could move to Europe and martyr herself if necessary. (AP Photo/Tom Green County Jail)AP - Colleen LaRose spent long days caring for her boyfriend's father in a second-floor apartment in Pennsburg, a small town north of Philadelphia.


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(AP)

Spike in Prius complaints may not be all it seems (AP)
FULL STORY - AP science Thu, 11 Mar 2010 01:10:11 GMT

A 2005 Toyota Prius, which was in an accident, is seen at a police station in Harrison, New York, Wednesday, March 10, 2010. The driver of the Toyota Prius told police that the car accelerated on its own, then lurched down a driveway, across a road and into a stone wall.(AP Photo/Seth Wenig)AP - Reports of sudden acceleration in the Toyota Prius have spiked across the country. But that doesn't mean there's an epidemic of bad gas pedals in the popular hybrid.


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(AP)

Corey Haim prolonged tragic Hollywood tradition (AP)
FULL STORY - AP entertainment Thu, 11 Mar 2010 00:45:35 GMT

This undated publicity image provided by A&E shows actor Corey Haim, left, who appeared in the A&E reality TV show 'The Two Coreys' with his friend Corey Feldman, right. Haim, a 1980s teen heartthrob for his roles in 'Lucas' and 'The Lost Boys' whose career was blighted by drug abuse, died Wednesday March 10, 2010. He was 38. (AP Photo/Courtesy AETN, L. Pief Weyman) NO SALES. MANDATORY CREDITAP - Corey Haim's story is sadly familiar in Hollywood: A teen talent who discovered drugs as he tasted his first success and whose personal problems increased as his star-power faded.


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(AP)

Mexico's Slim named 'world's richest' person (AP)
FULL STORY - AP business Thu, 11 Mar 2010 01:07:38 GMT

FILE - In this Nov. 18, 2008 file photo, Mexican businessman Carlos Slim visits the Museo Alameda where some of his personal art collection is on display in San Antonio. On March 10, 2010, Forbes announced that Slim claims the title of world's richest person with a net worth of $53.5 billion. (AP Photo/Eric Gay, File)AP - Mexico's Carlos Slim, the son of an immigrant shopkeeper who amassed a $53.5 billion fortune and bought a major stake in the New York Times, became the first person from a developing nation to be named the world's richest person.


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(AP)

Police: Burglar uses church equipment to view porn (AP)
FULL STORY - AP odd Thu, 11 Mar 2010 01:04:11 GMT
AP - Second-degree burglary charges have been filed against an Ames man who broke into a church where he allegedly used the institution's electronic equipment to watch pornography. Police allege the 55-year-old man broke into the First Christian Church on Thursday. After gathering items from around the building, he is believed to have gone to the basement to spend the night.

Garciaparra comes back to Red Sox to retire (AP)
FULL STORY - AP sports Thu, 11 Mar 2010 01:26:10 GMT

Former Boston Red Sox shortstop Nomar Garciaparra takes questions from reporters as Red Sox general manager Theo Epstein looks on during a news conference at City of Palms Park in Fort Myers, Fla., Wednesday, March 10, 2010. The 1997 American League MVP signed a one-day contract with his former team Wednesday, then announced he's ending his 14-year career. Garciaparra will become an analyst for ESPN. (AP Photo/Steven Senne)AP - Six years after he was traded away for the final pieces of Boston's World Series puzzle, Nomar Garciaparra finally got a friendly farewell from the Red Sox.


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(AP)

Obama: Time for talk is over on healthcare bill (Reuters)
FULL STORY - Reuters politics Thu, 11 Mar 2010 01:05:14 GMT

President Barack Obama welcomes El Salvador's President Mauricio Funes (not shown) to the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, March 8, 2010. REUTERS/Larry DowningReuters - President Barack Obama declared on Wednesday the "time for talk is over" and urged the Congress to vote on healthcare as his health secretary directly challenged insurers to forgo profits to make coverage more affordable.


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(Reuters)

World's mega-rich adding wealth, Carlos Slim No. 1 (Reuters)
FULL STORY - Reuters topstories Wed, 10 Mar 2010 23:49:58 GMT

Lifetime Honorary Chairman of Telefonos de Mexico Carlos Slim Helu participates in the Wall St. Journal CEO Council on Reuters - Mexican tycoon Carlos Slim is the world's richest person, knocking Microsoft founder Bill Gates into second spot, as the wealth of the world's billionaires grew by 50 percent over the last year, Forbes magazine said on Wednesday.


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(Reuters)

Arab League chief says Mideast talks off (Reuters)
FULL STORY - Reuters topstories Thu, 11 Mar 2010 00:01:52 GMT

Amr Moussa, chief of the Arab League, talks to reporters after a meeting with Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh at the Defence Compound in Sanaa in this October 6, 2009 file photo. REUTERS/Khaled AbdullahReuters - Arab League chief Amr Moussa said on Wednesday that Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas had told him he would not enter indirect talks with Israel, only days after the Palestinian side had agreed to the contacts.


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(Reuters)

House bans some earmarks amid ethics concerns (Reuters)
FULL STORY - Reuters politics Thu, 11 Mar 2010 00:12:49 GMT
Reuters - Democrats in the House of Representatives moved on Wednesday to limit the ability of lawmakers to tuck pet projects into spending bills amid mounting election-year ethics concerns.

NY governor in hot water, 2nd-in-command steps up (Reuters)
FULL STORY - Reuters politics Wed, 10 Mar 2010 22:44:17 GMT

New York Gov. David Paterson, with his wife Michelle Paige-Patterson standing by him, announces he will withdraw from the state governor's race at his office in New York, February 26, 2010. REUTERS/Jessica RinaldiReuters - With Governor David Paterson enveloped in scandal, New York's lieutenant governor is leading the notoriously difficult budget process and freeing up his boss to fight for his political life, experts say.


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(Reuters)

Another runaway Toyota Prius reported (Reuters)
FULL STORY - Reuters science Wed, 10 Mar 2010 19:46:30 GMT
Reuters - Federal regulators said they were looking into a report of another runaway Toyota Prius, this one in Westchester County, New York, where police said a woman pulling out of a driveway zoomed across a busy street and into a stone wall.

California revenue jumps, tax refunds should be paid on time (Reuters)
FULL STORY - Reuters topstories Thu, 11 Mar 2010 01:12:55 GMT
Reuters - California's revenue in February was $480 million or 8.7 percent above the estimate in Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger's state budget plan, so tax refunds should be paid on time, State Controller John Chiang said on Wednesday.

U.S. says hikers detained in Iran call families (Reuters)
FULL STORY - Reuters topstories Wed, 10 Mar 2010 20:26:58 GMT

FILE - This combination of undated file photos released by freethehikers.org shows, from left: Joshua Fattal, Shane Bauer and Sarah Shourd. The families of the three Americans detained in Iran for months say their loved ones have been allowed to call home for the first time. The families said in a statement Wednesday, March 10, 2010, that they received the calls Tuesday. The three reported being well. The families called the conversations 'a tremendous relief.' (AP Photo/freethehikers.org, File) NO SALESReuters - Three American detained in Iran last year and accused of spying have been allowed to telephone their families, although formal consular access has not been granted, the U.S. State Department said on Wednesday.


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(Reuters)

Gunmen storm US charity in Pakistan killing six aid workers (AFP)
FULL STORY - AFP world Wed, 10 Mar 2010 19:47:30 GMT

Pakistani men stand next to an injured victim at a field hospital after a militant attack on the offices of a US-based charity near the town of Oghi in the Mansehra district of North West Frontier Province. Militants armed with guns and grenades stormed the offices of the Christian charity, killing six aid workers in an attack blamed on Islamist rebels.(AFP)AFP - Militants armed with guns and grenades stormed the offices of a US-based Christian charity in Pakistan on Wednesday, killing six aid workers in an attack blamed on Islamist rebels.


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(AFP)

Biden condemns Israel settlement move at Palestinian talks (AFP)
FULL STORY - AFP politics Wed, 10 Mar 2010 19:39:46 GMT

US Vice President Joe Biden waves as he arrives for a visit at the Nassar Stone factory in the West Bank city of Bethlehem. Biden told Palestinian leaders on Wednesday that Washington will hold accountable any side that hurts peace prospects, pointedly citing Israel's settlement expansion plans.(AFP/David Furst)AFP - US Vice President Joe Biden told Palestinian leaders on Wednesday that Washington will hold accountable any side that hurts peace prospects, pointedly citing Israel's settlement expansion plans.


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(AFP)