Obama hails 60th Senate vote for health care
WASHINGTON (AP) — Jubilant Democrats locked in Nebraska Sen. Ben Nelson as the 60th and decisive vote for historic health care legislation Saturday, putting President Barack Obama's signature issue firmly on a path for Christmas Eve passage. At the White House, Obama swiftly welcomed the breakthrough, saying, "After a nearly centurylong struggle, we are on the cusp of making health care reform a reality in the United States of America."
Blizzard-like storm slams East, region snowed in
WASHINGTON (AP) — A blizzard-like storm rocked the Mid-Atlantic and Northeast on Saturday, crippling travel across the region and causing tens of thousands of power outages. Those who did venture out were treated to nearly desolate stores on what is usually one of the busiest shopping days of the year. There were virtually no lines to get a picture with a mall Santa on the last weekend before Christmas.
Divided climate talks end with compromise deal
COPENHAGEN (AP) — The historic U.N. climate talks ended Saturday after a 31-hour negotiating marathon, with delegates accepting a U.S.-brokered compromise that gives billions in climate aid to poor nations but does not require the world's major polluters to make deeper cuts in their greenhouse gas emissions. Two weeks of wrangling at Copenhagen exposed sharp divisions between rich and poor nations — and even among major greenhouse-gas emitters like China and the United States — on how to fight global warming.
Senators OK defense budget bill, much left to 2010
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Senate cleared its year-end plate of some must-do work Saturday as it passed a critical budget bill that blends money for the Pentagon with additional help for the jobless. The early morning 88-10 vote, taken as a blizzard buffeted the Capitol, permitted lawmakers to resume their acrimonious debate on health care, which Democrats now expect to finish by Christmas. The spending measure now goes to President Barack Obama for his signature.
Oil well standoff between Iraq, Iran continues
BAGHDAD (AP) — Iraq deployed troops Saturday to monitor an oil well seized by Iranian forces along the disputed border between the two countries, an Iraqi official said, as Baghdad demanded once again that Iran withdraw. The diplomatic standoff began late Thursday, when Iranian forces reportedly crossed into Iraq and seized the well, which sits just over the border in the southern Maysan province. It was a dramatic display of the occasionally tense relations between the wary neighbors.
Prison population to have first drop since 1972
DALLAS (AP) — The United States may soon see its prison population drop for the first time in almost four decades, a milestone in a nation that locks up more people than any other. The inmate population has risen steadily since the early 1970s as states adopted get-tough policies that sent more people to prison and kept them there longer. But tight budgets now have states rethinking these policies and the costs that come with them.
Iran acknowledges prisoners were beaten to death
TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — After months of denials, Iran acknowledged Saturday that at least three people detained in the country's postelection turmoil were beaten to death by their jailers. The surprise announcement by the hard-line judiciary confirmed one of the opposition's most devastating and embarrassing claims against authorities and the elite Revolutionary Guard forces that led the crackdown after June's disputed presidential vote.
Poland tightens border in hunt for Auschwitz sign
OSWIECIM, Poland (AP) — Polish authorities stepped up security checks at airports and border crossings and searched scrap metal yards Saturday as the search intensified for the infamous Nazi sign stolen from the Auschwitz death camp memorial. The brazen pre-dawn theft Friday of one of the Holocaust's most chilling and notorious symbols sparked outrage from around the world, and Polish leaders have declared recovering the 5-meter (16-foot) sign a national priority.
Fear of violence grows in mountaintop mining fight
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. (AP) — It was the slap heard 'round the coalfields: Cordelia Ruth Tucker, wearing the fluorescent-striped shirt of a miner, strode past West Virginia state troopers and into a stream of marchers protesting mountaintop removal mining to deliver an audible smack. The 54-year-old Rock Creek woman isn't talking as she awaits trial on a battery charge. Her neighbor, environmental activist Judy Bonds, says she was on the receiving end of the slap.
Early run carries No. 1 Kansas past Michigan 75-64
LAWRENCE, Kan. (AP) — Marcus Morris had a career-high 23 points and 10 rebounds, and Sherron Collins scored 19 to help No. 1 Kansas hold on for a grinding 75-64 win over Michigan on Saturday. Kansas (10-0) wasn't always crisp in winning its 48th straight home game, using a big first-half run to take the lead and hanging on from there. Xavier Henry had 15 points and the Jayhawks held Michigan to 5-for-28 shooting from 3-point range to overcome 14 sometimes-ugly turnovers and numerous breakdowns on the defensive glass.
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