Health Care bill faces key Senate test vote
WASHINGTON (AP) — Senate Democrats confidently advanced health care legislation Sunday toward a make-or-break test vote in a push for Christmas-week passage. Republicans vowed to resist what they appeared unable to stop. In the run-up to the vote, the escalation in rhetoric was remarkable on both sides of an issue that has divided the two political parties for months.
Mullen worries about Iran running out clock on US
ABOARD A U.S. MILITARY AIRCRAFT (AP) — The top U.S. military officer said Sunday he does not assume Iran's brief seizure of an Iraqi oil well is part of an orchestrated plan in Tehran to threaten its neighbors. Adm. Mike Mullen also said he's worried about "the clock now running" on the Obama administration's efforts at trying to keep the lines of communication open with Iran. The administration had given a rough deadline of the end of 2009 for Iran to respond to an offer of engagement and show that it would allay world concerns about its nuclear program.
Polish police retrieve damaged Auschwitz gate sign
WARSAW, Poland (AP) — Polish police found the infamous "Arbeit Macht Frei" sign that was stolen from the gate of the former Nazi death camp of Auschwitz after an intensive three-day hunt and arrested five suspects, police said early Monday. The sign was found cut into three pieces. Police spokeswoman Katarzyna Padlo told The Associated Press that the sign was found Sunday night in northern Poland, the other end of the country from the southern Polish town where the Auschwitz memorial museum is located and where it disappeared before dawn Friday.
Storm crawls into New England, leaving mess behind
PROVIDENCE, R.I. (AP) — A fierce weekend storm dropped record snowfall and stranded travelers up the coast from Virginia to New England, but its timing helped minimize headache-inducing work commutes and left many with the prospect of a very white Christmas. Residents throughout the mid-Atlantic and Northeast mostly holed up for the weekend, then dug out from as much as 2 feet of snow to find sunny, mostly calm skies under a blanket of white unspoiled by car exhaust and passers-by.
Tijuana becomes crucible for Mexican police reform
EDITOR'S NOTE — AP reporter Elliot Spagat followed Tijuana's new public safety chief, Julian Leyzaola, for eight months as he launches the city's most aggressive police reform to date, in the middle of a raging drug war. TIJUANA, Mexico (AP) — Behind every crime is a corrupt cop.
Astronauts blast off for Christmas space mission
BAIKONUR, Kazakhstan (AP) — A Russian rocket blasted off from a cosmodrome in Kazakhstan lighting up the frigid Central Asian steppe Monday, shuttling an American, a Russian and a Japanese to the International Space Station. Standing in the early morning cold, the astronauts' family and friends watched as the Soyuz craft soared atop a tower of bright orange flames.
Brazil man stuck stepson with needles as revenge
RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) — A Brazilian man publicly confessed to pushing dozens of needles into his 2-year-old stepson, saying Sunday in a jail cell interview that he intended to kill the boy out of spite for his wife and didn't think he would be discovered. Speaking to Globo television's "Fantastico" program from the northeastern state of Bahia, 30-year-old bricklayer Roberto Carlos Magalhaes described mixing water with wine to dope the child before he and his lover held the boy down and stuck sewing needles into him.
Snowstorm cuts into sales, may mean stronger week
The snowstorm that blanketed the East Coast, closing malls and snowing in shoppers, spelled trouble for retailers, but elsewhere in the country stores saw a strong turnout on the last weekend before Christmas. Eager to win business from snowed-in easterners, retail Web sites including Macy's and J.C. Penney offered free express shipping Sunday. Traffic to retail Web sites spiked all weekend. Elsewhere in the country, crowds looking for discounts found some, but far less than the 60 to 70 percent off sales they wanted.
Actress Brittany Murphy dies in LA at age 32
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Brittany Murphy, the actress who got her start in the sleeper hit "Clueless" and rose to stardom in "8 Mile" before her movie roles declined in recent years, died Sunday in Los Angeles of what appeared to be natural causes, a Los Angeles County coroner's official said. She was 32. Murphy was pronounced dead at 10:04 a.m. at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, hospital spokeswoman Sally Stewart said.
Shaky Favre, Vikings stunned by Panthers 26-7
CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — Presented with an opportunity to get back into the race for the best record in the NFC, Brett Favre and the Minnesota Vikings fell flat with another Sunday night dud. Steve Smith caught the go-ahead touchdown pass and his long catch and run set up the clinching score and the Carolina Panthers used a ferocious defense to stifle Favre, Adrian Peterson and the Vikings in a 26-7 victory.
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