Showdown vote nears on importing low-cost drugs
WASHINGTON (AP) — A bipartisan group of lawmakers hopes to finally win a long struggle to ease curbs against importing low-cost prescription drugs but will have to overcome the Obama administration and the pharmaceutical industry to do so. The Senate was resuming debate Thursday on President Barack Obama's drive to reshape the country's care system. The most crucial work was being done behind closed doors, where Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., and his lieutenants were hunting support for a tentative deal among moderate and liberal Democrats to expand the government's role in providing care.
Storm dumps snow on Midwest, bitter cold to follow
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — A gigantic storm dumped more than a foot of snow across much of the Midwest and New England as it marched eastward Wednesday, creating blizzard conditions, burying cars under huge drifts and providing ammunition for a massive campus snowball fight in Wisconsin. Even more snow fell in some areas, with 16 inches reported in Des Moines and nearly 19 inches just south of Madison, Wis. Gusts of up to 50 mph created snow drifts between 8 and 15 feet tall and even knocked down a two-story Christmas tree in downtown Champaign, Ill.
Petraeus reveals boost in US counterterror effort
WASHINGTON (AP) — The rapid U.S. build up in the Afghan war will include more terrorist-hunting forces to chase down militants deemed too extreme to change sides, a top U.S. general revealed on Wednesday. "There's no question you've got to kill or capture those bad guys that are not reconcilable," Gen. David Petraeus, the chief of U.S. Central Command, told the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. "And we are intending to do that."
Worried parents at heart of terror probe
WASHINGTON (AP) — When five young American Muslims were arrested in Pakistan over possible links to terrorism, a key break in the case came not from federal agents or spies, but parents worried their sons may have made a terrible decision. The families, based in the northern Virginia and Washington, D.C., area, were particularly concerned after watching what is described as a disturbing farewell video from the young men, showing scenes of war and casualties and saying Muslims must be defended.
House votes to extend $31B in expiring tax breaks
WASHINGTON (AP) — The House voted Wednesday to extend $31 billion in popular tax breaks, including an income tax deduction for sales and property taxes, to be financed with a tax increase on investment fund managers and a crackdown on international tax cheats. The 45 tax deductions and credits for businesses and individuals are scheduled to expire at year's end. The House voted 241-181 to extend them for a year, with only two Republicans voting in favor. The bill now goes to the Senate, which has rejected the tax increase on investment managers in the past.
Zelaya negotiating deal to leave Honduras
TEGUCIGALPA, Honduras (AP) — Mexico is working to get ousted President Manuel Zelaya out of the Brazilian Embassy, a refuge where he has spent nearly three months in a failed effort to get his office back and prevent the election of his successor. Mexico's Foreign Relations Department said late Wednesday that it asked the interim administration installed after the coup that removed Zelaya to guarantee his safe passage out of the country without being arrested on treason and abuse of power charges.
SC gov dodges impeachment, lawmakers push rebuke
COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — State lawmakers made it clear they want Gov. Mark Sanford to resign, but wouldn't recommend ousting him over his travels and trysts with an Argentine mistress. A House panel by a convincing 6-1 vote rejected an impeachment resolution Wednesday and instead chose to formally rebuke Sanford. The measure says he brought "ridicule, dishonor, disgrace and shame" to the state he was twice overwhelmingly elected to lead. The panel said the governor had lost credibility, but they weren't ready to fire him.
Al-Qaida claims this week's deadly Baghdad blasts
BAGHDAD (AP) — Al-Qaida's umbrella group in Iraq claimed responsibility Thursday for the coordinated Baghdad bombings this week that killed 127 people and wounded more than 500, warning of more strikes against the Iraqi government. The group, known as the Islamic State of Iraq, said in a statement posted on the Internet that the strikes in the Iraqi capital targeted the "bastions of evil and dens of apostates."
Woods scandal a boon to Internet publications
SAN JOSE, Calif. (AP) — The Tiger Woods sex scandal has been a boon for online publications, even though it hasn't generated the same amount of Internet traffic as Michael Jackson's death or President Barack Obama's inauguration. Provocative remarks by Yahoo Inc. CEO Carol Bartz at an investor conference in New York this week illustrate how major Internet channels and niche publications are benefiting from the Woods controversy.
Brewers land Wolf, Hawkins; Orioles get Millwood
INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — The winter meetings heated up even more Wednesday, with Milwaukee landing pitchers Randy Wolf and LaTroy Hawkins, Baltimore acquiring Kevin Millwood in a trade with Texas, and the Yankees completing the three-team, seven-player swap that brought them All-Star center fielder Curtis Granderson. As the Rangers traded Millwood, they added Rich Harden. New York also re-signed postseason star Andy Pettitte, and Houston reeled in hard-throwing reliever Matt Lindstrom from the Florida Marlins on the next-to-last-day of the four-day annual session.
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