AP U.S. NewsBrief at 2:28 p.m. EST

Holidays will again test NYC air travel bottleneck

NEW YORK (AP) — Fewer people are expected to fly this holiday season, but travelers shouldn't expect a full reprieve from the horrid flight delays of Thanksgivings past, especially if they need to land anywhere near New York City. Despite some recent improvements, the Big Apple's three major airports continue to be the country's worst air travel bottleneck.

Lawyer: 9/11 defendants want platform for views

NEW YORK (AP) — The five men facing trial in the Sept. 11 attacks will plead not guilty so that they can air their criticisms of U.S. foreign policy, the lawyer for one of the defendants said Sunday. Scott Fenstermaker, the lawyer for accused terrorist Ali Abd al-Aziz Ali, said the men would not deny their role in the 2001 attacks but "would explain what happened and why they did it."

Iraqi refugees move to Mich. despite poor economy

DETROIT (AP) — The U.S. government resettled Mazen Alsaqa in Massachusetts in February. Within a month, the Iraqi refugee moved to Michigan. It wasn't that Alsaqa disliked Worcester, Mass. But he never thought twice about staying. Even though the U.S. government tried to keep him away from the Detroit area and its soaring unemployment, that was the only place Alsaqa wanted to live.

RI bishop asked Kennedy in 2007 to avoid Communion

EAST PROVIDENCE, R.I. (AP) — The Roman Catholic bishop of Rhode Island said Sunday that he asked Rep. Patrick Kennedy in a 2007 letter to stop receiving Communion, the central sacrament of the church, because of the congressman's public stance on moral issues. Bishop Thomas Tobin divulged details of his confidential exchange with Kennedy after the Democratic lawmaker told The Providence Journal in a story published Sunday that Tobin had instructed him not to receive Communion. The two men have clashed repeatedly in the past few weeks over abortion.

Astronaut's baby daughter born as he circles Earth

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — Astronaut Randolph Bresnik jubilantly welcomed his new daughter into the world Sunday as he floated 220 miles above it. Abigail Mae Bresnik was born as her father circled Earth on his first space shuttle mission, just hours after his first spacewalk.

Arrest in 1981 tribal murders revives old mystery

INDIO, Calif. (AP) — In the days before Fred Alvarez was shot execution-style with two friends on his verandah, the strapping Cabazon tribal leader feared he was a marked man: His motorcycle had been tampered with, his mailbox shot up and his house ransacked. He visited the local newspaper several times to say that he'd uncovered something big enough to get him killed. He arranged to talk with a lawyer to divulge what he knew, but never made the meeting.

Va. Military Institute faces sexism accusations

LEXINGTON, Va. (AP) — Virginia Military Institute is defending itself against a lengthy investigation into accusations that the school's policies are sexist and hostile toward female cadets, a dozen years after women won the right to enroll. The federal Department of Education's Office for Civil Rights has an ongoing investigation of a sex discrimination complaint at the small, state-supported school that so far has taken nearly a year and a half — three times longer than usual.

Senate moderates frustrate other Democrats on bill

WASHINGTON (AP) — Senate moderates on Sunday threatened to scuttle the health care bill if their demands weren't met, frustrating rank-and-file Democrats who say their colleagues' views were out of step with American voters. The inter-party dispute foretells of a rowdy floor debate next month as Democratic leaders try to push through legislation that would extend health care coverage to roughly 31 million people who lack it. This weekend, the Senate voted 60-39 to open debate on the bill.

Study: Scavengers big and small dwell in deep sea

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — Thousands of marine species eke out an existence in the ocean's pitch-black depths by feeding on the snowlike decaying matter that cascades down, and even sunken whale bones, according to a report released Sunday. Oil and methane also are an energy source for the bottom-dwellers, the report says.

NRC investigating radiation at Three Mile Island

MIDDLETOWN, Pa. (AP) — The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission is sending investigators to the Three Mile Island nuclear power plant after a small amount of radiation was detected there. About 150 employees were sent home Saturday afternoon after the radiation was detected at the central Pennsylvania plant.