WASHINGTON (AP) — President Barack Obama's much-challenged health care overhaul gained traction Wednesday as a liberal lawmaker became the first to switch his opposition and Catholic nuns declared their support in an unusual public break with the bishops.
BAGHDAD (AP) — The Iraqi prime minister's coalition has retaken the lead from his secular challenger in a preliminary tally of votes in Iraq's parliamentary elections, the country's election commission said Wednesday.
JERUSALEM (AP) — Israel on Wednesday lifted its tight restrictions on Palestinian access to Jerusalem's holiest shrine and called off an extended West Bank closure after days of clashes between Palestinians and Israeli security forces.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The top U.S. commander in Afghanistan said Wednesday that it remains the goal of U.S. troops to capture Osama bin Laden alive and "bring him to justice."
ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) — Gov. David Paterson's press secretary on Wednesday became the fourth top staffer to quit amid dual scandals, resigning just hours after her boss publicly proclaimed for the first time that he did nothing wrong when he talked to a woman who had accused one of his top aides of abuse.
BERLIN (AP) — Chancellor Angela Merkel called the sex abuse scandal rocking the homeland of Pope Benedict XVI a major challenge to German society and warned the only way to come to terms with it was to "find out everything that has happened."
PHILADELPHIA (AP) — A series of children's textbooks on Islam contains misleading and inflammatory rhetoric about the religion, inaccurately portraying its followers as inherently violent and deserving of suspicion, according to a Muslim civil liberties group.
PITTSBURGH (AP) — Police said a man broke into a Pittsburgh home and climbed into bed with its owner, apparently because he was drunk and cold following a rap concert. Homeowner Frank Fontana says he was in bed when the man climbed in about 5:30 Wednesday morning. Fontana says he asked whether it was a woman who has keys to his home — and he grabbed a baseball bat when a deep male voice answered, "No, it's not."
SURPRISE, Ariz. (AP) — Texas Rangers manager Ron Washington failed a Major League Baseball test for cocaine last season, but has apologized and will keep his job. "I made a huge mistake and it almost caused me to lose everything I have worked for all of my life," Washington said at a news conference Wednesday. "I am not here to make excuses. There are none."
SURPRISE, Ariz. (AP) — Texas Rangers manager Ron Washington failed a Major League Baseball test for cocaine last season, but has apologized and will keep his job. "I made a huge mistake and it almost caused me to lose everything I have worked for all of my life," Washington said at a news conference Wednesday. "I am not here to make excuses. There are none."
CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — Michael Jordan became a basketball star at North Carolina. Now he'll try to turn around the state's money-losing NBA team by becoming the first ex-player to be a majority owner in the league.
NEW YORK (AP) — NFL owners will vote next week whether to allow each team a possession in overtime in the playoffs if the team winning the OT coin toss kicks a field goal on the first series.
GAINESVILLE, Fla. (AP) — Tim Tebow has completed his first public workout with his new throwing motion, hoping to impresss NFL general managers, coaches and scouts.
NOME, Alaska (AP) — Lance Mackey picked up a few rewards on his way to winning an unprecedented fourth consecutive win in the 1,100-mile Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race.
LONDON (AP) — Tiger Woods' planned return to golf at the Masters drew plenty of criticism from the international press on Wednesday, and the most scathing comments came from Britain.
