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Moderate Dems pivotal in Saturday health care vote

Suitably opaque, Section 2006 takes up only a few dozen lines in a sweeping health care bill that runs to 2,074 pages and mentions neither Sen. Mary Landrieu nor her state of Louisiana.

Full Story published 11/20/2009 3:35 PM

Museum: Galileo's fingers, tooth are found

Two fingers and a tooth removed from Galileo Galilei's corpse in a Florentine basilica in the 18th century and given up for lost have been found again, a Florence museum said Friday.

Full Story published 11/20/2009 3:37 PM

Researcher says text proves Shroud of Turin real

A Vatican researcher claims a nearly invisible text on the Shroud of Turin proves the authenticity of the artifact revered as Jesus' burial cloth. The claim made in a new book by historian Barbara Frale drew immediate skepticism from some scientists, who maintain the shroud is a medieval forgery.

Full Story published 11/20/2009 1:31 PM

Peruvian police: Gang killed people for their fat

Police say a gang in the Peruvian jungle has been killing people and draining fat from the corpses to sell on the black market for use in cosmetics, although medical experts say they doubt a major market for fat exists.

Full Story updated 11/20/2009 11:37 AM

S.C. lawmakers to take up impeachment

South Carolina lawmakers say they'll formally consider the possible impeachment of Gov. Mark Sanford for the first time next week.

Full Story published 11/20/2009 11:23 AM

Army limits media access at Palin event at NC base

The U.S. Army will allow the media limited coverage of Sarah Palin's appearance at Fort Bragg, but will bar reporters from interviewing her or her supporters on the post, officials said Thursday.

Full Story published 11/20/2009 12:03 AM

Diocese: Pedophile priests should get benefits

The Catholic Diocese of Wilmington is obligated to pay retirement benefits to six priests who are confirmed pedophiles, church officials argued in a bankruptcy court filing seeking permission to keep making the payments.

Full Story published 11/20/2009 3:38 PM

U.K. man cleared of wife's death during nightmare

A British man who said he strangled his wife during a nightmare about fighting off an intruder has been found innocent in her death.

Full Story published 11/20/2009 1:40 PM

Purdue senior arrested after suspicious box found

A Purdue University student has been arrested after a suspicious package led officials to evacuate a visitor information center on the West Lafayette campus.

Full Story published 11/20/2009 11:37 AM

Ind. residents offer reward for dog's killer

South Bend residents outraged by a dog's shooting death during a home robbery are collecting reward money they hope leads to the arrest of the dog's killer.

Full Story published 11/20/2009 11:34 AM

Some lawmakers send few to military academies

As the nation's military academies try to recruit more minorities, they aren't getting much help from members of Congress from big-city districts with large numbers of blacks, Hispanics and Asians.

Full Story published 11/20/200 11:33 AM

Giuliani leaning toward Senate run

Former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani, encouraged by many Republicans to run for governor in 2010, is instead leaning toward a run for U.S. Senate, according to two party advisers.

Full Story published 11/20/2009 11:24 AM

White House at odds with bishops over abortion

The White House is on a collision course with Catholic bishops in an intractable dispute over abortion that could blow up the fragile political coalition behind President Barack Obama's health care overhaul.

Full Story published 11/20/2009 11:22 AM

Case of '3 Hebrew Boys' heads to jury

Three South Carolina men accused of bilking people out of more than $80 million lied about how they would invest their money, so it doesn't matter if investors knew it was risky, prosecutors said Thursday.

Full Story published 11/20/2009 12:03 AM

Republicans blast 'bait and switch' health bill

Digging in for a long struggle, Republican senators and governors assailed the majority Democrats' newly minted health care legislation Thursday as a collection of tax increases, cuts in services for the elderly and heavy new burdens for deficit-ridden states.

Full Story published 11/20/2009 12:03 AM

Gates says Afghan surge could happen swiftly

Defense Secretary Robert Gates said any new U.S. forces President Barack Obama sends to Afghanistan could move into the country swiftly, despite logistical hassles that force almost all major deliveries of troops and supplies to go by air.

Full Story published 11/20/2009 12:03 AM

Pentagon looking for Fort Hood management lapses

The Pentagon said Thursday it will scour its procedures for identifying volatile soldiers hidden in the ranks following the Fort Hood shooting rampage and lapses that might allow others to slip through bureaucratic cracks.

Full Story published 11/20/2009 12:03 AM

Man who claimed disability spotted on TV show

California tax officials say an interior designer's false disability claim was uncovered when he was spotted on a home improvement television show.

Full Story published 11/20/2009 12:03 AM

AK volunteers strive to save Santa letter service

A group of volunteer Santa Claus "elves" in Alaska's frigid interior is determined to save a popular holiday letter service featuring the North Pole's most beloved icon.

Full Story published 11/20/2009 12:03 AM

Release ordered for wrongfully convicted man

A New York City man imprisoned for nearly 20 years for a now-overturned murder conviction is set to be freed within days after a judge Thursday ordered him released while authorities determine whether he must serve an unrelated drug sentence.

Full Story published 11/20/2009 12:03 AM

Bus company: Driver in Minn. crash had aneurysm

A tour bus driver suffered a ruptured aneurysm just before the bus veered off a southern Minnesota interstate and crashed, killing two people and injuring 20, the owner of the bus company said Thursday. State officials said they couldn't confirm the aneurysm and it was too early to know the cause of the crash.

Full Story published 11/20/2009 12:03 AM

World powers weigh new sanctions for Iran

President Barack Obama said Thursday that the six nations dealing with Iran's nuclear program will develop a package of serious new punitive measures in coming weeks. The European Union said the six would gather immediately to begin consultations.

Full Story published 11/20/2009 12:03 AM

Texas inmate executed after gov. rejects clemency

Inmate Robert Lee Thompson was executed Thursday evening for his part in a fatal Houston store holdup after the Texas governor rejected a parole board's recommendation to spare him because he wasn't the gunman.

Full Story published 11/20/2009 12:03 AM

Slaying suspect said hobby was 'killing people'

On an Internet site, 15-year-old Alyssa Bustamante listed her hobbies as "killing people" and "cutting." It may have sounded like a teenage exaggeration, but authorities say she fulfilled her words.

Full Story published 11/20/2009 12:03 AM

Obese man dies after 8 months in home recliner

When an ambulance brought Daniel Webb home from the hospital after he hurt his knee in March, paramedics warned the then 550-pound man he probably wouldn't be able to get up from his recliner if they put him there, his wife said.

Full Story published 11/20/2009 12:03 AM

Muslim countries seek blasphemy ban

Four years after cartoons of the prophet Muhammad set off violent protests across the Muslim world, Islamic nations are mounting a campaign for an international treaty to protect religious symbols and beliefs from mockery -- essentially a ban on blasphemy that would put them on a collision course with free speech laws in the West.

Full Story published 11/20/2009 12:03 AM

11/19/2009