Nation & World

ators may delay debate

WASHINGTON — The Senate is poised to approve today the start of a historic debate over health care legislation aimed at making coverage easier, less expensive to obtain and harder to lose.

Book claims writing on shroud proves it's Jesus'

ROME — A Vatican researcher has rekindled the age-old debate over the Shroud of Turin, saying that faint writing on the linen proves it was the burial cloth of Jesus.

Complaint bill draws, well, complaints

WASHINGTON — Rep. Emanuel Cleaver wanted people to stop complaining for a day and count their blessings.

GOP seizes on women's health studies

WASHINGTON — Republicans are seizing on this week's recommendations for fewer Pap smears and mammograms to fuel concern about government-rationed medical care — and to try to chip away support by women for President Obama's proposed health care overhaul.

Policing Afghanistan

KABUL — Underpaid, under-equipped and under-trained, Afghanistan's 93,000-member police force is the weak link in an ambitious security strategy to hand over defense of the country to Afghans so American and other foreign troops can go home.

British couple fear pirates will kill them

LONDON — A retired British couple snatched from their yacht by Somali pirates said in an interview broadcast Friday they fear they could be killed within a week or handed to a terrorist group if a ransom demand is not paid.

Tiahrt bill would block further bailout spending

Rep. Todd Tiahrt, R-Goddard, has introduced a bill in Congress to halt further spending to bail out financial institutions and automakers.

Delays underscore FAA woes

ATLANTA — For the second time in a little more than a year, a glitch at one of the two centers that handle flight plans for the nation's air travel system set off delays and cancellations for passengers around the country.

Shuttle's work off to fast start

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. —A pair of spacewalking astronauts, one of them a surgeon, hustled through antenna and cable work outside the International Space Station on Thursday and even whipped off an extra chore.

Calif. ups tuition by $2,500

LOS ANGELES — The governing board of the University of California approved a $2,500 student fee increase Thursday after two days of tense campus protests across the state.

Ex-military leaders to lead Ft. Hood probe

WASHINGTON — Secretary of Defense Robert Gates announced Thursday that he's appointed two former heads of the Army and the Navy to review the shootings at Fort Hood, Texas, amid questions about whether political correctness and a shortage of mental health professionals drove the military to keep Army psychiatrist Maj. Nidal Hasan in the Army longer than it should have.

Oprah to end her show in 2011

CHICAGO —"The Oprah Winfrey Show," an iconic broadcast that grew over two decades into a daytime television powerhouse and the foundation of a multibillion-dollar media empire, will end its run in 2011 after 25 seasons on the air, Winfrey's production company said Thursday night.

Obama caps Asia trip at Korean base

OSAN AIR BASE, South Korea — President Obama ended his trip to Asia on Thursday much as he'd begun it a week earlier, surrounded by U.S. forces as he sought to project an image of military unity ahead of a controversial announcement on troop levels for Afghanistan.

Delays in Pap tests approved

WASHINGTON — Women can delay having their first Pap test for cervical cancer until they turn 21 and many can wait longer to go back for follow-up screenings, according to new guidelines released today by a major medical group.

Cuban dissident backs ending U.S. ban on travel to the island

WASHINGTON — A high-octane effort to let U.S. tourists visit Cuba got a major endorsement Thursday from one of the island's leading dissidents, who suggested that "along with suitcases, Bermuda shorts and sun block, support, solidarity and freedom could come, too."

Ft. Bragg tries to quiet visit by Palin

RALEIGH, N.C. —When Sarah Palin kicked off her book tour in Michigan this week, thousands gathered outside a Barnes & Noble and chanted her name, giving the event the feel of a political pep rally. The Army wants Palin's appearance at Fort Bragg on Monday to be a much quieter affair.

Senate expects first health vote Saturday

WASHINGTON — The Senate on Thursday began what promises to be a lengthy battle over the future of health care in America, and taxes, abortion, affordability and federal deficits emerged as key flashpoints.

SALT LAKE CITY — A plan to pull 5 million pounds of unwanted carp from a Utah lake each year — one of the largest such attempts in the country — got initial backing Thursday from a federal wildlife agency.

Honduras president to step aside

TEGUCIGALPA, Honduras — Honduras' interim president announced Thursday he will step down temporarily to allow voters to concentrate on the upcoming presidential elections.

Islamic nations plan to petition U.N. to block religious mockery

GENEVA — 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.