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Stars shine bright for Obamas' first state dinner


WASHINGTON — President Obama opened his first state dinner in the White House on Tuesday with a toast for India's prime minister in which he called the United States' relationship with India a "great and growing partnership."
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh returned the praise.
"We are embarking on a new phase of our partnership. We should build on common values and interests to realize the enormous potential and promise of our partnership," Singh said.

PHOTOS: Obamas host first state dinner
VIDEO: Sneak a peek at the state dinner
2010: Obama plans India visit
After greeting Singh and his wife, Gursharan Kaur, at the North Portico, the Obamas and their guests, including prominent Indian Americans and a sprinkling of Hollywood moguls, went to dinner under a white tent on the South Lawn.
They dined on vegetarian fare prepared with the help of a top New York chef at tables decorated in gold, apple green and purple colors, with a mix of tableware from three presidential china collections.
It was a glittery assembly, a total of 339 guests; black-tie mingled with turbans, sparkly evening gowns mixed with bright saris.

Toyota to replace gas pedals on 3.8M recalled vehicles


WASHINGTON (AP) — Toyota Motor Corp. will replace gas pedals on 3.8 million recalled vehicles in the United States to address problems with sudden acceleration or the pedal becoming stuck in the floor mat, The Associated Press has learned.
As a temporary step, Toyota will have dealers shorten the length of the gas pedals beginning in January while the company develops replacement pedals for their vehicles, the Transportation Department said in a statement provided to the AP. New pedals will be available beginning in April, and some vehicles will have brake override systems installed as a precaution.
Toyota, the world's largest automaker, was expected to provide more details Wednesday on the fix. The Japanese automaker announced the massive recall in late September and told owners to remove the driver's side floor mats to prevent the gas pedal from potentially becoming jammed.

Adam Lambert: 'I admit I got carried away ... '



"Parents, this is appropriate, I promise," said Adam Lambert this morning on CBS' Early Show before he performed. (Update: His first song was completely tame.)In an interview talking about his risque American Music Awards show performance, he said, "I admit I did carried away, but I don't see anything wrong with it."
He said again that the particularly sexual moments of the act "came from more of an impromptu place.  ABC was taken by surprise. " He added that the moment "got the best of me."
When asked about kids who might have been watching, Lambert made no apology. "It didn't cross my mind - children. It was almost 11 o'clock at night. I was in the audience and it was mostly adults," he said, adding a line from earlier this week:  "I'm not a babysitter. I'm a performer."
He also reiterated that he feels the outrage about the act reflects a "double standard." Because you're a man or because you're gay? "Both.  It's a double whammy."

Obama's day: A turkey pardon


Good morning from The Oval. On this day in 2001, a prison riot in Afghanistan led to the death of CIA officer Johnny "Mike" Spann -- the first U.S. casualty of the war now more than eight years old.
For President Obama today, it's a light day-before-Thanksgiving public schedule. The only item is a presidential tradition: Pardoning one lucky turkey.
The president will also no doubt be thinking about the war in Afghanistan, where he wants to "finish the job." Obama plans to announce new troop levels next week, after months of deliberation.
But Americans are increasingly skeptical of the war, though they are divided on what to do next, reports USA TODAY's Susan Page.
The Afghanistan news surfaced on the day of a state visit by India, including last night's black tie gala. USA TODAY's Maria Puente reports on the festivities for what Obama called a "great and growing partnership" between the U.S. and India. There were also "prawns and protocol."

Israel offers 10-month West Bank settlement freeze


JERUSALEM (AP) — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has proposed a 10-month freeze on West Bank settlement construction in what he says is an attempt to jumpstart Mideast peace talks.
Netanyahu's office released a statement saying he would bring the proposal to his Security Cabinet later Wednesday.
The freeze would not include east Jerusalem— the area of the holy city claimed by the Palestinians for a future capital.
Netanyahu has already floated the idea, but he has never given a firm time commitment such as in Wednesday's announcement.

Chinese rights on Obama's agenda


SHANGHAI — Politely but firmly pressing for greater freedoms on China's own turf, President Obama spoke against censorship Monday, saying tough criticisms of political leaders should be allowed and the free flow of information on the Internet "should be encouraged."
The president's message during a town hall-style meeting with university students in Shanghai, China's commercial hub, focused on one of the trickiest issues separating China's communist government and the United States — human rights.

THE OVAL: The latest on Obama's visit
FAITH & REASON: How will Obama handle religious freedom in China?
"We do not seek to impose any system of government on any other nation," Obama said. But, he said, such things as freedom of expression and worship,

Millions will have to repay part of tax credit


WASHINGTON — More than 15 million taxpayers could unexpectedly owe taxes when they file their federal returns next spring because the government was too generous with their new Making Work Pay tax credit.
Taxpayers are at risk if they have more than one job, are married and both spouses work, or receive Social Security benefits while also earning taxable wages, according to a report Monday by the Treasury Department's inspector general for tax administration.
The tax credit, which is supposed to pay individuals up to $400 and couples up to $800, was President Barack Obama's signature tax break in the massive stimulus package enacted in February.

READ: The Inspector General's report
Read: The IRS's tax credit rules
Most workers started receiving the credit through small increases in their paychecks in April. The tax credit was made available through new withholding tables issued by the Internal Revenue Service.
The withholding tables, however do not take into account taxpayers with multiple jobs or married couples in which both people work. They also don't take into account Social Security recipients with jobs that provided taxable income.

Officials inspect Illinois jail for Gitmo inmates


THOMSON, Illinois — Officials from the Federal Bureau of Prisons and the Department of Defense arrived Monday at the Thomson Correctional Facility, 150 miles west of Chicago, to tour the nearly empty prison that could be purchased to house more than 200 detainees from Guantanamo Bay.
Federal officials also are considering a facility in Florence, Colo., and a site in Hardin, Mont.
And Michigan officials say they're still in the running for the job.

OPTIONS: Illinois eyed for Gitmo inmates
DETAINEES: Dozens finally get day in court
IN N.Y.: Death penalty sought for 9/11 defendants
"We've had no indication that a decision of any kind has been made," Liz Boyd, Gov. Jennifer Granholm's spokeswoman, said Sunday.

Police searching for body of missing N.C. girl


FAYETTEVILLE, N.C. (AP) — Authorities searched along a highway Monday for the body of a missing 5-year-old girl but said they still hoped they might find her alive.
The girl has been missing since last Tuesday. Her mother, who reported her gone, is accused of offering her for prostitution, according to court documents and police.
USA TODAY does not name victims of alleged sex crimes.

DEVELOPMENTS: Mother of missing girl charged with human trafficking
About 200 searchers fanned across several miles southeast of Sanford on Monday based on "reliable information" that her body may have been dumped there, said Fayetteville Police spokeswoman Theresa Chance. Some walked along roads, ravines and fields while others drove on four-wheelers and a helicopter roamed above.
"The information we received was that her body was dumped, so at that point she would not be alive, she would be dead," Chance said.

Pacquiao batters, bloodies Cotto for 12th round TKO


LAS VEGAS — Manny Pacquiao made history Saturday night. And in the process, made a bloody mess of Miguel Cotto's face.
Pacquiao attacked Cotto with a ferocious barrage from the start, but really stepped up the pace in the second half of the fight. he finally had done so much damage that Cotto's corner wanted the fight stopped after the 11th round, but Cotto refused.
Referee Kenny Bayless finally stopped the fight 55 seconds into the 12th round, giving Pacquiao a technical knockout and Cotto's WBO welterweight belt before a raucous, sold-out crowd at the MGM Grand Garden Arena.

UNDERCARD: Rabbi-to-be wins belt
It was Pacquiao's record seventh world title in his seventh different weight class. Nobody had ever won more than six. He also has held lineal titles in four weight classes and could stake a claim to the welterweight title with a win over Cotto, who has beaten Shane Mosley.

Mourners grieve for soldiers killed at Fort Hood


KIEL, Wis. (AP) — Hundreds of people lining the main street of an Indiana town on Saturday fell solemnly silent as the white hearse passed. Mourners waited for hours outside a Wisconsin gymnasium to say goodbye to a soldier who once promised to take down Osama bin Laden.
And in Oklahoma, a newlywed grieved for her husband of nearly three months.
Several victims of the Nov. 5 shooting massacre at Fort Hood, Texas, were laid to rest Saturday across the country, after family members, friends, fellow soldiers and strangers passed their flag-draped coffins and paid their respects.
In Plymouth, Ind., Sheila Ellabarger had placed two foot-high American flags in the grass where she watched the procession for U.S. Army Staff Sgt. Justin DeCrow. She said her children went to school with DeCrow and his wife — his high school sweetheart — and she knew others in his family.

Madoff's personal belongings sell at auction

NEW YORK (AP) — Items that used to belong to fallen financier Bernard Madoff and his wife, Ruth, fetched several times their estimated values at auction for a total of about $1 million, twice as much as the auctioneers had hoped for.
Madoff's blue satin New York Mets baseball jacket with his surname stitched on the back, valued at up to $720, sold for $14,500 at Saturday's auction. The jacket carries its own special meaning: Team owners Fred Wilpon and Saul Katz were among the victims of Madoff's fraud.
Madoff's Hofstra College ring, estimated at $360, went for $6,000.
Excitement filled a Manhattan hotel ballroom as people participating in the auction, run by Pflugerville, Texas-based Gaston & Sheehan, bid for items they could afford without being as rich as Madoff was.
Charlie Blumenkehl raised his hand for a set of Madoff's golf irons, clinching them for $3,600, against a $350-to-$400 estimate.
"I just wanted Bernie's name on the clubs," the New Jersey fund manager said with a laugh, adding, "but I don't want his vibes to be transmitted — my fund is doing better than his."

Obama seeks equal partnership in Asia


TOKYO (AP) — President Barack Obama pressed on with his mission to repair America's global standing, telling Asians he was determined to engage them as equal partners in the economy, diplomacy and security.
In a 40-minute speech Saturday that ranged across the multitude of issues, the president declared the United States a "nation of the Pacific. Asia and the United States are not separated by this great ocean; we are bound by it."

PRESIDENT'S AWAY: First lady stumps for health care
MAP: Five cities Obama will visit in Asia
While he offered few specifics on the key issues of trade, Obama reached out warmly to China — soon expected to overtake Japan as the world's No. 2 economy — applauding Beijing's robust strides as a burgeoning economic engine.

Obama to Congress: Ft. Hood probe not 'political theater'


WASHINGTON (AP) — President Obama on Saturday urged Congress to hold off on any investigation of the Fort Hood rampage until federal law enforcement and military authorities have completed their probes into the shootings at the Texas Army post, which left 13 people dead.
On an eight-day Asia trip, Obama turned his attention home and pleaded for lawmakers to "resist the temptation to turn this tragic event into the political theater." He said those who died on the nation's largest Army post deserve justice, not political stagecraft.

LAWYER: Suspect faces paralysis
PHOTOS: 13 killed, 33 hurt in shooting rampage
"The stakes are far too high," Obama said in a video and Internet address released by the White House while the president he was flying from Tokyo to Singapore, where Pacific Rim countries were meeting.

Madoff's personal belongings up for auction


NEW YORK (AP) — As Bernard Madoff sits in a North Carolina prison serving a 150-year sentence, remnants of the fallen financier's once lavish lifestyle are going on the auction block at a Manhattan hotel.
Around 200 items — ranging from a half-used sticky pad to expensive jewelry — are being auctioned off Saturday in the grand ballroom at the Sheraton New York Hotel & Towers.
The items were taken from Madoff's homes on Manhattan's Upper East Side, in the Hamptons and in Palm Beach, Fla., which federal authorities seized after he was convicted of defrauding investors.
They include dishes, pens and stationary, boogie boards emblazoned with the 71-year-old's last name, and a Rolex nicknamed the "Prisoner Watch."
Proceeds from the auction will be divided among Madoff's victims.

Backyard searched at Ohio home with 11 bodies


CLEVELAND (AP) — FBI agents are digging through the backyard of a Cleveland home where the remains of 11 women have been found.
The agents used rakes and shovels Saturday in their search for evidence in the yard of suspected serial killer Anthony Sowell. One agent had a tape measure, while another took pictures and a third marked locations with orange paint.

STENCH: Returns near convicted rapist's home
On Friday, the FBI worked at the house next door to Sowell's to do X-rays, thermal imaging and other tests.
The 50-year-old Sowell has been accused of luring women to his home with the promise of alcohol or getting high. Authorities say he then strangled them and left their bodies in his house or buried in the backyard.
Sowell remains in jail on $6 million bond on five preliminary charges of aggravated murder.

NASA on track for Monday space shuttle launch


CAPE CANAVERAL (AP) — NASA remains on track for a Monday launch of space shuttle Atlantis. Even the weather is looking great.
Atlantis will deliver a full load of spare parts to the International Space Station, along with six astronauts who will unload everything.
Liftoff is scheduled for 2:28 p.m. Monday. Although an unmanned rocket did not take off Saturday morning with a communication satellite as planned, the countdown for Atlantis is still proceeding.
That's because the Atlas rocket has a technical problem that cannot be fixed quickly. A Sunday launch attempt would have delayed the shuttle flight by one day.
Forecasters say there's a 90% chance of good flying weather Monday.
Only six shuttle missions remain, including this one.

Ohio executions back on with 1-drug method


COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — Ohio's death chamber is set to resume executions next month using a single drug that has been used in the U.S. to euthanize pets but never to put condemned prisoners to death.
Barring legal challenges, condemned inmate Kenneth Biros is scheduled Dec. 8 to be the first prisoner in the U.S. to be executed using a single dose of the drug thiopental sodium instead of the combination of three drugs that the state had been using.
A federal judge had temporarily halted Biros' execution because of the botched execution of Romell Broom in September, which prompted the new execution method announced Friday. Executioners couldn't find a suitable vein on Broom to administer the lethal drugs, and he walked away from the execution chamber after the governor issued a temporary stay.
Broom is sentenced to die for raping and murdering a 14-year-old girl in 1984.
In announcing plans to switch to a one-drug method by Nov. 30, Ohio waded into uncharted waters. Death penalty opponents praised the new rules as a step forward — albeit one that has never been tried on prisoners. However, the decision is almost certain to be appealed and draw the close attention of other states that have long used the three-drug method.

3 dead in Reno medical chopper crash


RENO (AP) — A medical helicopter crashed early Saturday north of Reno near the Nevada-California state line, killing three crewmembers aboard, officials said.
The helicopter, an Aerospatialte AS350, crashed about 29 miles northwest of Reno in Lassen County, Calif., around 2 a.m. Saturday, according to Federal Aviation Administration spokesman Ian Gregor. All three people aboard were killed.
The helicopter had dropped off a patient at a Reno hospital and was on its way to Susanville, Calif., Gregor said. The aircraft was destroyed in the crash and fire. The cause of the crash wasn't known.
Gregor said the pilot was not communicating with air traffic controllers at the time of the accident. FAA and National Transportation Safety Board investigators will be on the scene Saturday.

Obama honors veterans and the fallen at Arlington Cemetery



President Obama engaged in one of the time-honored traditions of the presidency today, laying a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknowns, to honor those anonymous but not-forgotten soldiers who gave their lives in two world wars, Korea, and Vietnam.In his Veterans Day address, also at Arlington National Cemetery, Obama said that in "this time of war" the current generation of soldiers who have fought in Iraq and Afghanistan has already proven itself equal to those previous heroes who are buried all around them.
"For the better part of a decade," Obama said, "they have endured tour after tour in distant and difficult places, they have protected us from danger, and they have given others the opportunity for a better life."
Surrounded by the grave stones of those previous generations, Obama said: "This is a place where it is impossible not to be moved by that sacrifice."

D.C. sniper executed in Virginia


JARRATT, Va. — John Muhammad was executed Tuesday seven years after carrying out sniper attacks that terrorized the nation's capital for weeks and left 10 people dead.
Muhammad, 48, died in five minutes at 9:11 p.m. from a lethal injection at the Greensville Correctional Center. He said nothing as relatives of his victims looked on behind mirrored glass.
One of those in attendance was Milton Perry, a co-worker of bus driver Conrad Johnson, 35, who was shot in the chest at a bus stop in Maryland.
"I'm here because Conrad was the real deal," he said.

BACKGROUND: Pending execution reopens victims' wounds
A Gulf War veteran and Muslim convert, Muhammad never revealed why he stalked and shot people getting gas or shopping at stores.
His accomplice, Lee Malvo, 24, said Muhammad hoped to extort $10 million from the government to set up a camp where children would be trained as terrorists.

Missouri shows how schools pay a price for football success


COLUMBIA, Mo. — Missouri's search for the right football coach meandered through three fitful decades until finally, nine years ago, the Tigers came upon Gary Pinkel.
A No. 1 ranking, two Big 12 Conference divisional championships and five bowl appearances later, they are hellbent on hanging on to him.
That means pulling out the checkbook and ponying up. Keeping Pinkel well paid. Satisfying his assistants, too. Investing more heavily in facilities, support staff and the other accouterments that have become essential to life in college athletics' fast lane.
A little less than a year ago, the school gave Pinkel a second contract extension and raise in three years and his third since he arrived at Mizzou in late 2000. His salary guarantee has more than quadrupled in that time, to $2.52 million this season. His assistants' collective pay has more than doubled.

United pilot arrest on drinking charges in Chicago flight


UPDATE (Wednesday, Nov. 11 at 11:36 a.m. ET): Media across the USA and the United Kingdom continue to update the story about the United pilot who was arrested on drinking charges just before he was to fly a trans-Atlantic flight from London to Chicago.
The Sun, one of London's tabloid newspapers, offers this account: "The pilot of a passenger jet was dramatically arrested shortly before take-off at Heathrow Airport after cops were told he had been drinking by the chief steward. The crew member had a massive row with the United Airlines captain as he prepared his Boeing 777 for a flight from London to Chicago.  The plane's doors were re-opened and cops boarded Flight 949 in front of stunned passengers. Officers breathalysed the American pilot and arrested him after his reading was over the alcohol limit."

In Senate, health bill has major hurdles


The battle over health care shifted back to the Senate as President Obama prodded lawmakers on Sunday to push ahead one day after the House narrowly approved the most sweeping bill of its kind in four decades.
Obama hailed the House for passing a bill the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) says would extend coverage to 36 million more Americans at a cost of $1.2 trillion in the first 10 years, but he acknowledged the difficult path ahead as the Senate struggles to finish its own version of the legislation by the end of the year.
"Now it falls on the United States Senate to take the baton and bring this effort to the finish line," Obama said from the Rose Garden on Sunday. "I'm absolutely confident that they will."
With less than seven weeks left on its calendar, the Senate timeline to start debate is uncertain. Even if the chamber passes a bill, lawmakers will have to work out differences with the House proposal, including how to pay for billions of dollars in new subsidies to help families buy coverage.

Gulf Coast braces for Hurricane Ida


Public safety officials from Louisiana to Florida said they will likely order evacuations today as Hurricane Ida — the only hurricane of the season so far to threaten U.S. shores — nears the Gulf Coast.
Escambia County, Fla., already ordered barrier island campgrounds evacuated, said Mike Stone, spokesman for the Florida Division of Emergency Management. Other evacuations will likely affect the "immediate coastal areas, mobile home residents and anybody in a flood-prone area," said John Kilcullen, director of plans and operations at Mobile County (Ala.) Emergency Management Agency.
Louisiana and Alabama also said evacuations were likely.
Jim Wright, who captains a charter fishing boat in Dauphin Island, Ala., said residents and boat owners on that barrier island in the Gulf of Mexico were either tying down or clearing out Sunday.
"We've got additional lines on the boat and buffers to protect it from the dock," Wright said. "Some of the boats have pulled out and gone where they can get away from the winds."

Travoltas have 'own way' of coping after death of son


LOS ANGELES — John Travolta says that he struggles daily to get by since the death of 16-year-old son Jett but that family, religion and intensive therapy have helped the family cope.
In his first interview since Jett's death in January, Travolta says he, his wife, Kelly Preston, and daughter, Ella Bleu, are far from healed. But almost daily religious counseling sessions have helped them move forward.
"We've been working very hard every day as a family to heal" since Jett, who was autistic, died after a seizure at the family home on Grand Bahama island Jan. 2. "We have our own way of doing it, and it has been helping."
Travolta says he has been overwhelmed by the support of friends, fans and Hollywood colleagues. "You need your friends a lot in times like that," he says.
The family has been in relative seclusion, but Travolta says he broke his silence in part to focus on his 9-year-old daughter, who is making her feature-film debut in the Nov. 25 comedy Old Dogs, which also stars Travolta and Preston.

Saints survive: Comeback vs. Carolina sends N.O. to 8-0


NEW ORLEANS (AP) — Drew Brees and the Saints' prolific offense never had to play from behind in their first five games.
Mastering the comeback in their last three has gotten New Orleans off to its best start in the franchise's 43-year history.

PHOTOS: Week 9 highlights
New Orleans moved to 8-0 on Sunday when Brees overcame two early turnovers to pass for 330 yards and a touchdown in a 30-20 victory over the Carolina Panthers.
BOX SCORE: Saints 30, Panthers 20
"That's great. I mean, 1967 until now and we're the only (Saints) team to have done that," Brees said. "That's really special. I feel like we've got a special group of guys, a special team, and certainly we're not satisfied with just being 8-0. We have what it takes to just continue to win."
Starting with a favorable schedule during the next two weeks. The Saints play at St. Louis and Tampa Bay, who are a combined 2-14 this season, meaning New Orleans has a realistic chance to be 10-0 when New England — the only team to finish a regular season 16-0 — comes to the Louisiana Superdome the Monday night after Thanksgiving.
Before this season, the only 7-0 team New Orleans ever had was in 1991, a squad coached by Jim Mora and known for its defense.
The defense on the 2009 Saints gives up its share of yards, but has continued to make big plays at the right time.

In wake of attack, military asks: Who cares for the caregivers?

WASHINGTON (AP) — Amputations. Combat stress. Divorce. Suicide. For troubled service members, military therapists are at their sides.
But with the U.S. fighting two wars, an acute shortage of trained personnel has left these therapists emotionally drained and overworked, with limited time to prepare for their own war deployments.
An Army psychiatrist is suspected in the shootings at Fort Hood, Texas, and the rampage is raising questions about whether there's enough help for the helpers, even though it's unclear whether that stress or fear of his pending service in Afghanistan might be to blame.
An uncle of Army Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan said Saturday that Hasan was deeply affected by his work treating soldiers returning from war zones. "I think I saw him with tears in his eyes when he was talking about some of the patients, when they came overseas from the battlefield," Rafik Hamad told The Associated Press from his home near the West Bank town of Ramallah in the Palestinian territories.
Rep. Tim Murphy of Pennsylvania, a psychologist in the Navy Reserves, said the toll is sometimes described as "compassion fatigue" or "vicarious trauma."

Chinese premier pledges funds, aid to Africa


SHARM EL-SHEIKH, Egypt — China's premier says Beijing will provide $10 billion in new loans to African nations over the next three years and has outlined a plan to cancel government debts for some of the poorest of those countries.
At a two-day China-Africa summit that began on Sunday, Wen Jiabao also said China would build 100 new clean energy projects for Africa over the same period as the Asian powerhouse looks to help the continent deal with environmental issues.
Wen's pledges are part of China's increasing push into Africa, a drive that has drawn criticism from some who argue that Beijing is ignoring the troubling human rights record of many of Africa's governments.

Police: Suicide bomb in Pakistan market kills 12


PESHAWAR, Pakistan — A suicide bomber apparently targeting an anti-Taliban mayor struck a crowded market Sunday in northwest Pakistan, killing the mayor and 11 other people and injuring dozens, police said.
The morning attack took place in the town of Adazai, about 10 miles (16 kilometers) south of the main northwest city of Peshawar. The market was crowded with shoppers and goats being sold to celebrate the upcoming Muslim festival of Eid.
The mayor, Abdul Malik, who was initially reported to have survived, died in the attack, said Sahibzada Anis, the top official in Peshawar.
Malik, who had once been a Taliban supporter, had later switched sides and formed a local militia to help fight the militants.
"Malik had survived several attacks on his life in the recent past, since he turned against the militants," said Anis. "But today the militants have finally killed him."

Ida becomes hurricane a 2nd time off Mexico coast


CANCUN, Mexico — Ida grew into a hurricane for a second time as it roared over the Caribbean on a path that could take it between Mexico's resort-studded Yucatan Peninsula and Cuba before heading for the southern United States.
Tour operators and fishermen along Mexico's Caribbean coast, including Cancun, pulled their boats out of the water Saturday in anticipation of rains and winds from Ida's outer bands. But the hurricane appeared unlikely to make direct hits on either Mexico or Cuba, with its forecast track passing over the Yucatan Channel that separates the countries on Sunday.
Cancun's beaches were empty on Saturday as rain began pelting down, but tourists walked the streets under umbrellas or improvised rain ponchos. Most appeared unconcerned.
"We're not too worried. I'll get some good pictures," said Steve Rydgren, a 30-year-old photographer from Seattle, as he arrived in Cancun for a one-year anniversary vacation with his 29-year-old wife Stacy.

Some saw trouble ahead with Fort Hood shooter


FORT HOOD, Texas — In retrospect, the signs of Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan's growing anger over the U.S. wars in Iraq and Afghanistan seem unmistakable. But even people who worried his increasingly strident views were clouding his ability to serve the U.S. military could not predict the murderous rampage of which he now stands accused.
In the months leading to Thursday's shooting spree that left 13 people dead and 29 others wounded, Hasan raised eyebrows with comments that the war on terror was "a war on Islam" and wrestled with what to tell fellow Muslim solders who had their doubts about fighting in Islamic countries.
"The system is not doing what it's supposed to do," said Dr. Val Finnell, who complained to administrators at a military university about what he considered Hasan's "anti-American" rants. "He at least should have been confronted about these beliefs, told to cease and desist, and to shape up or ship out."
Finnell studied with Hasan from 2007-2008 in the master's program in public health at the military's Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences in Bethesda, Md., where Hasan persistently complained about perceived anti-Muslim sentiment in the military and injected his politics into courses where they had no place.

House passes health care bill on close vote

WASHINGTON — In a victory for President Barack Obama, the Democratic-controlled House narrowly passed landmark health care legislation Saturday night to expand coverage to tens of millions who lack it and place tough new restrictions on the insurance industry. Republican opposition was nearly unanimous.
The 220-215 vote cleared the way for the Senate to begin a long-delayed debate on the issue that has come to overshadow all others in Congress.
A triumphant Speaker Nancy Pelosi likened the legislation to the passage of Social Security in 1935 and Medicare 30 years later -- and Obama issued a statement saying, "I look forward to signing it into law by the end of the year."
"It provides coverage for 96 percent of Americans. It offers everyone, regardless of health or income, the peace of mind that comes from knowing they will have access to affordable health care when they need it," said Rep. John Dingell, the 83-year-old Michigan lawmaker who has introduced national health insurance in every Congress since succeeding his father in 1955.
In the run-up to a final vote, conservatives from the two political parties joined forces to impose tough new restrictions on abortion coverage in insurance policies to be sold to many individuals and small groups. They prevailed on a roll call of 240-194.

Gay couples: A close look at this modern family, parenting


So many gay couples today have kids that it has become a cultural phenomenon – there's even a new TV show about a modern family that includes a gay couple with an adopted baby.
One in five male couples and one in three lesbian couples were raising children as of the 2000 Census. That's way up from 1990, when one in 20 male couples and one in five lesbian couples had kids.
But Census numbers are just part of a new comprehensive analysis of research on gay parenting since the 1970s in new book Lesbian and Gay Parents and Their Children: Research on the Family Life Cycle, by Abbie Goldberg, an assistant professor of psychology at Clark University in Worcester, Mass.

ELECTION: Maine voters reject gay marriage
GAY/STRAIGHT: Similarities in age, income
FAITH & REASON: Should Christians apologize to homosexuals?
Gay households have more in common than not with their heterosexual counterparts who are also raising kids, the research shows. "The sexual orientation of a parent has really little to do with their parenting," Goldberg says.

That idea comes through loud and clear in pop culture, in TV shows such as Modern Family, in which two gay men adopt a Vietnamese infant, and among celebrities as gay stars are increasingly having or adopting children.

Senate expands homebuyer tax credit, extends jobless benefits


WASHINGTON — Buying a home is about to get cheaper for a whole new crop of homebuyers — $6,500 cheaper.
First-time homebuyers have been getting tax credits of up to $8,000 since January as part of the economic stimulus package. But with that program scheduled to expire at the end of November, the Senate voted 98-0 Wednesday to extend and expand the tax credit to include buyers who already own homes. The House could vote on the bill as early as Thursday.
Buyers who have owned their current homes at least five years would be eligible for tax credits of up to $6,500. First-time homebuyers — or anyone who hasn't owned a home in the last three years — would still get up to $8,000. To qualify, buyers in both groups have to sign a purchase agreement by April 30, 2010, and close by June 30.

Mid-continental earthquakes could be long-after shocks


Mid-continent earthquakes along the Mississippi and elsewhere might just be long-lived aftershocks of big quakes, not fresh events, geophysicists suggest in a new study.

Through centuries, mid-continent faults have proven capable of unleashing horrible quakes, such as 2008's magnitude-7.9 earthquake in China, which killed at least 69,195 people. But the study, published in the journal Nature, suggests such quakes spawn aftershocks that linger for centuries. That differs from earthquakes on continental edge faults, such as California's San Andreas, which release aftershocks within days.

"Every large earthquake in the continental center comes as a surprise," says study co-author Mian Liu of the University of Missouri-Columbia. "We think we need to step back and reconsider the physics at these places."

In the 20th century, geophysicists demonstrated that continental crusts move over the Earth's surface over hundreds of millions of years, a phenomenon called continental drift. Where continents clash or collide with the ocean floor, earthquakes and volcanoes result. Mid-continental earthquakes, however, awaken more ancient, seemingly quiet faults left over from long-ended continental collisions.

Huckabee leads Republican prospects in poll


WASHINGTON — Former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee dismisses talk of a Republican front-runner for the 2012 presidential race as meaningless. "It's like speculating who's going to be the best actor next year when we don't even know what the movies are," he says.
Not that he's sorry it seems to be him, at least at the moment.
A USA TODAY/Gallup Poll taken Saturday and Sunday puts the preacher-turned-politician, who is also a host of a weekend talk show on Fox News Channel, at the top of a list of prospective GOP contenders. The results are based on answers from all respondents and a subset of Republicans. None of the GOP prospects has announced he or she will join the race, but all are making the sort of appearances and speeches that would keep the option open.

USA TODAY/GALLUP POLL: Support for potential GOP contenders
Huckabee cheers GOP victories Tuesday in gubernatorial races in New Jersey and Virginia but says Republicans have only themselves to blame for losing the contest in New York's 23rd Congressional District — an area represented in Congress by Republicans for more than a century. After intraparty warfare pushed the GOP nominee from the race, the Democrat won.

Ford says inflatable seat belt improves safety, comfort, too


DETROIT — After about a decade of engineering, Ford is ready to roll out a technology that will improve safety for rear-seat passengers: inflatable seat belts.
The belts expand like an air bag in the event of a crash and distribute the force of the impact across a wider area of the passenger's chest. The belts, covered in a softer webbing than regular seat-belt material, may also make back-seat passengers more willing to buckle up.
"It feels a lot different; it's softer and more lightly woven," says Sue Cischke, group vice president of sustainability, environmental and safety engineering. "When we asked people to sample them, they said it feels less rigid and more comfortable."
Consistent seat-belt use is lower for rear-seat than front-seat passengers. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration says 83% of front-seat passengers buckled up consistently in 2008, vs. 74% of rear-seat passengers.
The belts first will be an option on the next-generation Ford Explorer in the U.S., then rolled out in Europe and other markets, Cischke says.

Taliban link to shootings probed


The Taliban could have infiltrated the Afghan police to carry out the fatal shootings of five British soldiers in Afghanistan, Gordon Brown has said.

The British military blamed Tuesday's attack in Helmand on a "rogue" Afghan policeman, but the UK PM said possible Taliban involvement was being examined.
One of the soldiers has been named by his family as Sergeant Matthew Telford.
The Grenadier Guard, two fellow guards and two Royal Military Police died. They had been mentoring Afghan police.
'Rogue' policeman
"While we are assembling evidence, the Taliban have claimed responsibility for this incident," Mr Brown told MPs in the Commons on Wednesday.
"It may be that the Taliban have used an Afghan police member or they have infiltrated the Afghan police force and that is what we've got to look at," he said.
However, BBC Kabul correspondent Ian Pannell later said the Taliban had not admitted carrying out the attack.


The dead soldiers had been mentoring Afghan National Police (ANP) officers, working and living in a compound at a police checkpoint in the Nad Ali district.

CIA agents guilty of Italy kidnap


An Italian judge has convicted 23 Americans - all but one of them CIA agents - and two Italian secret agents of the 2003 kidnap of a Muslim cleric.
The agents were accused of abducting Hassan Mustafa Osama Nasr, known as Abu Omar, from Milan and sending him to Egypt, where he was allegedly tortured.
The trial, which began in June 2007, is the first involving the CIA's so-called "extraordinary rendition" programme.
Three Americans and five Italians were acquitted by the court in Milan.
The Americans were all tried in their absence after the US refused to extradite them.
The CIA's Milan station chief at the time, Robert Lady, was given an eight-year term, while the other 22 Americans convicted were sentenced to five years in prison. One was not identified by prosecutors as a CIA agent.

Israelis 'seize Iran arms ship'

Israel's navy has intercepted a ship carrying hundreds of tonnes of Iranian weapons intended for Hezbollah in Lebanon, the Israeli military has said.


The Antiguan-flagged vessel, Francop, was boarded 160km (100 miles) off the Israeli coast, the military said, and has been towed to the port of Ashdod.
PM Benjamin Netanyahu said the arms were intended to strike Israeli cities.
In recent months Israel has stepped up efforts to combat the smuggling of arms to both Hezbollah and Hamas militants.
Hezbollah has not yet commented on the latest incident.
'Disguised cargo'
The Israeli military said marines had boarded the 137m (450ft) Francop after its captain agreed to the search and no force was used.
The vessel was intercepted "near Cyprus", the Israeli military said, though it gave no further details on where this took place.

Obamas updating first family's image (find movie down)


WASHINGTON — He carries a smartphone on his hip, goes out for burgers and plays pickup hoops. She goes to their daughters' soccer games, works in the garden and loves listening to her iPod. Together, they host poets, artists and musicians at their house and invite neighborhood kids to drop by.
Their kids, meanwhile, go to birthday parties, romp around with their new dog and get spoiled by Grandma.

PHOTOS: The Obamas at home
POLL: Hopes buoyed on race relations
PLEDGE TRACKER: Has he delivered on campaign promises?
Sounds like a lot of families — but this is the nation's first family.

It's 'V' day for sci-fi fans as ABC reboots the alien story


VANCOUVER, B.C. — Morena Baccarin, stunning in a tailored gray suit, has lined up a group of identically clad aides on her spaceship, demanding to know which of them is a traitor.
Except that despite appearances, none of them is actually human: They are reptilian-skinned alien "visitors" with a veneer of attractive flesh. And the spaceship doesn't exist. The actors are standing in front of a 112-foot-long "green screen," peering occasionally at a nearby monitor that displays how the vessel will be digitally inserted behind them.
"You feel like you're floating a little bit," she says during a break between scenes. "It gives you a headache after a while, staring at that green."

PREVIEW: * * * 1/2 for re-imagined 'V'
VIDEO: Get a peek at 'V'

Analysis finds stimulus confusion


WASHINGTON — The federal government sent Bob Bray $26,174 in stimulus aid to fix a fence and replace the roofs on public apartments in Blooming Grove, Texas, a town of fewer than 900 people outside Dallas. He hired five roofers and an inspector to do the job.
But the number of jobs he reported to the government looked very different — 450 jobs.

WHITE HOUSE: 650K jobs saved in stimulus report
FORECAST: Jobs may rebound in 2010
MORE: Stimulus helps fill coffers for states
"Oh, no," said Bray, who runs the local public housing authority part-time with his wife, Linda, when asked about the discrepancy. He said that he told the government that he had created six jobs but that a federal official told him that wasn't right. So he reported the number of hours the roofers worked instead. The Department of Housing and Urban Development caught the mistake, but he couldn't fix it before the jobs figures were published. "The money was great, but the reports are really confusing," he said.

Obama calls on Karzai for 'new chapter'


KABUL — Afghan President Hamid Karzai formally won a second five-year term Monday, but his opponent expressed concerns about the contentious election.
Afghanistan's Independent Election Commission declared Karzai the winner and canceled Saturday's runoff, one day after Abdullah Abdullah withdrew from the race, saying the system was corrupt.
President Obama said he spoke to Karzai to congratulate him on his victory and to call for a "new chapter" of better governance after the fraud-ridden election. Obama called the election process "messy" but said Karzai won in accordance with Afghan law.
"I emphasized that this has to be a point in time in which we begin to write a new chapter," Obama said in describing his phone call to the Afghan president. Obama said that when Karzai offered his assurances, Obama told him, "The proof is not going to be in words. It's going to be in deeds."
The White House has been waiting for a legitimate government to be in place before deciding whether to send more U.S. troops to fight a growing insurgency in Afghanistan.
Britain and the United Nations issued statements congratulating Karzai.

Off-year elections will test Democrats' influence


WASHINGTON — Elections in a handful of states today, including governors' races in New Jersey and Virginia, loom as the first significant electoral test of the coalition that swept President Obama and congressional Democrats to victory one year ago.
This time, Democrats are braced for a tough night: Virginia Democratic gubernatorial candidate Creigh Deeds trailed Republican Bob McDonnell by double digits in late statewide polls. In New Jersey, Democratic Gov. Jon Corzine was neck-and-neck with GOP challenger Chris Christie.

MAYORAL RACES: Some cities may be in for shake-ups

Race for H1N1 vaccine is on


SAN FRANCISCO — The great H1N1 vaccine hunt has begun, with Americans setting their phones to speed-dial the local health department and pulling kids out of school at the hint shots might be available at a flu clinic.
More is on the way. There were 30 million doses of the vaccine available for states to order as of Monday, says Anne Schuchat, director of the National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Disease at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

WORST CASE: Teen hospitalized 4 months with H1N1
Q&A: Where are swine flu shots, and who can get them?
SWINE FLU CENTRAL: News, video, interactive map

Phillies stay alive behind Utley, Lee as Series shifts back to N.Y.


PHILADELPHIA — The Philadelphia Phillies listened to different music Monday, joked in the clubhouse and showed the New York Yankees they are having too much fun to go home.
The Phillies knocked off the Yankees 8-6 at Citizens Bank Park, forcing a Game 6 Wednesday at Yankee Stadium. The Phillies might be down 3-2, but as they demonstrated in Game 5, that is no reason to get stressed.

BOX SCORE: Phillies 8, Yankees 6
STRATEGY: Pitching falls short for Yankees
NEXT MR. OCTOBER?Utley has five home runs in Series
NO PANIC: Yankees confidence remains unbroken
"I don't think this team knows how to be nervous or tense," Phillies reliever Scott Eyre said. "We changed up the music, a little less Jay-Z. Played pregame Wiffle Ball, at least that's what it felt like. I think it was the most relaxed we've been all year."
The Phillies, behind second baseman Chase Utley's two home runs and four RBI, gave the Yankees plenty to worry about on their bus ride home to New York. They scored three runs on the first eight pitches from starter A.J. Burnett and had a 6-1 lead by the third inning.

Ship built with WTC steel comes to NYC


NEW YORK (AP) — The new Navy assault ship USS New York, built with World Trade Center steel, arrived in its namesake city Monday with a 21-gun salute near the site of the 2001 terrorist attack.
First responders, families of Sept. 11 victims and the public gathered Monday at a waterfront viewing area, where they could see the crew standing at attention along the deck of the battleship gray vessel.
The big ship paused. Then the shots were fired, with a cracking sound, in three bursts.

BACKGROUND: Ship symbolizes survivors bond between NYC, New Orleans
The bow of the $1 billion ship, built in Louisiana, contains about 7.5 tons of steel from the fallen towers.
"It's a transformation ... from something really twisted and ugly," said Rosaleen Tallon, who lost her firefighter brother, Sean, on 9/11. "I'm proud that our military is using that steel."

Nasa find water on moon

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Being hungry and craving sweets are two of the main reasons people fall off their diets. But what if eating cookies and not being hungry was part of your diet plan? The cookie diet uses cookies to entice dieters into easy weight loss. After all, what could be more appealing than losing weight while indulging in one of our favourite treats? But these are not your grandmother's cookies. Instead they're designed to be meal replacements made with fiber, protein, and other ingredients intended to keep you full. They're not nearly as sweet as grandma's, though they're certainly palatable. They contain no drugs or secret ingredients, other than amino acids (the building blocks of protein) and fiber that act to suppress hunger. How it works On the cookie diet, there are no decisions about what to eat, but which flavour cookie to eat, and what to have for dinner. It's a relatively mindless diet strategy that has reportedly helped half a million of patients lose weight. The cookies contain select amino acids thought to suppress hunger, fiber, and other ingredients that digest slowly to help keep you feeling full. Eating four to six of the cookies a day will give you somewhere around 500 calories.