Obama decries waste, fraud in gov't health system (AP)
Wed, 10 Mar 2010 23:28:41 GMT
AP - President Barack Obama denounced waste, inefficiency and downright fraud in the government's health care system on Wednesday as he sought to rally public support for his revamped overhaul plan. "Improper payments cost taxpayers almost $100 billion last year alone," Obama said at a rally in this St. Louis suburb.

US-Israel row highlights quandary over settlements (AP)
Wed, 10 Mar 2010 23:25:42 GMT
AP - An open diplomatic row during the visit of Vice President Joe Biden has shined a spotlight on the U.S. failure to rein in Israeli settlement ambitions and deepened Palestinian suspicions that the United States is too weak to broker a deal.

'Lost Boys' actor Corey Haim dead in Calif. at 38 (AP)
Wed, 10 Mar 2010 23:25:48 GMT
AP - Corey Haim, a 1980s teen heartthrob whose career was blighted by drug abuse, has died. He was 38. Haim died early Wednesday at Providence St. Joseph Medical Center in Burbank, Los Angeles County coroner's Lt. Cheryl MacWillie said.

Female WWII aviators honored with gold medal (AP)
Wed, 10 Mar 2010 23:25:48 GMT
AP - They flew planes during World War II but weren't considered "real" military pilots. No flags were draped over their coffins when they died on duty. And when their service ended, they had to pay their own bus fare home.

Church abuse scandal reaches pope's brother (AP)
Wed, 10 Mar 2010 23:25:54 GMT
AP - Church abuse scandals in Germany have reached the older brother of Pope Benedict XVI and are creeping ever closer to the pontiff himself.

Pa. suspect: Caretaker by day, 'Jihad Jane' online (AP)
Wed, 10 Mar 2010 23:25:55 GMT
AP - Colleen LaRose spent long days caring for her boyfriend's father in a second-floor apartment in Pennsburg, a small town north of Philadelphia. But online, federal authorities say, the devoted caretaker developed a daring alter ego, refashioning herself as "Jihad Jane" while helping recruit and finance Muslim terrorists — and eventually moving overseas to try to kill an artist she perceived as an enemy to Islam.

Study suggests too many invasive heart tests given (AP)
Wed, 10 Mar 2010 23:24:01 GMT
AP - A troublingly high number of U.S. patients who are given angiograms to check for heart disease turn out not to have a significant problem, according to the latest study to suggest Americans get an excess of medical tests.

Swedish artist has no regrets over prophet drawing (AP)
Wed, 10 Mar 2010 23:26:39 GMT
AP - The point of a caricature depicting the Prophet Muhammad as a dog was to show that artistic freedom allows mockery of all religions, including the most sacred symbols of Islam, the Swedish artist who created it said Wednesday.

Police: Burglar uses church equipment to view porn (AP)
Wed, 10 Mar 2010 23:04:21 GMT
AP - Second-degree burglary charges have been filed against an Ames man who broke into a church where he allegedly used the institution's electronic equipment to watch pornography. Police allege the 55-year-old man broke into the First Christian Church on Thursday. After gathering items from around the building, he is believed to have gone to the basement to spend the night.

Garciaparra rejoins Red Sox for day, then retires (AP)
Wed, 10 Mar 2010 22:05:52 GMT
AP - Nomar Garciaparra rejoined the Red Sox for one day and then retired, ending a 14-year career in which he won two batting titles with Boston and was once a beloved player in the city.