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WASHINGTON (AP) -- A final agreement nearly in hand, President Barack Obama and Democratic leaders are about to embark on one last sales job that will determine the outcome of the president's signature health care overhaul....

TEL AVIV, Israel (AP) -- U.S. Vice President Joe Biden says "good faith negotiations" can recognize Israeli security needs and the Palestinian goal for a viable state....

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) -- Facing potential bankruptcy, the board that governs the once flush-with-cash Kansas City school district is taking the unusual and contentious step of shuttering almost half its schools....

MEXICO CITY (AP) -- Mexican telecom tycoon Carlos Slim is the first man from a developing nation to become the world's richest person - a shift that underlines the loosening of America and Europe's stranglehold on the top spots in the billionaires' club....

WASHINGTON (AP) -- On Christmas Day, a passenger on a Northwest Airlines flight bound for Detroit tried to blow up the plane with plastic explosives in his underwear. He failed, yet the very attempt shook the U.S. government, set federal agencies against each other and triggered months of political second-guessing....

TAMPA, Fla. (AP) -- Alex Rodriguez may soon be talking to federal authorities, and he hopes it will happen close to spring training....

TULSA, Okla. (AP) -- Marion Jones hasn't lost much of her swagger....

LONDON (AP) -- Rafael Nadal will return to Queen's this year after he was unable to defend his title at the grass-court tournament in 2009....

GARMISCH-PARTENKIRCHEN, Germany (AP) -- Lindsey Vonn fell in the first leg of the season's final giant slalom and Maria Riesch was able to make up ground on Vonn's overall World Cup lead....

MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) -- Defending champion Laura Davies shot a 5-under 68 to take a two-stroke lead after the first round of the Women's Australian Open....

AMES, Iowa (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....

WEST CAPE MAY, N.J. (AP) -- Someone is spinning quite a yarn over one New Jersey shore town. An unknown person dubbed The Midnight Knitter by West Cape May residents is covering tree branches and lamp poles with little sweaters under cover of darkness....

THERMAL, Calif. (AP) -- They say crime doesn't pay. For one robber in California, it did - but not much. Authorities in Riverside County say a woman with a gun robbed 11 customers at a market and got away with $6....

BLAIR, Neb. (AP) -- A 37-year-old woman was accused of putting her 14-year-old behind the wheel because she was too drunk to drive. The woman was arrested Saturday after Washington County Sheriff's deputies stopped a vehicle on U.S. Highway 75 because of erratic driving. Deputies found the woman's 14-year-old son in the driver's seat and two other minors - ages 14 and 17 - in the car....

TISHOMINGO, Okla. (AP) -- Oklahoma Gas and Electric officials said a pole climbing bobcat is to blame for a power outage in southern Oklahoma OG&E spokesman Brian Alford said repair crews found the smoldering body of the bobcat Tuesday at the top of a utility pole in Johnston County. The power outage left about 3,100 customers without power about 9:30 p.m. and power was restored about 10:45 p.m....