National and World News

WASHINGTON (AP) -- House Democratic leaders Thursday abandoned a long struggle to strike a compromise on abortion in their ranks, gambling that they can secure the support for President Barack Obama's sweeping health care legislation with showdown votes looming as early as next week....

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WASHINGTON (AP) -- President Barack Obama on Thursday assured immigration advocates frustrated by the wait for a promised overhaul of U.S. immigration laws that he remains committed to fixing a system he has said is broken. What remains unclear is whether Congress will send him a bill this year....

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NEW YORK (AP) -- After years of fighting in court, lawyers representing the city, construction companies and more than 10,000 ground zero rescue and recovery workers have agreed to a settlement that could pay up to $657.5 million to responders sickened by dust from the destroyed World Trade Center....

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BUENA, N.J. (AP) -- A New Jersey official says a suspected terrorist who worked at a complex of nuclear power plants did not breach security there....

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SAN FRANCISCO (AP) -- A federal appeals court upheld the use of the words "under God" in the Pledge of Allegiance and "In God We Trust" on U.S. currency, rejecting arguments Thursday that the phrases violate the separation of church and state....

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WASHINGTON (AP) -- House Democrats on Thursday stopped a Republican bid to force an investigation of Democratic leaders aimed at determining whether they covered up sexual harassment allegations against ex-Rep. Eric Massa....

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WASHINGTON (AP) -- Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid's wife and daughter were hospitalized Thursday - the wife with a broken back and neck - after their minivan was rear-ended by a tractor-trailer truck on an interstate highway in suburban Virginia, authorities said....

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JACKSON, Miss. (AP) -- Constance McMillen didn't believe her Mississippi school district would really call off her senior prom rather than allow her to show up with her girlfriend and wear a tuxedo. On Thursday, a day after the Itawamba County school board did just that, the 18-year-old lesbian high school senior reluctantly returned to campus to some unfriendly looks, she said....

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NEW YORK (AP) -- The Internet has gotten its way: Betty White will host "Saturday Night Live."...

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DORAL, Fla. (AP) -- Tiger Woods intends to remain out of golf at least until the Masters, two people with knowledge of his plans told The Associated Press on Thursday....

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