UPDATED 6 SECONDS AGO   November 21, 2009

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Senate Majority Whip Richard Durbin of Ill., center, accompanied by Sen. Jack Reed, D-R.I., left, and Sen. Robert Menendez, D-N.J., speaks during a health care reform news conference on Capitol Hill in Washington, Friday, Nov. 20, 2009. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)
By LAURIE KELLMAN

WASHINGTON (AP) — 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...

GOP: Health test recommendations could affect care

WASHINGTON (AP) — Republicans are seizing on this week's recommendations for fewer Pap smears and mammograms to fuel concern about government-rationed medical care — and...

Bond increased for man accused of taping reporter

LOS ANGELES (AP) — A judge has increased bond to $100,000 for an Illinois insurance executive accused of secretly making nude videos of ESPN reporter Erin Andrews.

Michael Barrett...

Couple pleads guilty in Cuban spying case

WASHINGTON (AP) — A retired State Department worker and his wife accused of a decades-long plot to spy for Cuba pleaded guilty Friday in a deal that will leave him behind bars for the rest...

La. businessman indicted in alleged Ponzi scheme

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — A Louisiana businessman was charged Friday with engaging in a Ponzi scheme to defraud about 160 investors — mostly elderly people — out of roughly $19.5 million and...

Former Iowa slaughterhouse manager seeks acquittal

IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) — A former kosher slaughterhouse manager convicted of financial fraud has asked for an acquittal or new trial, saying prosecutors unfairly brought in evidence of...

US to drop shooting case against Blackwater guard

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Justice Department intends to drop manslaughter and weapons charges against one of the Blackwater Worldwide security guards involved in a deadly 2007 Baghdad...

Moderate Dems pivotal in Saturday health care vote

WASHINGTON (AP) — Suitably opaque, Section 2006 takes up only a few dozen lines in a sweeping health care bill that runs to 2,074 pages and mentions...

Ohio Parker-Broderick surrogacy case goes to jury

ST. CLAIRSVILLE, Ohio (AP) — An Ohio police chief accused of burgling the home of a woman who carried twins for Sarah Jessica Parker and Matthew Broderick abused his authority and tried to...

Atty seeks psych care for Mo. teen murder suspect

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) — A teenager accused of killing a 9-year-old neighbor should be sent to a psychiatric hospital because she shows signs of severe depression and anxiety,...

Calif. launches probe into scam targeting churches

LOS ANGELES (AP) — California is investigating several companies suspected of bilking churches nationwide of hundreds of thousands of dollars through fraudulent computer leasing schemes,...

Former Marine charged in 'Cathouse' star's death

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — A former Marine was charged Friday with six counts of first-degree murder in the shooting deaths of four people whose bodies were found in a burning home,...

Murder trial's move to LA setback for transit cop

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — A judge's decision to move Johannes Mehserle's murder trial to Los Angeles County is a setback for the former transit police officer charged with gunning down an...

Prosecutor: Alleged Maui spy is difficult but sane

HONOLULU (AP) — The competency hearing of a Maui man accused of spying for China has ended with the prosecutor claiming the defendant is difficult to work with and makes wild exaggerations...

Fla. jobless rate climbs to 11.2 percent in Oct.

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) — Florida's unemployment rate continued its steady upward climb in October to 11.2 percent — a mark last seen in the 1970s and a tenth of a percentage point higher...

Fate of black teacher in Mo. case rests with jury

KENNETT, Mo. (AP) — A jury is deliberating the fate of a black school teacher charged with assaulting white police officers in Missouri

Heather Ellis, a teacher in Louisiana, is...

Investors sue Fla. lawyer in fraud probe for $100M

MIAMI (AP) — Investors claiming they were fleeced by a high-profile South Florida attorney filed a $100 million lawsuit Friday contending that the lawyer orchestrated a massive Ponzi...

Ethics committee: No punishment for Burris

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Senate ethics committee on Friday admonished Democratic Sen. Roland Burris for misleading investigators about his maneuvering to get Barack Obama's old Senate...

Sears Tower plot leader gets 13-year prison term

MIAMI (AP) — The ringleader of a group described by prosecutors as plotting terror attacks on Chicago's Sears Tower and FBI offices in hopes of sparking an anti-government insurrection was...

Judge strikes down Tennessee guns-in-bars law

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Tennessee's new law allowing people with handgun permits to be armed in bars and restaurants that serve alcohol is unconstitutionally vague, a judge ruled on...

Planes ready to leave Brunswick, Maine Navy base

BRUNSWICK, Maine (AP) — The rumble of Navy patrol aircraft flying overhead will soon be a thing of the past as the remaining P-3 Orions...

Senators seek more info on dealer closures

WASHINGTON (AP) — Senators are calling on General Motors and Chrysler to release more details on ongoing talks over the automakers' plans to close thousands of auto dealerships as part of...

Reid health bill helps chiropractors, drugmakers

WASHINGTON (AP) — Chiropractors get a lift in the Senate health care bill, thanks to a senator from the state practitioners consider the birthplace of their...

Ky. court upholds $6M verdict in strip search case

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) — A Kentucky appeals court upheld a $6.1 million award to a former fast food worker who was forced to strip in a McDonald's restaurant office after someone called...