Turkey, Armenia sign historic accord

ZURICH (AP) - Turkey and Armenia signed a landmark agreement Saturday to establish diplomatic relations and open their sealed border after a century of enmity, as U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton helped the two sides clear a last-minute snag.

The contentious issue of whether the killing of up to 1.5 million Armenians during the final days of the Ottoman Empire amounted to genocide is only hinted at in the agreement.

Obama reaffirms will end 'don't ask, don't tell'

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Barack Obama pledged to end the ban on homosexuals serving openly in the military in a speech Saturday, but acknowledged to a cheering crowd that the policy changes he promised on the campaign trail are not coming as quickly as they expected.

"I will end 'don't ask-don't tell,'" Obama said at the annual dinner of the Human Rights Campaign, a gay civil rights advocacy group. Obama reaffirmed his commitment to end the ban, but did not give a timetable or the specifics that some activists have called for.

Husband killed Pa. gun advocate during video chat

 

 

LEBANON, Pa. (AP) — A soccer mom who was thrust into the national gun-rights debate after taking a loaded pistol to youth sports events was killed by her husband in a shooting witnessed online by her video chat partner, authorities said Friday.

Scott Hain used his own gun to fire several shots into his 30-year-old wife, Meleanie, while her video chat was active and perhaps as she washed dishes in their kitchen, police said. Scott Hain, 33, later killed himself in an upstairs bedroom.

Maine voters face historic choice on gay marriage

 

 

PORTLAND (AP) — For an off-year election, in a state only rarely in the national political spotlight, an upcoming referendum on same-sex marriage has dramatic potential to make history and to roil emotions from coast to coast.

New survey shows rising support for civil unions

NEW YORK (AP) — An increasing majority of Americans favors allowing same-sex couples to obtain most of the same rights as married straight couples, but only 39 percent support legalization of same-sex marriage, according to a poll released Friday.

The Pew Research Center said support for civil unions has risen to 57 percent, up from 54 percent a year ago and 45 percent when the question was first asked by Pew in 2003.

Undecided Democrat mulls health care options

WASHINGTON (AP) - All eyes are on Maine Republican Sen. Olympia Snowe as health care legislation heads for a high-stakes committee vote next week. But she's not the only senator who is being noncommittal.

Oregon Democrat Ron Wyden isn't saying how he'll vote when the Finance Committee takes up Chairman Max Baucus's 10-year, $829-billion plan next Tuesday.

"I am not going to characterize where I am (on the bill) in any way," Wyden said Friday as he headed to the airport for a trip back to his state.

Son: Slain 100-year-old mom, roommate had tension

DARTMOUTH, Mass. (AP) - The roommate of a 100-year-old woman found strangled in her bed at a nursing home had made "threatening" remarks to the centenarian, her son said Friday, and the slain woman's family had sought to have the women split up.

Elizabeth Barrow was found dead in her bed last month, with a plastic bag tied around her head. This week, authorities ruled the death a homicide. They have not named any suspects.

President Obama wins the Nobel Peace Prize

OSLO (AP) - President Barack Obama won the 2009 Nobel Peace Prize on Friday in a stunning decision designed to encourage his initiatives to reduce nuclear arms, ease tensions with the Muslim world and stress diplomacy and cooperation rather than unilateralism.

Nobel observers were shocked by the unexpected choice so early in the Obama presidency, which began less than two weeks before the Feb. 1 nomination deadline.

Report: Global Muslim population hits 1.57 billion

The global Muslim population stands at 1.57 billion, meaning that nearly 1 in 4 people in the world practice Islam, according to a report Wednesday billed as the most comprehensive of its kind.

The Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life report provides a precise number for a population whose size has long has been subject to guesswork, with estimates ranging anywhere from 1 billion to 1.8 billion.

US: Insurgents breached base in attack that killed Maine soldier

KABUL (AP) — Insurgents fought their way inside an American base in Afghanistan last weekend in a rare security breach before they were driven back under heavy fire during the deadliest battle for U.S. troops in more than a year, a U.S. official said Wednesday.

The bold assault raised serious questions about the security of thinly manned outposts spread across the troubled nation's volatile border region with Pakistan, and reflects growing insurgent resolve.

New health bill would cover 94% of Americans

WASHINGTON (AP) - Health care legislation drafted by a key Senate committee would expand coverage to 94 percent of all eligible Americans at a 10-year cost of $829 billion, congressional budget experts said Wednesday, a preliminary estimate trumpeted by the White House and likely to power the measure past a major hurdle within days.

The Congressional Budget Office added that the legislation would reduce federal deficits by $81 billion over a decade and probably lead to "continued reductions in federal" red ink in the years beyond.

6 soldiers, one from Maine, killed in Afghanistan return to US

DOVER AIR FORCE BASE, Del. (AP) - The remains of six soldiers killed in Afghanistan were returned to U.S. soil Tuesday as about 50 family members watched the flag-draped transfer cases be removed from a military cargo plane at Dover Air Force Base.

The quiet ceremony was punctuated only by a crying child.

Bill allowing same-sex marriage in DC introduced

WASHINGTON (AP) - Same-sex couples would be allowed to marry in the nation's capital under a bill introduced Tuesday by a District of Columbia councilman.

The bill was almost certain to pass and had been expected for some time. But whether it becomes law is more complicated because Congress gets to review D.C. legislation before it takes effect.

At least one Republican congressman has said he will work to have the bill defeated if it passes the D.C. council.

Another use for your phone: 'augmented reality'

 

 

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — You're walking down the street, looking for a good place to eat. You hold up your cell phone and use it like the viewfinder on a camera, so the screen shows what's in front of you. But it also shows things you couldn't see before: Brightly colored markers indicating nearby restaurants and bars.

Love between German and Pole survives Iron Curtain

 

 

MIESZKOWICE, Poland (AP) — For five decades, she kept his picture in her wallet — a black-and-white snapshot of a handsome young Polish man with brooding eyes.

The unlikely love story of Elvira Profe and Fortunat Mackiewicz began in the chaotic aftermath of World War II, as Poland's borders were redrawn by the victorious Allies and millions of Germans were expelled.

Health overhaul closer than ever — and yet far off

 

 

WASHINGTON (AP) — Eight months in office, Barack Obama has now pushed closer than any other president in generations to creating a basic health care safety net for working Americans. Yet the fate of legislation delivering on his goal is far from certain: Republicans are nearly unified in opposition, Democrats hardly united in support.

Rio erupts in celebration with 2016 Olympics

 

 

RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) — Nearly 50,000 people cheered in celebration when Rio de Janeiro was announced as host of the 2016 Olympics, jumping and shouting in a Carnival-like party on Copacabana beach.

A huge roar was heard at the famed beach the moment International Olympic Committee President Jacques Rogge said the words "Rio de Janeiro" to announce the winner in Copenhagen on Friday.

Hundreds leave pioneering Fla. megachurch

 

 

MIAMI (AP) — Hundreds of congregants have left a pioneering megachurch in Florida to form their own congregation because they were unhappy with leadership at the church that's seen as a bedrock of the religious right.

The action by the unhappy members at Coral Ridge Presbyterian Church was the culmination of a feud between loyalists to an evangelical luminary, the Rev. D. James Kennedy, and his replacement as pastor, the Rev. Tullian Tchividjian, a grandson of the Rev. Billy Graham.

Ky. church ordains sex offender as minister

 

 

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) — A tiny Louisville church's newest minister is a gifted music leader and popular among its three dozen members.

Mark Hourigan is also a sex offender. Almost a decade ago, long before he joined the flock at the City of Refuge Worship Center, he was convicted of sexually abusing an 11-year-old boy in central Kentucky. Hourigan served a five-year sentence and the 41-year-old was placed on Kentucky's sex offender registry for the rest of his life.

Insurers worried by weakening of individual mandate

WASHINGTON — Health insurers have held their fire as Congress debates payment cuts, new fees and taxes and more regulation for their industry. Now the question is: Will they balk — or walk — if lawmakers continue to weaken a requirement that people carry insurance?

Medical premiums could still be a 'heavy lift'

 

 

WASHINGTON (AP) — Many middle-class Americans would still struggle to pay for health insurance despite efforts by President Barack Obama and Democrats to make coverage more affordable.

Snowe is the woman with clout on health care

WASHINGTON (AP) — They call her "President Snowe" in the blogosphere.

Maine Sen. Olympia Snowe is the only Republican in Congress who might vote for President Barack Obama's effort to overhaul health care and extend coverage to those who lack it.

And that gives the unassuming, 62-year-old lawmaker almost as much power over the bill's fate - and that of the millions of Americans it would affect - as the big guy himself.

Hand sanitizers a new schoolroom staple, but ingredients stir controversy

CHICAGO — Some kindergartners call it "the magic soap," and in schools across the country hand sanitizers are quickly emerging as the weapon of choice against swine flu.

School districts are installing wall dispensers in classrooms. Teachers are squirting the gel into not-so-clean palms before lunch or after a visit to the bathroom. In some districts, parents had to buy hand sanitizer along with paper and pencils as part of their kids' back-to-school supplies.

19 pounds of joy

KISARAN, Indonesia (AP) - Indonesia's heaviest-ever newborn drew curious crowds Friday to a hospital where the boy named Akbar - or the Great in Arabic - came into the world at a record 19.2 pounds.

Akbar Risuddin was born to a diabetic mother in a 40-minute cesarean delivery that was complicated because of his unusual weight and size, Dr. Binsar Sitanggang said.

Health care debate focuses on seniors

WASHINGTON (AP) - For the moment, the health care fight is all about older folks.

Democrats agonized Thursday over how to soothe worried seniors but decided one idea was too risky because it could antagonize the powerful drug industry whose support is critically needed for President Barack Obama's broader overhaul.