In Wardak Province, the counterinsurgency model has been difficult to implement, though US forces have already seen some success in the first phase of the effort.
House Democrats planned to propose a tax increase on the wealthy to pay for an overhaul of the health system, an idea the Senate has all but dismissed.
AP - President Barack Obama is ending three days of often-wonkish policy discussions with fellow world leaders to embark on two of the most photogenic and emotional events of his young presidency: meeting the pope at the Vatican and becoming the first black American president to visit a mostly black African country.
AP - After a night spent signing mounds of paperwork authorizing the transfer of cash, real estate, technology and other property, GM attorneys are expected to officially usher the new General Motors out of bankruptcy protection on Friday and onto a path toward a hopefully profitable future.
AP - Detectives investigating the death of Michael Jackson are looking at his prescription drug history and trying to talk with his numerous former doctors, the Los Angeles police chief said.
Singer Michael Jackson took more than 10 Xanax pills a night, asking his employees to get the prescription sleep medicine under their names and also personally traveling to doctor's offices in other states to obtain them, said a confidential document from 2004 that CNN obtained Thursday.
Former NFL quarterback Steve McNair taped a youth suicide prevention public service announcement before he was fatally shot in a murder-suicide, Tennessee health officials said.
Cutting daily calorie intake by 30 percent may put the brakes on the aging process, have beneficial effects on the brain, and result in a longer life span, according to a new 20-year study of monkeys published in the journal Science.