House Democratic leaders were exploring a deal that would clinch the votes to pass the legislation, but they faced stiff resistance from lawmakers who support abortion rights.
AP - In a fresh appeal directly to the Iranian people, President Barack Obama says in an online video that the United States wants more educational and cultural exchanges for their students and better access to the Internet to give them a more hopeful future.
AP - A three-day strike by British Airways cabin crew affecting thousands of travelers began Saturday after last-ditch talks between the airline's management and union leaders collapsed.
AP - One by one, House Democratic fence-sitters began choosing sides Friday, and the long, turbulent struggle over landmark health care legislation tilted unmistakably in President Barack Obama's direction.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu spent 40 minutes on the phone with Secretary of State Hillary Clinton Thursday night. The contents of the call have not been divulged but it is thought Netanyahu proposed a series of confidence building measures designed to defuse the diplomatic crisis with the U.S. The prime minister apparently did not promise to cancel the recently announced plan for 1600 new homes in the Jewish settlement of Ramat Shlomo. Instead it is widely reported, although not confirmed by the prime minister's office, he agreed to delay the start of construction and that other plans for settlements in East Jerusalem will not be made public in what many commentators are calling a "don't ask – don't tell" policy.
Two Russian veterans of the Soviet Afghan war privately warned General Stanley McChrystal last summer that the key to winning the war would be to pay off the Taliban. The official who wrote up a summary of two meetings between the Russians and U.S. military commanders also wrote that one of the "key take-aways" from the meetings was that extra troops were not the key to victory.
President Obama is making his closing arguments in efforts to pass sweeping health care reform legislation. He will address House Democrats on Saturday, a day before the scheduled vote.