Most people will be required to buy health coverage under the healthcare bill now before the House. About 20 million American households will qualify for subsidized insurance, according to the Congressional Budget Office.
AP - Victory within reach, President Barack Obama set his sights on rallying House Democrats on Saturday for a final health care push as party leaders appeared confident they had overcome a flare-up within their ranks over abortion funding restrictions in the legislation.
AP - Pope Benedict XVI rebuked Irish bishops Saturday for "grave errors of judgment" in handling clerical sex abuse cases and ordered an investigation into the Irish church. But he laid no blame for the problem on the Vatican's policies of keeping such cases secret.
AP - Retiree Richard Moore arrived at Heathrow with a suitcase of summer clothes for a Miami cruise only to be sent to Denver. Susan Danby wondered if plans for a joint 50th birthday celebration in Las Vegas would be a losing bet.
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.
The House Rules Committee met today to determine the official rules for the debate and vote on the health care overhaul, a day ahead of an expected House vote.
Pope Benedict XVI said in a letter released today that he is "truly sorry" for the abuse suffered by victims at the hands of Catholic priests in Ireland.
A snow storm on the first day of spring could drop several inches this weekend over the Midwest, from New Mexico to Missouri, while further north, Minnesota and North Dakota brace for the rising waters of the Red River.
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