Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi says she believes a health-care bill will pass, despite fierce debate over language about abortion. She tells Renee Montagne that when it comes to Afghanistan, she doesn't sense wide support among House members for a significant troop increase. Pelosi says she's asked members to give President Obama room to decide his Afghan strategy.

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SAIPAN, Northern Mariana Islands (AP) -- A gunman went on a rampage on the Pacific resort island of Saipan on Friday, killing four people and wounding six others before fatally shooting himself, officials said....

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) -- Ricky Williams is 32 and far from done. And even without Ronnie Brown, the once written-off Miami Dolphins are back in the playoff picture....

WASHINGTON (AP) -- The Pentagon said Thursday it will scour its procedures for identifying volatile soldiers hidden in the ranks following the Fort Hood shooting rampage and lapses that might allow others to slip through bureaucratic cracks....

SAIPAN, Northern Mariana Islands (AP) -- Officials say a gunman opened fire on the Pacific resort island of Saipan, killing four people before fatally shooting himself....

The Senate is conducting hearings into the recent shootings at Fort Hood — a tragedy that took place just miles from the site of a deadly 1991 attack. That episode, in which a gunman killed 23 people at Luby's Cafeteria in Killeen, Texas, reshaped how police, medical and psychological personnel respond to such tragedies.

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One of the great mysteries about North America is what killed off woolly mammoths and other exotic animals that roamed the land after the last ice age. Ideas have ranged from a comet impact and climate change to human hunters. A study published Friday in Science Magazine provides new clues about this — cleverly deduced from samples of a fungus that grew on the animal's dung.

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WASHINGTON (AP) -- Defense Secretary Robert Gates said any new U.S. forces President Barack Obama sends to Afghanistan could move into the country swiftly, despite logistical hassles that force almost all major deliveries of troops and supplies to go by air....

The country's spiraling unemployment rate continues to take a particular toll on men. The "he-cession," as it's sometimes called, has hit African-American men especially hard, increasing their unemployment rate to more than 17 percent last month.

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A blown call by referees cost the luckless Irish a spot in the 2010 World Cup. Within minutes of a shootout, the ball hit the outstretched palm of French striker Thierry Henry, who guided it to his foot then passed it to a teammate for the winning overtime goal.

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RIYADH, Saudi Arabia (AP) -- Increasing numbers of English-language Web sites are spreading al-Qaida's message to Muslims in the West. They translate writings and sermons once largely out of reach of English readers and often feature charismatic clerics like Anwar al-Awlaki, who exchanged dozens of e-mails with the Army psychiatrist accused of the Fort Hood shootings....

Majority Leader Steny Hoyer was able to get the bill passed while the Senate couldn't by appending it to a more popular bill. Republicans complained that the cost of the measure was not offset and also charged that it was repayment to the AMA for endorsing the Democrats' health care bill.

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ATLANTA (AP) -- The first county-by-county survey of obesity reflects past studies that show the rate of obesity is highest in the Southeast and Appalachia. High rates of obesity and diabetes were reported in more than 80 percent of counties in the Appalachian region that includes Kentucky, Tennessee and West Virginia, according to the new research from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention....

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) -- On an Internet site, 15-year-old Alyssa Bustamante listed her hobbies as "killing people" and "cutting." It may have sounded like a teenage exaggeration, but authorities say she fulfilled her words....

CEDAR CREEK, Texas (AP) -- Thrilled with twin victories this month, Republican governors are looking to lead a party-wide resurgence in 2010 and shape the GOP for years to come....

WASHINGTON (AP) -- President Barack Obama will have scant time to rest up from his eight-day Asia trip. On Saturday, two days after his return to Washington, the Senate plans a make-or-break vote on his hard-fought plan to overhaul the nation's health care system. Obama also confronts a difficult choice on strategy and troop levels in Afghanistan, which will be criticized no matter what he decides....

CONWAY, Ark. (AP) -- A man accused of using a squeegee to hit another man during a fight over who was first in line at a gas pump was due in court on charges. The man, Hector Chavez, 21, was to be arraigned Friday in Faulkner County Circuit Court on a second-degree battery charge....

NEW YORK (AP) -- Talk about a freak - Tim Lincecum needed just 15 wins to bag another NL Cy Young Award. Yup, throw out those old baseball cards. Wins and losses don't mean much anymore when it comes time for voters to pick baseball's best pitchers. It's all about WHIP, FIP, BABIP and other lines of alphabet soup....

Army officials had said they would prohibit coverage of Palin's on-post event, saying it would turn into political grandstanding against President Barack Obama.

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The talk-show icon will call it a wrap after 25 seasons, her production company said. A formal announcement is expected on Friday's edition of The Oprah Winfrey Show.

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