AP - President Barack Obama says he wants projects helping specific states yanked from the health care bill Congress is writing. Democratic senators, being senators, beg to differ.

AP - A coalition led by Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki was winning in the all-important capital and a Shiite province in the south, according to a partial tally of election results released Saturday.

AP - A suicide bomber driving a motorized rickshaw blew himself up at a security checkpoint in northwestern Pakistan on Saturday, officials said, killing at least 13 people, injuring 52 and underscoring the nation's relentless security threat.

AP - Afghanistan's president has agreed to reverse an earlier decision and allow two foreigners on a commission that will monitor upcoming parliamentary elections, his spokesman said Saturday.

AP - President Barack Obama is promising parents and their kids that with his administration's help they will have better teachers in improved schools so U.S. students can make up for academic ground lost against youngsters in other countries.

AP - A U.N. meeting to assess progress in advancing the fight for women's equality that ended Friday had a dramatically different slant than a similar session held five years ago: This time, the United States was not trying to make an anti-abortion declaration a crucial theme.

AP - Students have wrapped ribbons around 8,000 sunflowers to hand out at a memorial service for Chelsea King, the 17-year-old girl whose murder has shaken her community and spurred calls for legal changes in how child sex offenders are treated.

AP - The name of the late actor Corey Haim was found on a fraudulent prescription for a powerful painkiller that authorities said Friday was obtained through a major drug ring.

AP - Now that West Virginia is in the Big East tournament final, coach Bob Huggins and his Mountaineers have a large problem on their hands.

Reuters - President Barack Obama on Friday delayed an overseas trip to focus on the final drive for healthcare reform as the House of Representatives prepared to vote on the sweeping overhaul next week.

Reuters - A Taliban suicide bomber targeting security forces killed at least 11 people on Saturday, Pakistani police said, part of a renewed push against the state after one of the biggest security crackdowns in years.

Reuters - Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki held a wide lead on Saturday in early results from Baghdad, the major prize in parliamentary elections Iraqis hope will stabilize a nation riven by years of sectarian warfare.

Reuters - Irish police have released three of the seven people arrested on Tuesday in connection with an alleged plot to murder a Swedish cartoonist over a drawing depicting the Prophet Mohammad with the body of a dog.

Reuters - The Vatican rallied around Pope Benedict on Saturday, dismissing suggestions he had tried to cover up priestly child abuse in Germany.

AFP - At least 10 people were killed in a suicide attack in Pakistan's Swat valley on Saturday, a day after a series of bombings brought chaos and bloodshed to the city of Lahore, police said.

AFP - Iraqi premier Nuri al-Maliki's bid to retain his job gained steam on Saturday, as early results crucially put him ahead in Baghdad, while rival blocs began jostling over the formation of a government.