• Historic health care bill nears key Senate vote
  In a show of unity, Senate Democrats sealed a 60-vote majority needed to advance health care legislation Saturday ahead of an evening showdown with Republicans eager to doom the bill and inflict a punishing defeat on President Barack Obama.

• Terror trials differ in civilian, military courts
  The federal courts and military tribunals that will prosecute suspected terrorists vary sharply in their independence, public stature and use of evidence. But the Obama administration has so far offered no clear-cut rationale for how it chooses which system will try a detainee.

• Obama trumpets Asia trip as boost to US economy
  President Barack Obama's eight-day trip to Asia produced no tangible wins for the United States, though he is citing talks with Asian allies that he says could help create thousands of job and open new markets for American goods in the future.

• Prosecutors plan commission case in Cole bombing
  Military prosecutors said Friday they plan to seek new charges against the alleged mastermind of the 2000 bombing of the USS Cole.

• Couple plead guilty to Cuba spying, will go to prison
  A retired State Department employee will spend life in prison without parole after he and his wife pleaded guilty Friday to serving as covert agents for Cuba for three decades.

• FAA says equipment outage caused 819 flight delays
  The Federal Aviation Administration is blaming an equipment outage this week for delaying 819 flights.

• Couple pleads guilty to spying for Cuba
  A retired State Department employee and his wife pleaded guilty Friday to charges that they have been spying for Cuba for decades.

• Levin: could be more e-mails from Ft. Hood suspect
  WASHINGTON - The government intercepted at least 18 e-mails between the alleged Fort Hood gunman and a radical Muslim cleric, and a key senator says there could be more communications that might have tipped off law enforcement or military officials.

• Senate faces crucial vote on health care
  The Senate is poised to approve on Saturday the start of a historic debate over health care legislation aimed at making coverage easier, less expensive to obtain and harder to lose.

• US to drop shooting case against Blackwater guard
  The Justice Department intends to drop manslaughter and weapons charges against one of the Blackwater Worldwide security guards involved in a deadly 2007 Baghdad shooting, prosecutors said in court documents Friday.

• Couple pleads guilty in Cuban spying case
  A retired State Department worker and his wife accused of a decades-long plot to spy for Cuba pleaded guilty Friday in a deal that will leave him behind bars for the rest of his life but gives her a chance at freedom in six years.

• Army announces review of how it tests body armor
  The Army says there will be an outside review of how body armor for its soldiers is tested.

• Couple to plead guilty to spying for Cuba
  A retired State Department employee and his wife are expected to plead guilty Friday in federal court to charges that they have been spying for Cuba for decades.

• Nelson says he won't block Senate debate on health care
  Sen. Ben Nelson of Nebraska, one of three moderate Democratic senators wavering on whether to allow debate on health care legislation to proceed, said Friday that he would vote to move the bill forward.

• Sen. Nelson a 'yes' on health care test vote
  Democratic Sen. Ben Nelson of Nebraska is a "yes" in a crucial weekend test vote on health care.

• Ethics committee: No punishment for Burris
  The Senate ethics committee on Friday admonished Democratic Sen. Roland Burris for misleading investigators about his maneuvering to get Barack Obama's old Senate seat from the governor who was ousted for trying to sell it.

• Moderate Dems pivotal in Saturday health care vote
  Suitably opaque, Section 2006 takes up only a few dozen lines in a sweeping health care bill that runs to 2,074 pages and mentions neither Sen. Mary Landrieu nor her state of Louisiana.

• Health care issues: Bundling payments
  A look at key issues in the health care debate:

• Obama drops by daughter Sasha's school for event
  Fresh from his weeklong trip through Asia, President Barack Obama is taking time to catch up on dad duty.

• Pentagon looking for Fort Hood management lapses
  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.

• Pentagon launches new probe of Fort Hood shootings
  Secretary of Defense Robert Gates announced Thursday that he's appointed two former heads of the Army and the Navy to review the shootings at Fort Hood, Texas, amid questions about whether political correctness and a shortage of mental health professionals drove the military to keep Army psychiatrist Maj. Nidal Hasan in the Army longer than it should have.

• Senate girds for Saturday vote, long battle on health care
  The Senate on Thursday began what promises to be a bitter, lengthy battle over the future of health care in America, and taxes, abortion, affordability and federal deficits emerged as key flashpoints.

• Cuban blogger urges U.S. Congress to lift travel ban
  A high-octane effort to let U.S. tourists visit Cuba got a major endorsement Thursday from one of the island's leading dissidents, who suggested that "along with suitcases, Bermuda shorts and sun block, support, solidarity and freedom could come, too."

• Cuban blogger urges U.S. Congress to lift travel ban
  A high-octane effort to let U.S. tourists visit Cuba got a major endorsement Thursday from one of the island's leading dissidents, who suggested that "along with suitcases, Bermuda shorts and sun block, support, solidarity and freedom could come, too."

• Details of state dinner scarce, White House mum
  It's the hottest ticket in town. Just don't ask the White House who got them.