• 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 three-decade-long plot to spy for Cuba have pleaded guilty in federal court.

• 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.

• Conservative seeks cash to contest NY House race
  A Conservative Party candidate is writing to supporters saying he lost a New York race for a U.S. House of Representatives seat because of scheming and needs money in case he lodges a legal challenge.

• Govt wants speedy screening at more airports
  The Homeland Security Department wants to expand speedy screening of preapproved, low-risk air travelers arriving in the United States to most international airports in the country.

• Obama faces showdowns on health, Afghanistan, jobs
  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.

• U.S. losing its lead in space, experts warn Congress
  America's once clear dominance in space is eroding as other nations, including China, Iran and North Korea, step up their activities, a panel of experts told the House subcommittee on Space and Aeronautics Thursday.

• US charges firms defrauded deaf phone fund
  Federal prosecutors on Thursday announced criminal charges against more than two dozen people accused of stealing tens of millions of dollars from a telephone service for the deaf.

• House moves to protect doctors from Medicare cuts
  The Democratic-controlled House voted Thursday to add more than $200 billion to the deficit to prevent steep Medicare payment cuts to doctors, a move Republicans denounced as a political payoff.

• Gates says Iraq withdrawal on schedule
  Defense Secretary Robert Gates says warnings that politics could push back Iraqi elections scheduled for January aren't affecting his plans for a troop withdrawal now.

• GOP senator backs off threat to read health bill
  Republican Sen. Tom Coburn is backing off his threat to require that the Senate read the 2,074-page health care bill because some GOP colleagues aren't supporting the effort.