Reid says health care bill to have public option

WASHINGTON (AP) - Majority Leader Harry Reid says health care legislation headed to the Senate floor will include an option for government-run insurance. Reid says states will have the prerogative of opting out of the program if they choose. Reid noted that polls show widespread public support for giving the government a role in the overhauled health care system envisioned by President Barack Obama and his allies in Congress.

DEA agents among 14 Americans dead in Afghanistan

KABUL (AP) - A U.S. military helicopter crashed Monday while returning from the scene of a firefight with suspected Taliban drug traffickers in western Afghanistan, killing 10 Americans including three DEA agents in a not-so-noticed war within a war. Four more troops were killed when two helicopters collided over southern Afghanistan, making it the deadliest day for U.S. forces in this country in more than four years.

Iraqis angry at security lapse, bombs kill 155

BAGHDAD (AP) - Iraqis vented anger Monday at a major security lapse that allowed two suicide truck bombers to penetrate what was supposed to be one of Baghdad's safest areas, killing 155 people including 24 children on a bus leaving a daycare center next to one of the government ministries targeted. Sunday's twin suicide blasts in the heart of the capital struck the Justice Ministry and the Baghdad Provincial Administration, the worst attacks in more than two years. They raised fears about Iraq's ability to protect itself as it prepares for January elections and the U.S. military withdrawal.

Iran hints it could ship some uranium abroad

TEHRAN, Iran (AP) - Iran hinted Monday it could agree to ship some low-enriched uranium abroad for processing as reactor fuel as the world awaited its reply on a U.N.-drafted nuclear plan aimed at easing tensions with the West. But the step might not be enough to defuse the tensions, and Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki also left open the possibility Iran may snub the proposal and instead seek to buy the nuclearfuel it needs for a research reactor that makes medical isotopes.

Wayward pilots were working on their laptops

WASHINGTON (AP) - Two Northwest Airlines pilots have told federal investigators that they were going over schedules using their laptop computers in violation of company policy while their plane overflew their Minneapolis destination by 150 miles, the National Transportation Safety Board said Monday. The pilots - Richard Cole of Salem, Ore., the first officer, and Timothy Cheney of Gig Harbor, Wash., the captain - said in interviews conducted over the weekend that they were not fatigued and didn't fall asleep, the board said in a statement.

Castro's sister says she collaborated with CIA

MIAMI (AP) - One of Fidel Castro's sisters says in a memoir released Monday that she collaborated with the CIA against her brother, starting shortly after the United States' failed Bay of Pigs invasion of Cuba in 1961. Juanita Castro, 76, initially supported her brother's 1959 overthrow of the Batista dictatorship but quickly grew disillusioned. In a Spanish-language memoir published by Santillana USA and co-written by journalist Maria Antonieta Collins, she says the wife of the Brazilian ambassador to Cuba persuaded her to meet a CIA officer during a trip to Mexico in 1961.

AP IMPACT: Statisticians reject global cooling

WASHINGTON (AP) - Have you heard that the world is now cooling instead of warming? You may have seen some news reports on the Internet or heard about it from a provocative new book. Only one problem: It's not true, according to an analysis of the numbers done by several independent statisticians for The Associated Press. The case that the Earth might be cooling partly stems from recent weather. Last year was cooler than previous years. It's been a while since the super-hot years of 1998 and 2005. So is this a longer climate trend or just weather's normal ups and downs?

Jon Gosselin says he returned $180K in joint funds

NORRISTOWN, Pa. (AP) - Reality TV dad Jon Gosselin says he's returned $180,000 to a joint account he shares with his estranged wife Kate as the couple continues their bitter divorce battle. Gosselin criticized his wife for not showing up Monday for a court hearing in the Philadelphia suburb of Norristown. He also says she still has not explained how she spent $33,000 in joint funds.

One-legged suspect caught with one stolen shoe

BRUSSELS (AP) - Police said a one-legged suspect was caught after only one shoe went missing in a store in Belgium. An amputee was an immediate suspect when a store attendant found one shoe missing from a shop in the western Belgian town of Maldegem. Police spokesman Rik Decraemer said Monday authorities were alerted and quickly found the man who fit the description by shopkeepers. The shoe was also recovered. The suspect, a Russian asylum seeker, faces possible charges and was handed over to judicial authorities.

McGwire joins Cards as La Russa's hitting coach

ST. LOUIS (AP) - Mark McGwire is back in baseball, reunited with Tony La Russa as the St. Louis Cardinals' hitting coach. La Russa agreed to return for a 15th year as manager Monday with a one-year contract, the first time he hasn't had a multiyear deal with the team. All of his coaches will return except for Hal McRae, who will be replaced by theformer star. "Mark is passionate about the game, passionate about the Cardinals," chairman Bill DeWitt Jr. said. "Tony thinks he'll be a great coach, and I think he's got a lot to offer."

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