Obama health care overhaul on brink of Christmas Eve passage in Senate
WASHINGTON (AP) _ Senate Democrats are poised to pass a landmark health care bill that could define President Barack Obama's legacy and usher in near-universal medical coverage for the first time in the country's history.
Ahead lie complex talks with the House to reach final legislation in the new year.
"We stand on the doorstep of history," said Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev. "We recognize that, but much more importantly, we stand so close to making so many individual lives better."
After 24 consecutive days of debate _ the second-longest such stretch ever _ the final vote on the Democrats' 10-year, nearly $1 trillion bill is set for early Thursday, Christmas Eve morning. It will be the Senate's first Christmas Eve vote since 1895, when the matter at hand was a military affairs bill concerning employment of former Confederate officers, according to the Senate Historical Office.
Democrats have demonstrated their hard-won unity by clearing three 60-vote procedural hurdles this week, the last one Wednesday afternoon, with all 58 Democrats and two independents holding together against unanimous GOP opposition.
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Boy delivered by Brazilian family at US consulate, finally reunited with dad
RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) _ A Brazilian family has delivered a 9-year-old boy to his American father in Brazil, ending a five-year custody battle.
The boy, Sean, was brought into the U.S. consulate by his maternal grandmother and his stepfather, making it into the compound's front door as scores of reporters and cameramen tried to get close. His U.S. dad, David Goldman, was waiting for him inside.
Brazil's Supreme Court chief justice two days ago had ordered the boy handed over to Goldman.
The pair were expected to fly back to the Goldman's home in New Jersey within hours.
The case began in 2004 when Goldman's then-wife took Sean to her native Brazil on what was to be a two-week vacation. Instead, she divorced Goldman, remarried, but died giving birth last year.
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Holiday travelers deal with slick roads, airport delays; worst of storm still to hit Midwest
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) _ A major winter storm lumbering across the nation's midsection promised a white Christmas for some but brought headaches for residents without power and travelers crawling along slick, icy roads and dealing with canceled and delayed flights.
The worst of the storm was expected to hit the region Thursday and Friday, bringing heavy snow, sleet and rain to a large swath of the Plains and the Midwest. A foot or two of snow was possible in some areas by Christmas Day.