News from the Associated Press

AP Top News at 1:36 a.m. EST

D.C. sniper Muhammad executed for 2002 attacks

JARRATT, Va. (AP) - John Allen Muhammad, the mastermind behind the sniper attacks that left 10 dead, was executed Tuesday as relatives of the victims watched, reliving the killing spree that terrorized the Washington, D.C., area for three weeks in October 2002. The 48-year-old Muhammad looked calm and stoic, but was twitching and blinking, tapping his left foot as the injections began, defiant to the end, refusing to utter any final words. Victims' families sat behind glass while watching, separated from the rest of the 27 witnesses, who were quiet, looking straight forward, intent on what was happening.

Blame game erupts over probe of Fort Hood suspect

WASHINGTON (AP) - Finger-pointing erupted between federal agencies Tuesday over Fort Hood shooting suspect Nidal Hasan. Government officials said a Defense Department terrorism investigator looked into Hasan's contacts with a radical imam months ago, but a military official denied prior knowledge of the Army psychiatrist's contacts with any Muslim extremists. The two government officials, speaking on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the case on the record, said the Washington-based joint terrorism task force overseen by the FBI was notified of communications between Hasan and a radical imam overseas, and the information was turned over to a Defense Criminal Investigative Service employee assigned to the task force. The communications were gathered by investigators beginning in December 2008 and continuing into early this year.

2 dead, 2 wounded in Ore. office park shooting

TUALATIN, Ore. (AP) - A woman was killed and two of her co-workers were injured when the woman's estranged husband opened fire Tuesday at a drug-testing laboratory in suburban Portland before turning the gun on himself, police said. The woman who was killed was identified as Teresa Marie Beiser, 36, of Gladstone. Her husband, Robert James Beiser, 39, died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound, police said.

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Bill Clinton urges Senate passage of health bill

WASHINGTON (AP) - Former President Bill Clinton urged Senate Democrats on Tuesday to pass health care legislation by year's end, pointedly telling skittish lawmakers that an imperfect bill is preferable to another failure like the one he and the party endured in 1994. "It's not important to be perfect here. It's important to act, to move, to start the ball rolling," the former president told reporters after the closed-door meeting, held on the cusp of Senate debate on intensely controversial legislation. The House cleared its version of the bill late Saturday night on a narrow, party-line vote of 220-215.

US imam wanted in Yemen over al-Qaida suspicions

SAN'A, Yemen (AP) - A radical American imam who communicated with the Fort Hood shooting suspect and called him a hero was once arrested in Yemen on suspicion of giving religious approval to militants to conduct kidnappings. Yemeni authorities are now hunting for Anwar al-Awlaki to determine whether he has al-Qaida ties. Al-Awlaki, who has used his personal Web site to encourage Muslims around the world to kill U.S. troops in Iraq, disappeared in Yemen eight months ago, according to his father. Yemeni security officials say they believe he is hiding in a region of the mountainous nation that has become a refuge for Islamic militants.

White House: Obama weighs 4 options in Afghanistan

WASHINGTON (AP) - President Barack Obama is considering four options for realigning U.S. strategy in Afghanistan, his spokesman said Tuesday, while military officials said the choices involve several ways the president could employ additional U.S. forces next year. White House press secretary Robert Gibbs said Obama will discuss the four scenarios with his national security team on Wednesday. Speaking to reporters aboard Air Force One en route to Fort Hood, Texas, Gibbs would not offer details about those options. He insisted that Obama has not made a decision about troop deployments.

Chemical BPA in workers linked to sex problems
NEW YORK (AP) - Male factory workers in China who got very high doses of a chemical that's been widely used in hard plastic bottles had high rates of sexual problems, researchers reported Wednesday. Heavy exposure to BPA, or bisphenol A, on the job was linked to impotence and lower sexual desire and satisfaction, according to the study, which adds to concerns about BPA's effects on most consumers.

Vatican looks to heavens for signs of alien life

VATICAN CITY (AP) - E.T. phone Rome. Four hundred years after it locked up Galileo for challenging the view that the Earth was the center of the universe, the Vatican has called in experts to study the possibility of extraterrestrial alien life and its implication for the Catholic Church. "The questions of life's origins and of whether life exists elsewhere in the universe are very suitable and deserve serious consideration," said the Rev. Jose Gabriel Funes, an astronomer and director of the Vatican Observatory.

Swift wins 2nd straight BMI award for top song

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) - Taylor Swift started what could be an interesting week with her second straight song of the year award at the BMI Country Awards Tuesday, when Kris Kristofferson was honored as an icon. Swift won for her song "Love Story" - the night before she contends for entertainer of the year at the Country Music Association Awards - Bobby Pinson won songwriter of the year and Sony/ATV Music was named publisher of the year.

Billups' free throw lifts Nuggets over Bulls 90-89

CHICAGO (AP) - Chauncey Billups hit the go-ahead free throw with six-tenths of a second left and the Denver Nuggets beat the Chicago Bulls 90-89 on Tuesday night after a potential winning jumper by Brad Miller was overturned following a replay review. Billups was fouled by Kirk Hinrich on a drive and then intentionally missed the second free throw after making the first to break the tie. Joakim Noah grabbed the rebound, and the Bulls nearly pulled it off.




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