WASHINGTON (AP) - Moderate Senate Democrats threatened Sunday to scuttle health-care legislation if their demands aren't met, while more liberal members warned their party leaders not to bend. The dispute among Democrats foretells of a rowdy floor debate next month on legislation that would extend health care coverage to roughly 31 million Americans. Republicans have already made clear they aren't supporting the bill.
HEGANG, China (AP) - When gas levels suddenly spiked deep in the Xinxing coal mine, Wang Jiguo grabbed two co-workers and they ran for their lives. Minutes later, there was a huge bang, a torrent of hot air and the earth shuddered. The death toll two days later was up to 104, with four still missing, the official Xinhua news agency said Monday. The accident Saturday was the deadliest in China's mining industry for two years, and has highlighted how heavy demand for power-generating coal comes at a high human cost.
NEW YORK (AP) - The five men facing trial in the Sept. 11 attacks will plead not guilty so that they can air their criticisms of U.S. foreign policy, the lawyer for one of the defendants said Sunday. Scott Fenstermaker, the lawyer for accused terrorist Ali Abd al-Aziz Ali, said the men would not deny their role in the 2001 attacks but "would explain what happened and why they did it."
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NRC: Three Mile Island radiation not significant MIDDLETOWN, Pa. (AP) - The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission says the small amount of radiation detected at the Three Mile Island nuclear power plant is not significant. Specialist John White has told ABC News that there is no indication that radiation at the plant exceeded or even approached regulatory limits.
Iran begins war games to protect nuclear sites TEHRAN, Iran (AP) - Iran on Sunday began large-scale air defense war games aimed at protecting its nuclear facilities from attack, state TV reported, as an air force commander boasted the country could deter any military strike by Israel. It said the five-day drill will cover an area a third of the size of Iran and spread across the central, western and southern parts of the country.
EAST PROVIDENCE, R.I. (AP) - A month of harsh words between Rep. Patrick Kennedy and a strident critic, Roman Catholic Bishop Thomas Tobin, escalated Sunday when the bishop acknowledged asking Kennedy not to receive Holy Communion because of the Democratic lawmaker's support for abortion rights. The bishop's attempt to publicly shame Kennedy comes just a few months after the death of his father, Sen. Edward Kennedy of Massachusetts. Tobin told The Associated Press in an interview Sunday that he's praying for the younger Kennedy, who has been in and out of treatment for substance abuse, and said Kennedy has been acting "erratically."
LOS ANGELES (AP) - Lady Gaga wasn't the most nominated entertainer at American Music Awards, but she was certainly the most compelling performer at Sunday's show. Wearing a Vulcan-inspired headdress and vest filled with lights, the 23-year-old singer performed a medley of songs from her new album, "The Fame Monster," due in stores next week. She used her microphone to break into a class case, where a grand piano sat waiting. It caught fire when she sat down to play.
MADRID (AP) - Seven bulls being used on the set of a film starring Tom Cruise and Cameron Diaz have broken free in Spain and slightly injured two people. Cruise and Diaz were not at Sunday's rehearsal. The actors are scheduled to arrive in the city of Cadiz in southwest Spain for the filming of the "Knight & Day" movie next weekend.
McNabb, Eagles lead Bears 10-0 in 1st Quarter CHICAGO (AP) - Donovan McNabb threw a 13-yard touchdown pass to Jason Avant, a hookup of two Chicago products, as the Philadelphia Eagles took a 10-0 lead over the Chicago Bears after one quarter Sunday night. McNabb's TD toss to Avant capped a 76-yard drive that featured his 21-yard pass to Brent Celek and two penalties on the Bears - a 15-yarder for a facemask penalty against McNabb and also an offside.
