Moderate Dems pivotal in Saturday health care vote

WASHINGTON — 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.

Tamiflu-resistant swine flu cluster reported in NC

ATLANTA — Four North Carolina patients at a single hospital tested positive for a type of swine flu that is resistant to Tamiflu, health officials said Friday. The cases reported at Duke University Medical Center over six weeks make up the biggest cluster seen so far in the U.S.

US to drop shooting case against Blackwater guard

WASHINGTON — 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.

Floods devastate UK Lake District, much of Ireland

COCKERMOUTH, England — Raging floods engulfed northern England's picturesque Lake District on Friday following the heaviest rainfall ever recorded in Britain, killing a police officer and trapping dozens in their swamped homes.

Chase drops arbitration from card contracts

BOSTON — JPMorgan Chase & Co. said Friday it is dropping a clause from its credit card contracts that required disputes with customers to be handled through binding arbitration, a move that could lead to consumers filing class-action and other lawsuits.

Police: NC girl raped, killed on day she was taken

FAYETTEVILLE, N.C. — A 5-year-old North Carolina girl was raped and killed the same day she was taken from her home, according to an arrest warrant released Friday. Shaniya Davis was sexually assaulted and asphyxiated Nov. 10, the day her mother reported her missing from the trailer park where she was staying, according to the warrant. Authorities embarked on a nearly weeklong search that ended when the girl's body was found dumped off a rural road.

Sears Tower plot leader gets 13-year prison term

MIAMI — The ringleader of a group described by prosecutors as plotting terror attacks on Chicago's Sears Tower and FBI offices in hopes of sparking an anti-government insurrection was sentenced Friday to 13 1/2 years in prison by a federal judge.

Gold ekes out small gain, other metals hold steady

NEW YORK — Gold prices finished higher for a sixth straight day Friday, rising even as the dollar strengthened.

Pa. university students upset about fitness class

PHILADELPHIA — A Pennsylvania university's requirement that overweight undergraduates take a fitness course to receive their degrees has raised the hackles of students and the eyebrows of health and legal experts.

Planes ready to leave Brunswick, Maine Navy base

BRUNSWICK, Maine — The rumble of Navy patrol aircraft flying overhead will soon be a thing of the past as the remaining P-3 Orions depart from Brunswick Naval Air Station.