Xtra!

Reuters - President Barack Obama inserted himself into Senate efforts to pass a climate change bill on Tuesday, gathering Republican and Democratic lawmakers at the White House to jumpstart efforts to overhaul U.S. energy policy.

AP - The government sent investigators Tuesday to examine a Prius that sped out of control on a California freeway, and Toyota said it wanted to interview the driver as the besieged automaker dealt with a high-profile new headache that raised questions about the safety of its beloved hybrid.

AP - Sticking with its "boys, have at it" attitude, NASCAR placed Carl Edwards on probation for three races Tuesday for deliberately wrecking Brad Keselowski's car last weekend in Atlanta.

Reuters - Vice President Joe Biden on Tuesday condemned Israeli plans to build 1,600 more homes on occupied land where Palestinians seek statehood, announced in the middle of his visit to help revive peace negotiations.

AFP - Cisco Systems on Tuesday unveiled super-fast Internet hardware that promises to boost US competitiveness and bolster economic recovery by moving mountains of data at astounding speeds.

AP - Stirring memories of his campaign for the White House, President Barack Obama made a spirited, shirt-sleeved appeal for passage of long-stalled health care changes Monday as Democratic congressional leaders worked behind the scenes on legislation they hope can quickly gain passage.

AP - One bride wore a black suit, the other had on a white one with rhinestones. They walked down the aisle to Billy Joel's "Just the Way You Are" and kissed after the pastor pronounced them "legally married."

AP - Lindsay Lohan is feuding with the E-Trade babies.

AP - Automatic weapons fire punctuated by screams erupted after dark Tuesday in a Nigerian city located near villages where massacres just two days ago left more than 200 people dead.

HealthDay - FRIDAY, March 5 (HealthDay News) --Increasing consumption of sugary soft drinks contributed to 130,000 new cases of diabetes, 14,000 new cases of heart disease and 50,000 more life-years burdened with heart disease in the last decade, a new U.S. study finds.

AP - President Obama's spokesman is brushing aside allegations by a resigned New York congressman who says he was forced out by the administration and Democratic leaders because of his opposition to health care reform.

Reuters - U.S. safety regulators and Toyota Motor Corp dispatched investigators to San Diego on Tuesday to inspect a Prius that sped out of control on a California freeway a day earlier.

AP - Every human competitor now running the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race will be tested for alcohol and illegal drugs on the trail for the first time in the history of the 1,100-mile race — a change defending champion Lance Mackey believes is directed at him.

AP - Is the Middle East about to go officially nuclear?

AP - The government sent investigators Tuesday to examine a Prius that sped out of control on a California freeway, and Toyota said it wanted to interview the driver as the besieged automaker dealt with a high-profile new headache that raised questions about the safety of its beloved hybrid.

AP - President Barack Obama's health care bill would change federal policy on abortion, but it would not open the spigot of taxpayer dollars as some abortion opponents fear.

AP - Detroit, the very symbol of American industrial might for most of the 20th century, is drawing up a radical renewal plan that calls for turning large swaths of this now-blighted, rusted-out city back into the fields and farmland that existed before the automobile.

AP - The pope's brother said in a newspaper interview published Tuesday that he slapped pupils as punishment after he took over a renowned German boys' choir in the 1960s. He also said he was aware of allegations of physical abuse at an elementary school linked to the choir but did nothing about it.

Reuters - Restorers using ultra-violet rays have rediscovered rich original details of Giotto's paintings in the Peruzzi Chapel in Florence's Santa Croce church that have been hidden for centuries.

Reuters - A soldier serving with the British Army in Afghanistan has told of the moment he threw back a Taliban hand grenade, telling himself: "I've really only got one chance to do this."

HuffingtonPost.com - Former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin -- who has gone to great lengths to hype the supposed dangers of a big government takeover of American health care -- admitted over the weekend that she used to get her treatment in Canada's single-payer system.

AP - A dozen centuries-old shipwrecks — some of them unusually well-preserved — have been found in the Baltic Sea by a gas company building an underwater pipeline between Russia and Germany.

AP - Legislation to give additional months of unemployment benefits to people who have been out of a job for more than half a year cleared a key hurdle Tuesday that guarantees it will soon pass the Senate.

AP - An Ohio State University janitor who was about to lose his job walked into a maintenance building for his early morning shift Tuesday and shot two supervisors, killing one of them and fatally shooting himself. No students were hurt.

AP - The government is preparing a safety warning about baby slings — those popular and fashionable infant carriers that parents strap around their chests to give the little ones a cuddle on the move.

AFP - A dozen previously unknown shipwrecks, some of them believed to be up to 1,000 years old, were discovered in the Baltic Sea during a probe of the sea bed to prepare for the installation of a large gas pipeline, the Swedish National Heritage Board said Monday.

AP - Continental Airlines plans to cancel flights rather than risk stiff fines under new federal rules designed to punish carriers for delaying passengers.

AP - One bride wore a black suit, the other had on a white one with rhinestones. They walked down the aisle to Billy Joel's "Just the Way You Are" and kissed after the pastor pronounced them "legally married."

AFP - Christian villagers in Nigeria fled their homes fearing new attacks Tuesday even as a senior official accused the country's military chiefs of ignoring warnings about last weekend's massacre.

AP - Chevron Corp. said Tuesday it will cut 2,000 jobs this year and sell some overseas operations as it revamps its struggling refinery, marketing and transportation operations.

Reuters - U.S. safety regulators and Toyota Motor Corp dispatched investigators to San Diego on Tuesday to inspect a Prius that sped out of control on a California freeway a day earlier.

AP - Vice President Joe Biden condemned an Israeli plan to build hundreds of homes in disputed east Jerusalem on Tuesday — a disagreement that tarnished a high-profile visit that had been aimed at repairing ties with the Jewish state and kickstarting Mideast peace talks.