WASHINGTON (AP) - Democratic leaders began laying out conditions Friday that they say Detroit's Big Three automakers need to meet before Congress will consider giving them an emergency $25 billion lifeline. The White House sharply criticized the Democrats for letting the issue linger while taking a congressional recess. "It is appalling that Congress decided to leave town without addressing a problem that they themselves said needed to be addressed," White House press secretary Dana Perino said. At the Capitol, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said she and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid are trying to get the reassurances lawmakers need before handing over the money. The two leaders were drafting a letter Friday to the U.S. auto executives requesting specific information on how federal loans would help them survive.
LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) - Nebraska Gov. Dave Heineman has signed a bill that adds a 30-day age limit to a safe-haven law led to the abandonment of nearly three dozen children, including some teenagers as old as 17. The law goes into effect at 12:01 a.m. Saturday. Heineman signed the bill on Friday afternoon without fanfare and did not immediately issue a statement on the law.
BAGHDAD (AP) - Thousands of followers of a radical Shiite cleric protested a proposed U.S.-Iraqi security deal Friday, burning an effigy of President George W. Bush in the same square where Iraqis beat a toppled Saddam Hussein statue five years ago. Chanting and waving flags, Muqtada al-Sadr's followers filled Firdous Square to protest the pact that would allow American troops to stay for three more years. The demonstration followed two days of protests in parliament by al-Sadr loyalists who disrupted readings of the proposed agreement ahead of a debate and vote.
WASHINGTON (AP) - Law enforcement officials bracing for the largest crowds in inaugural history are preparing far-reaching security - thousands of video cameras, sharpshooters, air patrols - to safeguard President-elect Barack Obama's swearing-in. People attending the ceremony and parade on Jan. 20 can expect to be searched by machines, security personnel or both. Precautions will range from the routine - magnetometers like those used at airports - to countersnipers trained to hit a target the size of a teacup saucer from 1,000 yards away. Plus undercover officers, bomb sniffing dogs and air patrols. The Secret Service - the agency coordinating the security - also has assigned trained officials to identify and prevent cyber security risks. And, as it does at every inauguration, the service has mapped out escape routes for the 44th president.
RAYMONDVILLE, Texas (AP) - A county prosecutor who brought indictments this week against Vice President Dick Cheney and others pounded his fist and shouted at the judge Friday during a routine hearing. Willacy County District Attorney Juan Angel Guerra asked Presiding Judge Manuel Banales to recuse himself from the case, which alleges abuse at federally run prisons. Attorneys for the vice president and other defendants leapt to their feet in objection as Guerra pounded the table and accused Banales of giving the defendants special treatment.
Florida teen commits suicide in front of webcam MIAMI (AP) - A South Florida college student killed himself by overdosing on drugs in front of a live online audience as some computer users egged him on, some debated his method, and others tried to talk him out of it. Abraham Biggs, 19, of Pembroke Pines, died Wednesday at his home from a toxic combination of opiates and benzodiazepine, a drug used to treat insomnia and depression, said Wendy Crane, an investigator with the Broward County medical examiner's office.
SOFIA, Bulgaria (AP) - Archaeologists have unearthed an elaborately decorated 1,800-year-old chariot sheathed in bronze at an ancient Thracian tomb in southeastern Bulgaria, the head of the excavation said Friday. "The lavishly ornamented four-wheel chariot dates back to the end of the second century A.D.," Veselin Ignatov told The Associated Press in a telephone interview from the site, near the southeastern village of Karanovo. But he said archaeologists were struggling to keep up with looters, who often ransack ancient sites before the experts can get to them.
CINCINNATI (AP) - Rapper T.I. testified Friday that he believes the bullets fired at his entourage during a wild vehicle chase two years ago were meant for him. He took the witness stand in the trial of Hosea Thomas, 34, who is accused of firing the shot that killed Philant Johnson during a gun battle on Interstate 75. "All of those rounds were fired for me, in my opinion," he said, adding that he later apologized to Johnson's mother when he called her with the news.
Robber apologizes during Vt. general store holdup WEST DANVILLE, Vt. (AP) - A thief who robbed a general store apologized to the owner and left the singles behind so workers on the next shift would have something in the till. The knife-wielding man made off with an undetermined amount of money from Joe's Pond Country Store on Wednesday after threatening owner Jeff Downs. "I'm very sorry I have do this," he told Downs.
MILWAUKEE (AP) - The New York Knicks were expected to announce a trade for Golden State Warriors forward Al Harrington on Friday. Media reports had the Knicks sending guard Jamal Crawford to Golden State, though it was unclear if he was the only player. A trade was expected to be announced later Friday, according to a person with knowledge of the deal who spoke on condition of anonymity because it hadn't been completed.
Measure of a Nation
