AP - 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.

AP - There may be additional e-mails that could have tipped off law enforcement or military officials to the Fort Hood shooter before he went on his deadly rampage, the chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee said Friday.

AP - Italy's ANSA news agency reports that police in the northern city of Brescia have arrested two Pakistanis accused of logistical support for last year's terror attacks in Mumbai.

AP - 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.

AP - Republicans are seizing on this week's recommendations for fewer Pap smears and mammograms to fuel concern about government-rationed medical care — and to try to chip away support by women for President Barack Obama's proposed health care overhaul.

AP - 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.

AP - Scientists switched on the world's largest atom smasher for the first time since the $10 billion machine suffered a spectacular failure more than a year ago, circulating beams of protons in a significant leap forward for the Large Hadron Collider.

AP - The U.S. Army said Friday it would open Sarah Palin's appearance on Fort Bragg to media, a reversal from earlier in the week when the military wanted the event closed out of fears it would prompt political grandstanding against President Barack Obama.

AP - Jim Boeheim has always made a point of telling the media not to get too caught up in runs because basketball, especially on the college level, is a game of runs.

Reuters - One of three wavering U.S. Senate Democrats said on Friday he would vote to start the chamber's healthcare debate, bolstering the chances for a broad reform bill one day before its first crucial test.

Reuters - The pandemic of swine flu may be hitting a peak in the Northern Hemisphere, global health officials said on Friday, but they cautioned it was far from over.

Reuters - President Barack Obama's job approval rating has dropped below 50 percent in a second major poll in an indication he is suffering from the long healthcare debate and weakness in the economy, Gallup said on Friday.

Reuters - The pace of job losses slowed in many U.S. states in October, and the unemployment rate slipped in hard-hit Michigan, the Labor Department said on Friday, hinting the recession may be easing in some areas.

Reuters - Women in the United States should start cervical cancer screening at age 21 and most do not need an annual Pap smear, according to new guidelines issued on Friday that aim to reduce the risk of unnecessary treatment.

AFP - Incoming EU president Herman Van Rompuy kept a low profile as the 27-nation bloc's leaders faced flak for picking him and a little-known British peer to lead a revamped Europe on the world stage.

AFP - President Barack Obama will wait until after Americans mark Thanksgiving on November 26 to announce whether or not he sends reinforcements to Afghanistan, his spokesman Robert Gibbs said.

AP - Jim Boeheim has always made a point of telling the media not to get too caught up in runs because basketball, especially on the college level, is a game of runs.

AP - Kellen Moore didn't need to throw his usual three touchdown passes.

AP - Vince Carter scored 26 points, Rashard Lewis had 16 points and 10 rebounds, and the Orlando Magic beat the Boston Celtics 83-78 on Friday night.

AP - The NFL Players Association opposes commissioner Roger Goodell's call for players to tell their teams' medical staffs if they think a teammate shows symptoms of a concussion, saying that is not an adequate solution.

AP - Reserve forward Rasual Butler scored 27 points, Al Thornton added 18 and the Los Angeles Clippers withstood an early scoring spree from Carmelo Anthony to beat the Denver Nuggets 106-99 on Friday night.

AP - Quincy Pondexter set a career high for the second consecutive game with 30 points, including 13 in a row to begin the second half, and had a career-best 15 rebounds in No. 14 Washington's 80-70 victory over San Jose State on Friday night.

AFP - Arsene Wenger has shrugged off claims that the loss of Robin van Persie will fundamentally undermine Arsenal chances of closing the gap on Premier League leaders Chelsea.

AFP - France wing Vincent Clerc has warned his team-mates that they cannot afford to under-estimate Samoa prior to the clash between the sides at the Stade de France here on Saturday.

AP - Dany Heatley scored three times, Joe Thornton recorded his 600th NHL assist, and the San Jose Sharks beat the Philadelphia Flyers 6-3 on Friday night.

AFP - Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal will stage the last chapter of their battle to finish the year as world number one when the ATP Tour Finals get under way in London on Sunday.

AP - Sophie Gustafson moved within two shots of leader Lorena Ochoa at the LPGA Tour Championship on Friday before second-round play was suspended because of bad weather.

AP - Manny Pacquiao proved he can be a box office hit. Now it's up to Pacquiao and Floyd Mayweather Jr. to see what they can do together.

AP - Kevin and Delana Harvick were an extremely happy couple Friday night.

AP - Listening to her coach paid off for Joannie Rochette.