He and other executives will do well out of the deal.Read more

The two sides disagree on the deal's status; the U.S. is caught in the middle.Read more

His challenge also reflects pressure he faces as public support wanes.Read more

Obama will visit the Capitol complex today to make one final pitch to Democrats.Read more

• Link | PoliTex blog: From North Texas to D.C., our insiders take you beyond the usual rhetoric

Even if the House votes today on the healthcare overhaul bill, Rep. Chet Edwards, D-Waco, insisted Friday that he remained undecided, while the Texas Republicans who represent portions of Tarrant County continue to be solidly against the bill.Read more

• Link | PoliTex blog: From North Texas to D.C., our insiders take you beyond the usual rhetoric

He opened fire at an engineering firm where he worked, authorities say.Read more

• Link | Find more crime news in our "Crime Time" blog

Police say there's only one way for the families of missing women to know for sure whether their loved ones are among the victims found in suspected serial killer Anthony Sowell's house: Give DNA samples. But relatives with checkered pasts in the hardscrabble neighborhood seem reluctant to come forward.Read more

• Link | Find more crime news in our "Crime Time" blog

Tail cone falls off jetliner, lands harmlessly on residential lawn

NEW YORK — An engine tail cone fell off a Delta Air Lines jet shortly after takeoff Thursday and plummeted thousands of feet before landing harmlessly on a lawn in a Long Island residential neighborhood. Apparently, neither the pilots nor anyone on the ground immediately noticed the mishap. The aircraft, a Boeing 777, doesn’t need the part to fly and carried on safely to its destination, aviation officials said. Delta personnel reported the engine part missing after an inspection after the plane landed following its 14-hour flight, Federal Aviation Administration spokeswoman Arlene Salac said. The 20-pound cone, measuring 4 feet long and 3 feet in diameter, was big enough to kill someone if it hit them. It was on the lawn of a home in Roosevelt, N.Y., for several hours before anyone called police. The house is about nine miles east of Kennedy Airport, where the flight originated. Delta spokesman Anthony Black said an investigation is under way to determine what went wrong. He said he was unaware of similar problems involving Boeing 777s in Delta’s fleet. — The Associated PressRead more

Team wins space-elevator contest

LOS ANGELES — A Seattle team has won $900,000 in a competition aimed at developing technology based on the science-fiction concept of a space elevator. The team earned the money by sending its laser-powered robot thousands of feet up a cable slung from a helicopter. LaserMotive Llc. was presented the check Friday at NASA’s Dryden Flight Research Center in the Mojave Desert after two other competitors were unable to complete the climb of more than 2,950 feet. Theorists propose space elevators as a way to reach orbit without using rockets.Read more

Pop star’s father wants allowance from estate

LOS ANGELES — Michael Jackson’s father is seeking an allowance from his son’s estate to help cover expenses that exceed $15,000 a month, according to court documents filed Friday. The request seeking an unspecified amount for Joe Jackson was filed by lawyer Brian Oxman, who said there was no apparent reason for the administrators of the estate not to seek an allowance for the 81-year-old Jackson family patriarch. Michael Jackson’s 2002 will, however, called only for money to be paid to his mother, Katherine; his three children; and charities. A judge has approved more than $26,000 in monthly payments to Katherine Jackson and $60,000 monthly for the children. — The Associated PressRead more