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WASHINGTON - Failure is not an option on health care, a leading Democratic senator said Monday, even as Republicans turned up the heat on moderates who hold the fate of the legislation in their hands.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid eked out 60 votes on a procedural motion to start the health care debate Saturday night – but there’s no guarantee he can pass a bill on the merits.

WASHINGTON - Sen. Edward M. Kennedy will be a tough act to follow, even for the Kennedys. His death, coupled with the decision by family members not to seek the seat he held for nearly five decades, has prompted predictions that the family's long-running political dynasty is over.

Emboldened by their success in inserting restrictive abortion language into the House health care bill, Roman Catholic bishops say they’ve found a lobbying model that could provide them a louder voice in future policy debates.

WASHINGTON - President Barack Obama called his war council together Monday as he moves toward a decision on whether to add more U.S. forces in Afghanistan.

FORT HOOD, Texas (AFP) - Countless commanders in the US Army have prepared battalions for war since the terrorist attacks of September 11, but none of them had do it after losing soldiers in a shooting spree on a home base.

WASHINGTON - Two Senate leaders trying to steer a pair of President Barack Obama's high-stakes initiatives through Congress are being dogged by re-election worries, and it's not clear whether their legislative prominence will help or hurt them.

Republicans aren’t the only ones staring at the unnerving prospect of a 2010 primary season filled with smash-mouth intraparty contests that threaten to distract the party and leave Senate nominees bloodied and cash-depleted.

WASHINGTON - Reports of hate crimes against gays and religious groups increased sharply in 2008, according to FBI data released Monday.

WASHINGTON - The White House said President Barack Obama could use an unusual evening war council session Monday to lock in his long-awaited decision on whether to commit tens of thousands of new U.S. forces to the stalemated war in Afghanistan.

WASHINGTON - Lawmakers broke along party lines on a new aspect of the health care debate Sunday as a former National Institutes of Health chief urged women to ignore guidelines that delay the start of breast cancer screenings.

WASHINGTON - Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said Monday that the world must press Pakistan to stop supporting terrorists who continue to target India.

Nov. 23 (Bloomberg) -- Democrats who united last week to bring a sweeping health-care plan to the U.S. Senate floor still need to settle disagreement in their own ranks to pass President Barack Obama’s top domestic initiative.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama assured Americans on Monday that boosting jobs was a top priority, but gave no specifics about how to meet this goal that some economists say warrants more government spending.

LONDON (AFP) - Hostility between US and British military leaders in Iraq ran deep, with one describing his US counterparts as "group of Martians," the Daily Telegraph reported Monday, citing leaked government documents.

WASHINGTON - Hey kids, grab those beakers and Petri dishes, the White House is going to hold a science fair.

WASHINGTON - The federal courts and military tribunals that will prosecute suspected terrorists vary sharply in their independence, public stature and use of evidence. But the Obama administration has so far offered no clear-cut rationale for how it chooses which system will try a detainee.

Just 38% of voters now favor the health care plan proposed by President Obama and congressional Democrats. That's the lowest level of support measured for the plan in nearly two dozen tracking polls conducted since June.

FORT WORTH, Texas - An attorney for an Army psychiatrist accused of killing 13 people during an attack at Fort Hood says his client will likely plead not guilty and may pursue an insanity defense at his military trial.

WASHINGTON - President Barack Obama praised representatives of a women's organization whose members have been beaten by Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe's police force and face court trials for challenging Zimbabwe's government. He said their grassroots efforts could improve the African country.

WASHINGTON, Nov. 23 - Hunger in America's Classrooms: Share Our Strength's Teachers Report Shows Schools and Teachers Are Critical Safety Net for Nearly 17 Million U.S. Children Facing Hunger

WASHINGTON (AFP) - The nephew of ex-president John F. Kennedy, a US lawmaker, has been barred from receiving communion at his Catholic church due to his support for abortion rights, a newspaper reported Sunday.

WASHINGTON - Two Democratic senators say the health care overhaul bill now going to the Senate floor for debate is a key to saving jobs and reducing the spiraling American budget deficit.

Sen. Blanche Lincoln (D-Ark.) was a day away from casting a vote that could change her political career when she got a phone call from someone who knew what she was going through.

WASHINGTON (AFP) - The number of US hate crime victims rose slightly last year to nearly 9,700 from 9,500 in 2007, with most people targeted because of their skin color, the FBI said Monday.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama should look abroad for ways to boost jobs at home, the biggest U.S. business lobby group said on Monday, urging the administration to advance three pending free trade agreements.

Lawmakers were all over the airwaves Sunday following the Senate's procedural vote on the health care overhaul bill -- and like the chamber's vote, the rhetoric and the predictions for going forward lined up along predictable partisan lines.

WASHINGTON, Nov. 23 - WASHINGTON, Nov. 23 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Today the White House announced a national education initiative to strengthen America's economic competitiveness through leadership in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) education.  The high tech sector has a legacy of leadership in the area of STEM education and last year alone dedicated thousands of volunteer hours and hundreds of millions of dollars to support local school districts, universities, and community colleges.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said on Monday completing a 2005 U.S.-India nuclear cooperation deal would boost investment opportunities in his country, a hopeful sign for U.S. companies eyeing India's potential $150 billion market in power plants.

WASHINGTON - A leading Democratic senator says the proposed health care overhaul must pass the Senate by the end of the year, so that lawmakers can begin to concentrate on the economy and job creation.