WASHINGTON – The government proposed on Wednesday expanding Medicare coverage of weight-loss surgery for the disabled, but eliminating coverage of such surgery for the elderly. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services said gastric bypass and other weight-loss surgeries may help people with extreme obesity. That is why the agency …

Here’s what is on tap for Wednesday: “FOX & Friends First” Starts at 6 a.m. ET President Bush is set to lay out his plans for Iraq in a major speech later on Wednesday. Can he convince his critics that his strategy is working? We’ll get a fair and balanced …

WASHINGTON – President Bush’s strategy to prepare for a potential flu pandemic includes $18 million for manufacturing and trials of a human vaccine in Vietnam, a country that has suffered the most human deaths from the bird flu. Health and Human Services Secretary Michael Leavitt traveled to Southeast Asia in …

ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia – Riot police deployed across the Ethiopian capital firing guns and lobbing grenades Wednesday to quell a second day of protests over disputed parliamentary elections. At least 23 people were killed and 150 wounded, including children, doctors and hospital workers said. One man said police broke into …

WASHINGTON – Liberal advocacy group Public Citizen has asked for new inquiries into Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist’s finances. The request Wednesday to the Senate Ethics Committee stems from the sale from Frist’s blind trusts stock in three companies with ties to HCA Inc., the hospital giant founded by his …

WASHINGTON – Legislation to fund many of the nation’s health, education and social programs went down to a startling defeat in the House Thursday, led by Democrats who said cuts in the bill hurt some of America’s neediest people. The 224-209 vote against the $142.5 billion spending bill disrupted plans …

NEW YORK – An Arabic translator for the Army may have secretly helped Iraqi insurgents by taking classified documents home from Iraq to Brooklyn, where he made a series of calls to numbers linked to the insurgency, a federal prosecutor said Monday. The man was charged last month with falsifying …

ANNAPOLIS – When Delegate Neil F. Quinter, D-Howard, was researching a bill proposal in the last legislative session, he wanted to see what neighboring Virginia was doing on the same topic. Like any good researcher, he typed his topic — “upskirt” — into Google. “I was not prepared for what …

WASHINGTON – Twenty years after Princess Diana (search) wowed Americans by dancing with John Travolta (search) at the White House, Prince Charles’ (search) new bride Camilla is taking her turn to charm the Yanks. On her first visit to Washington since her marriage to Charles in April, the Duchess of …

OAKLAND, Calif. – Revelli Tire ( search) has been a family-owned business in Oakland, Calif., for 56 years. But if action by the city council remains on course, the tire store will have to find a new home or go the way of the dinosaur. In July, using the power …