Obama tries to grab control of health care debate, will address Congress next Wednesday night
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Barack Obama will deliver a major prime-time health care address to Congress next week, opening an urgent autumn push to gain control of the debate that has been slipping from his grasp under withering Republican-led attacks.
Scheduling of the speech next Wednesday night, just a day after lawmakers return from their August recess, underscores the determination of the White House to confront critics of Obama's overhaul proposals and to buck up supporters who have been thrown on the defensive. Allies have been urging the president to be more specific about his plans and to take a greater role in the debate, and aides have signaled he will do that in the address to a joint session of Congress in the House chamber.
The speech's timing also suggests that top Democrats have all but given up hope for a bipartisan breakthrough by Senate Finance Committee negotiators. The White House had given those six lawmakers until Sept. 15 to draft a plan, but next week's speech comes well ahead of that deadline.
It follows an August recess in which critics of Obama's health proposals dominated many public forums. Approval ratings for Obama, and for his health care proposals, dropped during August.
Senior adviser David Axelrod had said Tuesday that Obama was considering being "more prescriptive" about what he feels Congress must include in a health bill. Axelrod said all the key ideas for revising health care are "on the table," suggesting that Obama will not offer major new proposals.
___
Fire offical says huge fire north of LA is human caused as firefighters make more progress
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Firefighters made more progress Wednesday against a giant wildfire that has ravaged a national forest north of Los Angeles as investigators said the blaze was human-caused and officials began letting more people back into their homes.
Officials are still trying to figure out what set off the blaze in the Angeles National Forest that had burned nearly 219 square miles, or 140,150 acres, by early Wednesday. Deputy incident commander Carlton Joseph would only say that the fire was human-caused, but it's not known specifically how it was started or whether it was accidental or arson.
Joseph said a human cause could include a range of things from a dropped cigarette to a spark from something like a lawn mower. Joseph says investigators have several leads and notes that lightning has been ruled out as a possible cause.
Investigators huddled beneath a partially burnt oak tree Wednesday near the spot where fire started — signs that the probe is actively under way. Pink and yellow tape roped off part of a ravine next to the tree where small red flags were planted.
Firefighters have created a perimeter around 22 percent of the blaze, largely by removing brush with bulldozers and setting controlled burns. Bulldozers still have 95 miles of fire line to build, mostly on the blaze's eastern front near the San Gabriel Wilderness Area.
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger visited the fire area Wednesday morning and served breakfast to firefighters, scooping Cream of Wheat into paper bowls and giving them plenty of protein so "they get all pumped up for the next fight out there with those fires."
___
Former Red Sox pitcher Schilling expresses 'some interest' in succeeding Kennedy in US Senate
BOSTON (AP) — Curt Schilling, the former major league pitcher who won the allegiance of Bostonians by leading the Red Sox to the 2004 World Series, said Wednesday that he has "some interest" in running for the seat held for nearly 50 years by Democratic Sen. Edward M. Kennedy.
Schilling, a registered independent and longtime Republican supporter, wrote on his blog that while his family and video gaming company, 38 Studios, are high priorities, "I do have some interest in the possibility."

"That being said, to get to there, from where I am today, many, many things would have to align themselves for that to truly happen," he added.

Any other comment "would be speculation on top of speculation," Schilling said, adding, "My hope is that whatever happens, and whomever it happens to, this state makes the decision and chooses the best person — regardless of sex, race, religion or political affiliation — to help get this state back to the place it deserves to be."

Schilling refused to comment when his office was contacted by phone.

___

Repeat offender Pfizer paying record $2.3B settlement for illegal drug promotions

WASHINGTON (AP) — Federal prosecutors hit Pfizer Inc. with a record-breaking $2.3 billion in fines Wednesday and called the world's largest drugmaker a repeating corporate cheat for illegal drug promotions that plied doctors with free golf, massages, and resort junkets.

Announcing the penalty as a warning to all drug manufacturers, Justice Department officials said the overall settlement is the largest ever paid by a drug company for alleged violations of federal drug rules, and the $1.2 billion criminal fine is the largest ever in any U.S. criminal case. The total includes $1 billion in civil penalties and a $100 million criminal forfeiture.

Authorities called Pfizer a repeat offender, noting it is the company's fourth such settlement of government charges in the last decade. The allegations surround the marketing of 13 different drugs, including big sellers such as Viagra, Zoloft, and Lipitor.

As part of its illegal marketing, Pfizer invited doctors to consultant meetings at resort locations, paying their expenses and providing perks, prosecutors said.

"They were entertained with golf, massages, and other activities," said Mike Loucks, the U.S. attorney in Massachusetts.

___

Afghanistan's deputy intelligence chief among 23 people killed in Taliban suicide attack

KABUL (AP) — A Taliban suicide bomber attacked officials leaving a mosque east of the capital Wednesday, killing the country's deputy intelligence chief and 23 other people in a major blow to Afghanistan's security forces.

The brazen assault occurred as tensions are running high after last month's divisive presidential election and a sharp rise in U.S. casualties — events that have already raised alarm in Washington over the future of President Barack Obama's strategy to turn the tide of the war.

A Taliban spokesman, Zabiullah Mujahid, claimed responsibility for the bombing, which happened as Afghan dignitaries were leaving the main mosque in Mehterlam, 60 miles (100 kilometers) east of Kabul, after ceremonies marking the Islamic holy month of Ramadan.

The bomber approached the crowd on foot and detonated an explosive belt, killing 23 people, including Abdullah Laghmani, deputy chief of Afghanistan's National Directorate for Security and the target of the attack, according to provincial spokesman Sayed Ahmad Safi.

The chairman of the local provincial council and the executive director of the local governor's office also died in the blast, Safi said.

___

Levi Johnston: Palin wanted to adopt grandchild so people wouldn't know daughter was pregnant

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) — Levi Johnston, the father of Sarah Palin's grandchild, said the former Republican vice presidential candidate wanted to adopt his child so that people wouldn't know her 17-year-old daughter was pregnant.

In an interview with Vanity Fair, Johnston said Palin had a plan to deal with Bristol's pregnancy.

"Sarah kept mentioning this plan. She was nagging — she wouldn't give it up. She would say, 'So, are you gonna let me adopt him?' We both kept telling her we were definitely not going to let her adopt the baby. I think Sarah wanted to make Bristol look good, and she didn't want people to know that her 17-year-old daughter was going to have a kid," Johnston told the magazine for its October edition, which goes on sale Saturday. Excerpts of the interview were posted Wednesday on the magazine's Web site.

Meghan Stapleton, Palin's spokeswoman, did not immediately respond to request for comment, but has previously discounted Johnston's allegations. Palin has been keeping a low profile since she resigned on July 26 with more than a year left in her first term.

A week after Republican presidential candidate John McCain named Palin as his running mate, the campaign issued a statement that her unwed daughter was pregnant. It also said Bristol, now 18, and the young man would marry.

Johnston, 19, lived in the house for two months awaiting the birth of the baby, Tripp, who was born in December. The couple called off the wedding shortly after their son's birth.

___

Israeli archaeologists uncover section of Jerusalem's oldest and largest fortification

JERUSALEM (AP) — Archaeologists digging in Jerusalem have uncovered a 3,700-year-old wall that is the oldest example of massive fortifications ever found in the city, the Israel Antiquities Authority said Wednesday.

The 26-foot-high wall is believed to have been part of a protected passage built by ancient Canaanites from a hilltop fortress to a nearby spring that was the city's only water source and vulnerable to marauders.

The discovery marks the first time archaeologists have found such massive construction from before the time of Herod, the ruler behind numerous monumental projects in the city 2,000 years ago, and shows that Jerusalem of the Middle Bronze Age had a powerful population capable of complex building projects, said Ronny Reich, director of the excavation and an archaeology professor at the University of Haifa.

The wall dates to the 17th century B.C., when Jerusalem was a small, fortified enclave controlled by the Canaanites, one of the peoples the Bible says lived in the Holy Land before the Hebrew conquest. The kingdom thought to have been ruled from Jerusalem by the biblical King David is usually dated to at least seven centuries later.

A small section of the wall was first discovered in 1909, but diggers have now exposed a 79-foot portion, and Reich believes it stretches much further. Reich said budget constraints related to the global financial crisis put an end to the excavation, at least for now.

___

New York City official: Pills found in DJ AM's stomach, apparent OxyContin in throat

NEW YORK (AP) — DJ AM had prescription pills in his stomach and one in his throat when police found him dead in his apartment, a New York City official said Wednesday.

The official told The Associated Press that six pills were found in the celebrity disc jockey's stomach and that the pill in his throat appeared to be the powerful painkiller OxyContin.

The official didn't know how strong a dose each pill contained and wasn't sure what kind of pills were in DJ AM's stomach.

The official was familiar with the preliminary autopsy report released last week but was not authorized to talk publicly about it and spoke on condition of anonymity.

The 36-year-old, whose real name was Adam Goldstein, was found Friday evening in his apartment in New York City's trendy SoHo neighborhood after a friend called 911. Paramedics had to break down the door before they found him, shirtless and wearing sweat pants, in his bed around 5:20 p.m. There was no evidence of foul play.

___

Stocks fall to extend slide as investors worry that unemployment will short-circuit recovery

NEW YORK (AP) — The stock market extended its slide to a fourth day as investors worried that a weak job market will trip up a recovery in the economy.

Stocks posted modest losses Wednesday, a day after tumbling on fears about the health of banks and concerns that a six-month rally of 50 percent has left the stock market overheated. The Dow Jones industrial average lost another 30 points after skidding 186 points Tuesday.

A private sector report on unemployment gave investors new reason to fret about what is widely seen as the biggest problem facing the economy. The ADP National Employment Report found that employment fell by 298,000 in August following a revised loss of 360,000 jobs in July. The losses were the smallest since September 2008 but more than analysts had expected.

The report shapes expectations for the Labor Department's monthly reading on jobs, which is due Friday. Unemployment has hit consumer spending, which accounts for about 70 percent of U.S. economic activity. Without more help from consumers, the economy will have trouble pulling out of the longest recession since World War II.

"Until Friday's data comes, no one is really making any big bets," said Neil Massa, senior trader at MFC Global Investment Management. "A little profit-taking looks healthy at this point."

___

Venus Williams moves on with win, Safin bids adieu with loss at US Open

NEW YORK (AP) — Venus Williams moved on and Marat Safin said goodbye at the U.S. Open on Wednesday.

Her left knee heavily wrapped, the third-seeded Williams defeated Bethanie Mattek-Sands 6-4, 6-2, in a much easier match than she had two nights before when she fell behind a set before rallying against Vera Dushevina.

She hurt the knee in the opener, but if she was still in pain in the second round, her opponent couldn't tell.

"She was moving like a cat," Mattek-Sands said.

While Williams advances to the third round, Safin's Grand Slam career is over.

Planning to retire at season's end, the former world No. 1 fell 1-6, 6-4, 6-3, 6-4 to Austria's Jurgen Melzer. Safin's career will end with two Grand Slam titles, a smaller number than many experts thought possible when he broke through by beating Pete Sampras in the 2000 U.S. Open final.