National Headlines

WASHINGTON (AP) - The prospects for a government insurance plan as part of a health care overhaul appear to be fading. House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer tells reporters a public option is not essential to a reform bill. Meanwhile, a key Democratic moderate says after hearing from his constituents, he'll have to oppose any measure that includes it.

ARLINGTON, Va. (AP) - President Barack Obama is encouraging students to not give up on school, even if they don't like their classes or are faced with tough circumstances. In a pep talk that avoided politics, Obama told students at Wakefield High in Arlington, Va., that they should use their time in school to discover what they're good at.

KABUL (AP) - NATO forces in Afghanistan are acknowledging for the first time that Afghan civilians were killed in an airstrike last week. Dozens of people were killed when German commanders called in the U.S. strike on two hijacked tanker trucks. NATO says the commanders originally believed the tankers were surrounded only by Taliban insurgents.

KABUL (AP) - The U.S. military says four American troops were killed in what it calls a "complex attack" in eastern Afghanistan today. Meanwhile, four more U.S. troops died in Iraq. The military says the soldiers were killed by roadside bombs in two separate attacks, the first in Baghdad and the second in northern Iraq.

WASHINGTON (AP) - Justice Sonia Sotomayor (SOHN'-ya soh-toh-my-YOR') has taken her seat at the Supreme Court in front of a packed courtroom that included President Barack Obama and Vice President Joe Biden. The ceremony today was just for show. Sotomayor and the rest of the court will return tomorrow for arguments in a key case about campaign finance law.

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