NATIONAL NEWS

• Fort Hood shooting suspect to remain hospitalized 11/21/2009, 6:58 p.m. EST
(AP) — SAN ANTONIO - A military magistrate has ruled that the Army psychiatrist charged in one of the worst mass shootings on a U.S. military base will be held until trial.

• Calif. fisherman arrested in sea lion shooting 11/21/2009, 5:48 p.m. EST
(AP) — SACRAMENTO, Calif. - Authorities arrested a Sacramento fisherman Saturday in connection to shooting a sea lion in the head.

• More Americans expected to travel for Thanksgiving 11/21/2009, 1:09 p.m. EST
(AP) — WASHINGTON - The number of Americans traveling away from home for Thanksgiving will be up only slightly this year from 2008, according to a report from the AAA auto club.

• Atheist student groups flower on college campuses 11/21/2009, 12:18 p.m. EST
(AP) — AMES, Iowa - The sign sits propped on a wooden chair, inviting all comers: "Ask an Atheist."

• AP News in Brief 11/21/2009, 6:42 a.m. EST
(AP) — Democrats seal 60-vote majority to advance health care bill; Landrieu, Lincoln to vote 'yes'

• Quotations of the day 11/21/2009, 6:11 a.m. EST
(AP) — "There are some who are reluctant to call it terrorism but there is significant evidence that it is. I'm not at all uneasy saying it sure looks like that."-Sen. Carl Levin, D-Mich., who considers Fort Hood shooting suspect Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan's rampage that killed 13 an act of terrorism.

• Resort island reels after deadly attack by gunman 11/21/2009, 4:17 a.m. EST
(AP) — dSAIPAN, Northern Mariana Islands - The gunman who carried out Saipan's most violent attack in recent memory ended his life on the same rocky cliffs where numerous Japanese leapt to their deaths to avoid capture by U.S. troops during World War II.

• Levi Johnston's mother gets 3 years in drug case 11/20/2009, 9:37 p.m. EST
(AP) — ANCHORAGE, Alaska - The mother of the man former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin's daughter Bristol had planned to marry has been sentenced to three years in prison.

• Authorities: Man tied lizards to chest at airport 11/20/2009, 9:33 p.m. EST
(AP) — LOS ANGELES - Federal officials say they arrested a man who strapped 15 live lizards to his chest to get through customs at Los Angeles International Airport.

• US military deaths in Afghanistan region at 842 11/20/2009, 9:05 p.m. EST
(AP) — As of Friday, Nov. 18, 2009, at least 842 members of the U.S. military had died in Afghanistan, Pakistan and Uzbekistan as a result of the U.S. invasion of Afghanistan in late 2001, according to the Defense Department. The department last updated its figures Friday at 10 a.m. EST.

• US military deaths in Iraq war at 4,364 11/20/2009, 8:59 p.m. EST
(AP) — As of Friday, Nov. 20, 2009, at least 4,364 members of the U.S. military had died in the Iraq war since it began in March 2003, according to an Associated Press count.

• Army relents, will allow media at Palin book event 11/20/2009, 8:17 p.m. EST
(AP) — RALEIGH, North Carolina - The U.S. Army said Friday it would open former Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin's appearance on Fort Bragg to media, a reversal from earlier in the week when the military wanted the event closed out of fears it would prompt political grandstanding against President Barack Obama.

• Police: 3rd arrest made in Vegas officer's death 11/20/2009, 8:13 p.m. EST
(AP) — NORTH LAS VEGAS, Nev. - Police say they have arrested a third person in the shooting death of an off-duty Las Vegas police officer in his garage.

• Robbery motive in deaths of 5 in rural Arkansas 11/20/2009, 7:35 p.m. EST
(AP) — HOT SPRINGS, Ark. - Thieves shot to death five Arkansas family members and burned their bodies for the meager bounty of a set of wheel rims and some flat-screen televisions, police said court documents Friday.

• Plea deal reached in store scuffle case 11/20/2009, 5:35 p.m. EST
(AP) — KENNETT, Mo. - A black school teacher charged with assaulting white police officers, resisting arrest and disturbing the peace has agreed a plea deal with prosecutors convicting her of two misdemeanor counts.

• Warrant: Drug in Jackson case came from Vegas firm 11/20/2009, 1:27 p.m. EST
(AP) — LAS VEGAS - A powerful anesthetic recovered from Michael Jackson's bedside after he died had been purchased in Nevada by his doctor who had it shipped to California, court documents show.

• Warrant: Drug in Jackson case came from Vegas firm 11/20/2009, 1:21 p.m. EST
(AP) — LAS VEGAS - A powerful anesthetic recovered from Michael Jackson's bedside after he died had been purchased in Nevada by his doctor who had it shipped to California, court documents show.

• CDC: Swine flu cases seem to be dropping in US 11/20/2009, 1:11 p.m. EST
(AP) — ATLANTA - Health officials say swine flu cases appear to declining throughout most of the U.S., but the specter of Thanksgiving gatherings makes it hard to predict what will happen next.

• Calif. launches probe into scam targeting churches 11/20/2009, 1:00 p.m. EST
(AP) — LOS ANGELES - California is investigating several companies suspected of bilking churches nationwide of hundreds of thousands of dollars through fraudulent computer leasing schemes, authorities said Friday.

• Astronauts gear up for 2nd spacewalk of mission 11/20/2009, 11:56 a.m. EST
(AP) — CAPE CANAVERAL, Florida - An astronaut is gearing up for the first spacewalk of his career while awaiting the imminent birth of his daughter.

• Palin's book tour to include stop at Fort Hood 11/20/2009, 9:54 a.m. EST
(AP) — FORT HOOD, Texas - Sarah Palin's tour to promote her new memoir will include a stop at Fort Hood to benefit the victims of the shooting rampage and their families.

• Senator: USPS to resume North Pole Santa letters 11/20/2009, 4:36 a.m. EST
(AP) — ANCHORAGE, Alaska - North Pole elves have good reason to celebrate again, thanks to a decision by the U.S. Postal Service to resume a Santa Claus letter program that's thrilled children from around the world for decades.

• Heidi Klum wows crowd at Victoria's Secret show 11/19/2009, 10:15 p.m. EST
(AP) — NEW YORK - Heidi Klum and her post-baby body led the parade at the annual Victoria's Secret fashion show, which returned to New York with some fresh faces after four years on the road.

• Competency hearing opens for accused Maui spy 11/19/2009, 9:52 p.m. EST
(AP) — HONOLULU - Expert witnesses for the prosecution and the defense have testified a former B-2 stealth bomber engineer accused of spying for China suffers from narcissistic personality disorder.

• NC man charged with murder in missing girl case 11/19/2009, 8:27 p.m. EST
(AP) — FAYETTEVILLE, N.C. - Police in North Carolina say a man already accused of kidnapping a 5-year-old girl also raped and asphyxiated her.