NATIONAL STORIES

TOKYO (AP) -- News reports out of Japan say Toyota plans to recall about 300,000 Prius hybrids worldwide over a brake problem. But a spokesman for Toyota says no decision on a Prius recall has been made.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) -- Space shuttle Endeavour is rocketing toward the space station on one of the shuttle program's last scheduled missions.

KANDAHAR, Afghanistan (AP) -- Hundreds of residents are fleeing a Taliban-controlled town in southern Afghanistan ahead of a planned NATO offensive there.

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Sarah Palin says it would be "absurd" for her not to consider running for president in 2012.

CLEVELAND (AP) -- Health officials in Cleveland are looking at placing stickers in restaurant windows that inform consumers about how well the establishments comply with food safety codes.
TOKYO (AP) -- There are no immediate reports of damage or casualties following a strong earthquake that shook several small islands off Japan's southern coast today.

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (AP) -- Bernice Chamblain keeps a machete under her frayed mattress to ward off sexual predators and one leg wrapped around a bag of rice to stop nighttime thieves from stealing her daughters' food.

WASHINGTON (AP) -- With 8.4 million jobs lost in the Great Recession, Democrats are anxious to pass a jobs bill before they take their winter break in a week.

LA CANADA FLINTRIDGE, Calif. (AP) -- Los Angeles County Fire officials say they didn't anticipate how bad a slow-moving storm would be.

DETROIT (AP) -- Dealers braced for long lines during the first weekend Toyota drivers can get the fix for faulty accelerators.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) -- NASA is on track for a pre-dawn launch of space shuttle Endeavour.

LOS ANGELES (AP) -- Michael Jackson's doctor wanted to seek his day in court Friday by surrendering before being charged in the singer's death, but prosecutors upstaged the plan by announcing that no case would be filed until next week.

WASHINGTON (AP) -- The outlook for jobs remains bleak despite January's unexpected decline in the unemployment rate.

TOKYO (AP) -- Toyota's president apologized for the automaker's global recalls and promised to beef up quality control by setting up a special committee he would head himself.

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Forecasters are warning that conditions could be "extremely dangerous" later today in the mid-Atlantic region. A storm that could bring 30 inches of snow to the nation's capital is bearing down on the region.

JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) -- E-mails obtained by The Associated Press suggest Todd Palin was intimately involved in decisions related to state government when his wife was governor of Alaska.
SEATTLE (NBC) -- The airlines are finally doing something about those long delays, but you might not like what some of them are doing.

TOKYO (AP) -- A leading newspaper says Toyota Motor Corp. will recall 270,000 Prius hybrid vehicles over brake problems in the United States and Japan.

WASHINGTON (AP) -- The number of newly laid-off workers filing initial claims for jobless benefits rose unexpectedly last week, evidence that layoffs are continuing and jobs remain scarce.

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (AP) -- Ten members of an Idaho-based missionary group are facing charges that could bring lengthy prison sentences. They were charged today in Haiti with child kidnapping.

WASHINGTON (AP) -- It's a day many American panda lovers have been dreading.

STUART, Fla. (AP) -- Sharks have killed a kite surfer off an Atlantic beach in a rare fatal attack in Florida waters.

McLEAN, Va. (AP) -- Freddie Mac said rates on 30-year fixed mortgages rose slightly this week, inching above 5 percent.

NEW YORK (AP) -- Former President Bill Clinton is making his second trip to earthquake-ravaged Haiti.

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood now says he misspoke when telling owners of recalled Toyotas to stop driving them.

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Democrats may have lost their super-majority in the Senate, but President Barack Obama is telling them, "We still have to lead."

WASHINGTON (AP) -- A federal law enforcement official says the Christmas Day terrorism suspect accused of trying to use a bomb hidden in his underwear has been cooperating with investigators since last week.

LONDON (AP) -- A newly published report says the overall amount of money spent worldwide on soldiers, weapons and war has been largely unaffected by the recession.

GENEVA (AP) -- The Swiss government has given final approval for two Chinese Guantanamo inmates to be resettled in northwestern Switzerland.

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood says Toyota was slow to realize safety problems with its gas pedals that has led to the recall of millions of popular Toyota brands.