After months of infighting, compromising, and Sunday-show grandstanding among his caucus colleagues, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid cheerily told reporters Saturaday he's confident he'll have the 60 votes he needs to pass health-care reform legislation. Sen. Ben Nelson (D-NE), once skeptical of the bill, has signed on after winning a nice chunk of pork for his state and after the Congressional Budget Office released its cost estimate of the effort. (Nelson managed to get the federal government to pay the entire cost of expanding Medicaid in Nebraska.) The Senate version of the bill will reduce the deficit by $132 billion over the next decade and cost $871 billion. President Obama hailed the bill as "the largest deficit-reduction plan in a decade."

Sen. Ben Nelson (D-NE) said he would support health-care reform legislation Saturday after months of negotiating and compromises, which resulted in some pretty sizable concessions for his home state. Yet his job could still be at risk. Although Nelson may have succeeded in inserting abortion-restricting measures into the health-care bill (and thereby infuriating some more liberal members of his party), he did not win a total ban on any government money going to insurance plans that cover abortion. Nelson's long record of strongly opposing abortion won him support among many independent and Republican voters; if he softens his pro-life position, those folks could be up for grabs. (In one voter's words, "He'd be toast.") Nebraska Right to Life, which gave Nelson its lone endorsement in 2006, said the senator had betrayed abortion opponents. And the head of the Nebraska GOP predicted that supporting health-care legislation would kill Nelson's career.

Just as the health-care debate was making everyone think the world's greatest deliberative body couldn't agree on anything, the Senate passed a $636 billion military spending bill by a vote of 88-10 this morning, funding the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and extending jobless aid and Medicare payment rates for two months. The portion of the bill marked for ongoing wars—$128 billion—will probably not be enough to cover President Obama's announced 30,000-troop surge in Afghanistan, but the president's push to eliminate unwanted, unnecessary, or inefficient weapons programs received some support, as funding for the F-22 fighter jet program was scrapped. A number of other nonmilitary programs were extended as part of the bill, including unemployment payments and the Patriot Act.

The East Coast was hit by a huge winter storm that could dump almost two feet of snow and bring 40 mph winds on the last weekend before Christmas. Washington, D.C., where a snow emergency was declared, could reach up to 22 inches of snow overnight, and Reagan National Airport was closed. Roads there were extremely dangerous and the National Weather Service warned simply, "do not travel." The National Guard had to be called in to rescue several hundred motorists in Virginia, and more than 500 people sought refuge in emergency shelters there. Most flights from Baltimore were canceled. Hundreds of flights were grounded in New York City. The storm is expected to reach all the way to Massachusetts by Sunday.

Three Iranian prison officials were charged with premeditated murder in the deaths of three protesters Saturday. The Iranian military court announced indictments for a dozen officials from Tehran's Kahrizak Prison. Kahrizak officials initially said Mohsen Rouhol-Amini, Amir Javadifar, and Mohammad Kamrani, who had been protesting Iran's disputed June elections, died of meningitis, but a coroner found they had been beaten to death. The prison's sub-par conditions played a role in the men's deaths, the court found. About 4,000 people were arrested during the mass demonstrations earlier this year. Reports of prisoner mistreatment led Ayatollah Ali Khamenei to shut down Kahrizak two weeks before the men's deaths were reported.

On Saturday, Iraqi troops massed near the oil well Iran had seized earlier this week. The Iraqi soldiers and border guards awaited orders at a staging ground a kilometer from al-Fakkah oil field, just inside the Iraqi border, where Iran went so far during the takeover as to plant an Iranian flag Thursday. The quick response from Baghdad to the violation of its sovereignty shows the country is "not going to be pushed around" by its neighbor, an American diplomat said. Reports conflict over who currently controls the well: U.S. Army Gen. Ray Odierno said the Iranians had withdrawn Saturday morning, but an oil worker said the foreign flag still flew above it, and five Iranians were inside. Iranian officials accused the foreign press of spreading lies to "disrupt good relations" between the countries.

A leaked chain of "frantic" emails shows that an aide to Rep. Bart Stupak (D-MI) worked with the GOP and pro-life groups to sink a Senate compromise on abortion in the pending health-care bill, Politico reports. Emails show Stupak has been working behind the scenes to oppose the compromise measure, despite refraining from speaking publicly about it. They also show a "previously unseen degree of coordination" between the representative and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell's office. Stupak heads up a group of antiabortion Democrats who promise to kill the health-care legislation if any government money goes to pay for terminating pregnancies. The compromise allows states to prohibit abortion coverage in a new health-insurance exchange system, but does not totally ban insurance programs that cover the procedure.

No emissions reductions targets were met by the end of the United Nations summit on climate change, but five countries—the U.S., China, India, Brazil, and South Africa—have agreed to list the actions they will take to reduce greenhouse-gas emissions by specific amounts and have agreed to a cap on worldwide temperature increases at no more than 2 degrees. But world leaders dropped their goal of creating a legally-binding treaty before the end of 2010, so enforcement of their agreement is unlikely. The major positive outcome for developing nations is the $30 billion of climate aid richer nations have promised to provide over the next three years, and $100 billion a year from 2020. Countries have until February 1 to announce emissions targets, though it's unlikely any of them will. “We need to strive for a more binding agreement over time,” Obama said at a press conference after the deal was forged.  “The most important thing I think we can do…is to build some trust between the developed and developing countries.”

After her three siblings received their online acceptance into Yale this week, Martina Crouch of Danbury, Connecticut, knew the pressure was on. “I was thinking, it’s going to be really awkward when I don’t get in,” Martina told The New York Times. Instead she received a computer message featuring Yale's bulldog mascot, welcoming her to the class of 2014. Her early-admission acceptance makes the Crouches likely the first set of quadruplets to ever be accepted at the Ivy League university. But whether or not they make history by attending is an open question given the economic realities of the day and financial aid will likely be a major factor. “We have to be practical,” Kenny Crouch, one of the four siblings, told the Times. At least one sibling has applied to Harvard and all four have also applied to the University of Connecticut, so the group could either split up among the Ivy universities or take the whole family elsewhere.

Who better to produce a biopic of British royalty than a member of the royal family? Sarah Ferguson, the Duchess of York and former wife of Prince Andrew, has reinvented herself, yet again. She has taken on a role as a movie producer with the new film Young Victoria. Ferguson, dubbed "Fergie" by U.K. tabloids, was a figure of controversy and derision due to her curvy figure and her much-publicized divorce from Prince Charles' younger brother. But the hardworking redhead has since become a figure of respect, with a successful children's book series and now a movie under her belt. "I believe I am what I am and who I am, and why is that not good enough?" she says.

Afghan President Hamid Karzai has infuriated international observers by failing to crack down on corruption and for sanctioning an allegedly rigged election. But United Nations officials are cautiously optimistic about his newly announced cabinet, which jettisons two of his most controversial members. ''Early indications are encouraging for some of the key ministries,'' Aleem Siddique, a U.N. spokesman, told the Associated Press, without naming specific choices. ''The U.N. has made clear that we need to see more reform-oriented ministries and of the names we've seen, we're seeing a step in the right direction." One of the removed cabinet members is Muhammad Ibrahim Adel, current minister of mines, whom U.S. officials have alleged took $20 million in bribes to steer a $3 million contract to a Chinese company.

Federal prosecutors charged three West Africans on Friday for plotting to transport tons of cocaine across Africa in connection with al Qaeda. This is the first time federal officials exercised a 2006 law created to stop drug trafficking aiding terrorism, specifically in connection to al Qaeda, since the terrorist group tends to finance operations in Africa, among other locations. A majority of the case was based off the work of two informants hired by the federal Drug Enforcement Administration, who posed as part of the Colombian rebel group FARC, looking to set up a network of cocaine smuggling across the continent. The agents recorded and videotaped the three men (Oumar Issa, Harouna Touré and Idriss Abelrahman) for four months, but federal law-enforcement officials said none of the evidence backed up their statements of being linked to al Qaeda.

Now that a health care bill has all but passed in the Senate, what would the spiritual godfather of the legislation have to say about accepting a bill without a public option or Medicare buy-in? According to his widow, Ted Kennedy would be behind passing even an imperfect bill. In an op-ed in The Washington Post, Victoria Kennedy writes that her husband had warned of difficult last-minute deals with moderate politicians like Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-CT). "He predicted that as the Senate got closer to a vote, compromises would be necessary, coalitions would falter and many ardent supporters of reform would want to walk away," she writes. "He hoped that they wouldn't do so. He knew from experience, he told me, that this kind of opportunity to enact health-care reform wouldn't arise again for a generation." According to Kennedy, it "would achieve many of the goals Ted fought for" by expanding insurance coverage to 30 million more Americans, regulating insurance companies, and making health care "a right and not a privilege."

As the tally of Tiger Woods' alleged mistresses grows higher, the tally of sponsors committed to him is dropping. Venerable Swiss watchmaker Tag Heuer, which had been paying the superstar golfer some $2 million a year for his endorsement, has decided to scale back its use of Woods in its advertising campaigns, saying, "The partnership with Tiger Woods will continue but we will downscale the use of his image in certain markets for a period of time." Last week, consulting firm Accenture and toiletries company Gillette dumped the golfer from their sponsorship campaigns in the wake of revelations of infidelity and rumors that Woods' wife Elin Nordegren would be seeking a divorce.

Gisele Bundchen revealed the name of her son on her Web site on Friday, bringing an end to a 10-day period where no one knew what to call the child. The baby, whose father is Gisele's husband, New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady, is named Benjamin, according to a post on the Brazilian supermodel's site in which she thanks fans and writes "Benjamin is a blessing and I could not be happier." Benjamin was born on December 8 at Boston's Brigham and Women's Hospital.

Looking for a job? Try the Census office. The 2010 Census will create about 1.2 million temporary but well-paid jobs, putting about $2.3 billion into the economy and providing a small, but possibly vital, stimulus. "It's a form of stimulus," said Mark Zandi of Moody's Economy.com. "It's like infrastructure spending, or W.P.A. in the Depression." Some 13,000 people were taken on by the Census this month amid "overwhelming" demand, but hiring will kick into high gear in April and May when 800,000 people will be put on the payroll. There are a number of different positions, but the average job will net a Census worker $10 to $25 an hour working 20 hours a week for six weeks.

Weather reports predict more than a foot of snow from Virginia to the New York area, threatening travelers and retailers in what is normally a big shopping day. The storm first hit Alabama, Georgia, and Florida with heavy rainfall, but the big weather is supposed to hit the East Coast Saturday afternoon, with more than a foot of snow forecast for New York City. "A snowstorm like this is not good news," said weather researcher Scott Burnhardt. "This is 'Super Saturday,' we're talking about well over $1 billion traded on this day." Delta Airlines has also canceled all Saturday flights from Philadelphia, Richmond, Va., and Washington, and a government forecaster predicted the I-95 will "be a mess." The governor of Virginia has already declared a state of emergency.

After months of scary headlines and millions of flu shots, could swine flu finally be on the downswing? According to a new study of some 170,000 flu tests by researchers at Quest Diagnostics, the illness peaked in April and reached a second peak in October before beginning to decline. "Between this peak week and December 9, testing rates fell by 75 percent. In the most recent week reported, December 9, testing rates were equivalent to volumes experienced in late August, when the second wave began," the company said. The largest declines were among patients in Pennsylvania, Maryland, Delaware, the District of Columbia, and Virginia and West Virginia, a region that saw an 87 percent decline in testing rates in the same period. Researchers attribute the drop to a combination of vaccinations and patients gaining resistance through prior infection.