World/Nation
• Bergdahl's hometown cancels celebration amid uproar
HAILEY, Idaho - Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl's hometown abruptly canceled plans Wednesday for a welcome-home celebration, citing security concerns over the prospect of big crowds - both for and against the soldier.
The town of 8,000 has been swamped with hate mail and angry calls over Bergdahl, whose release after five years of Taliban captivity in Afghanistan has touched off a debate over whether the 28-year-old should be given a hero's welcome or punished as a deserter.
Meanwhile, the Taliban released a 17-minute video of his handover showing a thin, tense-looking Bergdahl being patted down for explosives by U.S. forces before climbing aboard an American helicopter in the dusty Afghanistan desert.
Just before he was turned over, one of his Taliban captors leaned in and warned him: "Don't come back to Afghanistan. You won't make it out alive next time." His captors waved goodbye as he was led away.
In Hailey, organizers of a celebration that had been scheduled for June 28 issued a statement saying the town doesn't have the means to handle such an event, given the prospect of big crowds on both sides of the debate.
• Senate vote on veterans' outside health care likely delayed
WASHINGTON - Hopes faded late Wednesday that key senators could quickly craft a compromise bill that would help veterans facing long appointment waits at veterans hospitals and make it easier to fire administrators who covered up the delays.
Senators had hoped to vote as soon as today on a measure to address an uproar over veterans' health care following allegations that veterans have died while waiting to see a Veterans Affairs doctor. Senators wanted to pass the bill before Friday's 70th anniversary of the Allied invasion of Europe in World War II. Up to a dozen senators were expected to attend the D-Day ceremonies in France.
Leading the negotiations were Sen. John McCain of Arizona, the Republican presidential candidate in 2008, and independent Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont, chairman of the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee and the only self-described socialist in Congress. They met face to face twice Wednesday for a total of nearly two hours.
Sanders had said Wednesday afternoon he was "cautiously optimistic" that a vote could be held today.
But a spokesman for Sanders said a few hours later that talks would continue today, making a vote that day unlikely. Senators fly to France this evening.
• 'Inconsistencies' could jeopardize health coverage for some
WASHINGTON - A huge new paperwork headache for the government could also be jeopardizing coverage for some of the millions of people who just got health insurance under President Barack Obama's law.
A government document provided to The Associated Press indicates that at least 2 million people enrolled for taxpayer-subsidized private health insurance have data discrepancies in their applications that, if unresolved, could affect what they pay for coverage, or even their legal right to benefits.
The final number affected could well be higher. According to the administration the 2 million figure reflects only consumers who signed up through the federally administered HealthCare.gov website and call centers. The government signed up about 5.4 million people, while state-run websites signed up another 2.6 million.
For consumers, a discrepancy means that the information they supplied, subject to perjury laws, does not match what the government has on record.
For example, someone who underestimated his income, and got too generous a subsidy as a result, could owe the Internal Revenue Service money next year.
• Videos show young couple appealing to U.S. for help
WASHINGTON - The family of a pregnant American woman who went missing in Afghanistan in late 2012 with her Canadian husband received two videos last year in which the couple asked the U.S. government to help free them and their child from Taliban captors.
The videos offer the first and only clues about what happened to Caitlan Coleman and Joshua Boyle after they lost touch with their families 20 months ago while traveling in a mountainous region near the capital, Kabul. U.S. law enforcement officials investigating the couple's disappearance consider the videos authentic but say they hold limited investigative value since it's not clear when or where they were made.
The video files, which were provided to the AP, were emailed to Coleman's father last July and September by an Afghan man who identified himself as having ties to the Taliban but who has been out of contact for several months.
In one, a subdued Coleman - dressed in a conservative black garment that covers all but her face- appeals to "my president, Barack Obama" for help.
"I would ask that my family and my government do everything that they can to bring my husband, child and I to safety and freedom," the 28-year-old says in the other recording, talking into a wobbly camera while seated beside her husband, whose beard is long and untrimmed.
• No injuries as military jet crashes into row of houses
IMPERIAL, Calif. - A Marine jet crashed into a residential area in a Southern California desert community Wednesday, hitting at least one house and setting at least two on fire, but no one was injured, authorities said.
Despite the explosive crash into a row of tightly spaced houses, 1st Lt. Jose Negrete said no people on the ground were hurt. The pilot had ejected safely and was taken to a hospital only for evaluation, Negrete said.
The Harrier AV-8B went down at 4:20 p.m. PDT in Imperial, a city of about 15,000 near the U.S.-Mexico border about 90 miles east of San Diego.
The house that suffered the brunt of the damage had a missing roof but still had walls and windows intact.
- The Associated Press