WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Health Secretary Kathleen Sebelius ratcheted up the pressure on health insurance companies on Wednesday, urging them to forgo short-term profits to make coverage more affordable and to stop fighting the Obama administration's reform effort.

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Mexican tycoon Carlos Slim is the world's richest person, knocking Microsoft founder Bill Gates into second spot, as the wealth of the world's billionaires grew by 50 percent over the last year, Forbes magazine said on Wednesday.

CAIRO (Reuters) - Arab League chief Amr Moussa said on Wednesday that Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas had told him he would not enter indirect talks with Israel, only days after the Palestinian side had agreed to the contacts.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Democrats in the House of Representatives moved on Wednesday to limit the ability of lawmakers to tuck pet projects into spending bills amid mounting election-year ethics concerns.

NEW YORK (Reuters) - With Governor David Paterson enveloped in scandal, New York's lieutenant governor is leading the notoriously difficult budget process and freeing up his boss to fight for his political life, experts say.

DETROIT (Reuters) - Federal regulators said they were looking into a report of another runaway Toyota Prius, this one in Westchester County, New York, where police said a woman pulling out of a driveway zoomed across a busy street and into a stone wall.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The leader of the House of Representatives -- a persuasive arm twister and deal maker -- faces her toughest challenge yet: getting 216 votes to pass final legislation revamping the U.S. healthcare system.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Three American detained in Iran last year and accused of spying have been allowed to telephone their families, although formal consular access has not been granted, the U.S. State Department said on Wednesday.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A Pennsylvania woman has been charged with plotting to kill a Swedish man and trying to recruit fighters via the Internet to commit violent attacks overseas, the U.S. Justice Department said on Tuesday.

JOS, Nigeria (Reuters) - Sporadic shooting rang out overnight in the central Nigerian city of Jos and witnesses said at least one person was killed by soldiers enforcing a curfew days after attacks on three nearby Christian villages.