AP Top News at 6:25 p.m. EST

Bill Clinton has two stents placed in heart artery

NEW YORK (AP) _ Former President Bill Clinton had two stents inserted Thursday to prop open a clogged heart artery after being hospitalized with chest pains, an adviser said. Clinton, 63, "is in good spirits and will continue to focus on the work of his foundation and Haiti's relief and long-term recovery efforts," said adviser Douglas Band. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton left Washington and headed to New York to be with her husband, who underwent the procedure at New York Presbyterian Hospital.

US and Afghan troops ring Taliban stronghold

NEAR MARJAH, Afghanistan (AP) _ U.S. and Afghan forces ringed the Taliban stronghold of Marjah on Thursday, sealing off escape routes and setting the stage for what is being described as the biggest offensive of the nine-year war. Taliban defenders repeatedly fired rockets and mortars at units poised in foxholes along the edge of the town, apparently trying to lure NATO forces into skirmishes before the big attack.

Iran marks revolution with crackdown on protests

TEHRAN, Iran (AP) _ The Iranian security forces unleashed a crushing sweep against opposition protesters on Thursday as President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad used the 31st anniversary of the Islamic revolution to defy the West and boast his country was now a "nuclear state." The massive show of force appeared to give authorities the upper hand on the most important day of the Iranian political calendar. The state-backed rally dwarfed anti-government gatherings, which were far smaller than other outpourings of dissent in recent months.

WellPoint insurance hike becomes target for Obama

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) _ Health insurer WellPoint blames the Great Recession and rising medical costs for its planned 39 percent rate increase for some California customers. To President Barack Obama, however, it's Exhibit A in his campaign to revive the health care overhaul. Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius, who received the company's explanation in a letter Thursday, said "it remains difficult to understand" how premium increases of that size by can be justified when WellPoint Inc. reported a $2.7 billion profit in the last quarter of 2009.

Haitian judge poised to release US missionaries

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (AP) _ The 10 U.S. missionaries charged with kidnapping for trying to take a busload of children out of Haiti should be released from jail while an investigation continues, a Haitian judge said Thursday, giving the Americans their best news since their arrests nearly two weeks ago. Judge Bernard Saint-Vil has the final word on whether to free the missionaries, though he gave the prosecutor-general the opportunity to raise objections. He said he was accepting defense attorneys' request to provisionally free the Americans while an investigation of the case continues.

Texas gov. candidate questions any US role in 9/11

AUSTIN, Texas (AP) _ A Republican gubernatorial candidate said Thursday she has questions about whether the U.S. government was involved in the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks _ a statement she swiftly backed away from and one that drew immediate criticism from her better-known rivals in the race. Gov. Rick Perry and Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison dismissed the comments made by Debra Medina on the Glenn Beck Show that there were "some very good arguments" that the U.S. was involved in bringing down the World Trade Center on Sept. 11, 2001.

Army discharging single mom who refused deployment

SAVANNAH, Ga. (AP) _ A single-mom soldier who says she refused to deploy to Afghanistan because she had no family able to care for her young son will be discharged from the military instead of facing a court-martial, the Army said Thursday. Spc. Alexis Hutchinson, an Army cook stationed at Hunter Army Airfield in Savannah, was arrested in November after skipping her unit's deployment flight. Hutchinson, 21, said she couldn't leave her son because her mother had backed out of plans to keep the child a few days before the soldier's scheduled departure.

Feds pass on surest solution to Asian carp advance

TRAVERSE CITY, Mich. (AP) _ The surest way to keep rampaging Asian carp from gaining a foothold in the Great Lakes is to sever the link between Lake Michigan and the Mississippi River basin, created by engineers in Chicago more than a century ago. That would thrill environmentalists and those who make their living in the $7 billion Great Lakes fishing industry, which could be devastated by a carp invasion. Not so the barge operators who move millions of tons of commodities on the Chicago-area waterways each year.

British fashion designer McQueen found dead at 40

LONDON (AP) _ His runway shows were often like performance pieces: One featured models with headwear made of trash. Another showed off 10-inch heels shaped like lobster claws. At the pinnacle of his success, British fashion designer Alexander McQueen was found dead in his home Thursday, days after posting anguished online remarks about the death of his mother. He was 40.

Police: Iowa mom accused of pimping daughter

CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa (AP) _ A Cedar Rapids woman was accused of arranging her daughter's effort at prostitution. Mary J. Doolin was arrested Wednesday in connection with a Sept. 29 incident in Coralville. Police said Doolin sent her daughter to meet an undercover officer who had contacted her during a prostitution investigation. According to police, Doolin's daughter, 37-year-old Debra Voshell, was later charged with pandering. Police said Doolin admitted to running a prostitution ring for a number of years and has prior convictions for pimping and prostitution.