BEIJING (Reuters) - The United States should not make a political issue out of the yuan, a Chinese central banker said on Friday, as the two countries lurched toward a potential bust-up over Beijing's currency regime.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The wife and daughter of Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid were seriously injured on Thursday when their vehicle was rear-ended by a truck on a highway, the senator's office said.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Congressional Democrats drew closer on Thursday to agreement on a broad healthcare overhaul that could clear the way for a final vote in the next few weeks, but vowed not to be bound by White House deadlines.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The top U.S. securities regulator said market watchdogs need to supervise credit default swaps, securities blamed for exacerbating 2008's market meltdown and more recently the Greek debt crisis.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama on Thursday faced pressure to help create jobs in African-American communities and deliver an immigration overhaul even as he tried to push healthcare reform across the finish line.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Chances of a broad overhaul of U.S. financial regulation dimmed on Thursday after bipartisan Senate talks collapsed, jeopardizing a top Obama administration priority and boosting bank share prices.

NEW YORK (Reuters) - New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo on Thursday said he "removed himself" from two ethics probes of state Governor David Paterson.

(Reuters) - Senate Banking Chairman Christopher Dodd will introduce his financial reform bill on Monday. For weeks Dodd had been negotiating a bipartisan bill with first-term Republican Bob Corker. But on Thursday, Dodd announced that time was running out and he had to move forward without Republican support.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama on Thursday named 10 charities to share his $1.4 million Nobel Peace Prize, with causes ranging from wounded veterans to Haiti's earthquake survivors and education for minorities.

ABU DHABI (Reuters) - Defense Secretary Robert Gates said Thursday that leading Gulf states appeared ready to use their clout to lobby China to support sanctions against Iran over its disputed nuclear program.