WASHINGTON - President Barack Obama is rallying support for his plan to expand government assistance to homeowners, pressuring Congress to help lower lending rates for millions of strapped homeowners.

And as anyone who has followed the news in the last six months can tell you, getting Congress to do anything these days is not an easy job," Obama said.

Obama outlined the housing plan on Wednesday, asking Congress to approve legislation that would make it easier for more borrowers to refinance their loans.

LOS ANGELES - Lance Armstrong is used to winning, but his most recent victory was unlike any he had experienced before.

Federal prosecutors dropped their investigation of the seven-time Tour de France champion Friday, ending a nearly two-year effort to determine whether the world's most famous cyclist and his teammates joined in a doping program during his greatest years.

"I am gratified to learn that the U.S. Attorney's Office is closing its investigation," Armstrong said in a statement.