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Look out East Coast, here it comes!

CHICAGO, Dec. 9 (UPI) -- The first major winter storm of the season to batter large portions of the United States charged toward the East Coast early Wednesday.

The massive storm, which was blamed for at least four deaths, left 4-5 feet of snow in the Sierra and Rockies, then whipped across the Central Plains and Midwest where up to 14 inches of snow was buffeted by 40 mph winds, meteorologists at AccuWeather.com said.

No place registered more snow than South Fork, Colo., where 59 inches fell. Below the mountains, Clay Center, Neb. reported 14 inches, Rockport, Mo. had 12.5 and about a foot was reported in Mankato and Phillipsburg, Kans., and Des Moines, Iowa. Six to 10 inches were reported across parts of Illinois, Iowa, Minnesota, Missouri and Wisconsin. Even Eckhart Mines, Md., had 5.4 inches. Accumulations were expected to reach 12-18 inches from northeastern Iowa to northern Lower Michigan by Wednesday evening

The blizzard made for dangerous travel and people across the country's mid-section were advised against venturing out. Numerous accidents were reporting from Kansas to Iowa, including along Interstates 35 and 80, AccuWeather said.

Visibility was a half mile or less in Madison, Wis., and Omaha.

The storm was forecast to press to the northeast through the night and air travel was expected to be seriously impacted across the Midwest and Northeast Wednesday.

Snow, ice and rain was already hitting the mid-Atlantic and was forecast to spread into the Northeast through Wednesday. Washington, Philadelphia and New York City were expected to get mostly rain, but sleet and snow were reported close by and motorists were expected to encounter treacherous road conditions. Slow going was predicted for Interstates 80, 81, 87, 88, 90, 91 and 95 in the Northeast.

Snow was to begin in Boston before daybreak Wednesday, leaving 1-3 inches in the city before changing to rain by midday. Three to 6 inches was expected in Boston's northern and western suburbs.

Enough snow to shovel and plow was forecast from the northern tier of Pennsylvania to northern New England.

AccuWeather forecast a "tremendous lake-effect snow event" on the heels of this storm for the second half of the week that it said "will bury some snow belt communities under feet of snow."

Aides work behind scenes at climate summit

COPENHAGEN, Denmark, Dec. 9 (UPI) -- A weekend deadline looms for ministerial aides to develop draft climate change language during the climate change summit in Copenhagen, Denmark.

Aides to delegates compared proposed agreement language during the first two days of the U.N.-sponsored summit in Copenhagen, Denmark, ahead of the arrival of about 100 ministers to close out negotiations Dec. 18, The New York Times reported Wednesday.

Two drafts grabbed attention Tuesday, the second day of the summit, including one that observers said seemed to be accommodating interests of industrialized nations and another that seemed more favorable to developing countries, the Times said.

Delegates face four years-long sticking points as they try to develop a climate change document that would succeed the Kyoto Protocol on greenhouse gas emissions:

-- How much and how quickly should wealthy countries cut emissions or pledge to limit the rise in the Earth's temperature.

-- How much emerging economic powers such as China and India should slow the growth of their emissions and how they should prove they moved away from "business as usual."

-- How much rich countries should compensate poor ones to limit exposure to climate extremes expected to worsen in many regions near the equator as greenhouse gases build in the atmosphere and seas rise.

-- How money earmarked for poorer countries could be guaranteed.

Also on Tuesday, the World Meteorological Organization reported that 2000-2009 seemed to be the warmest decade in modern times, the Times said. Data indicated 2009 was the fifth warmest year on record, presenters said, cautioning that information for 2009 was incomplete.

Reid says healthcare debate nearing finish

WASHINGTON, Dec. 9 (UPI) -- The U.S. Senate may be seeing light at the end of a long tunnel of debate on healthcare reform as lawmakers prepare to take up a series of amendments Wednesday.

A bipartisan effort that would allow less expensive prescription drugs to be imported from Canada and other countries was scheduled for a vote Wednesday, as was a package of cost-control provisions, The Washington Post reported.

On Tuesday, a panel of 10 liberal and moderate Democrats struck agreement on a compromise to the public health insurance option, a flashpoint in the debate. Under the agreement, a program would create national insurance policies administered by private companies but negotiated by the Office of Personnel Management. If private firms couldn't deliver acceptable national policies, a government plan would be created.

In addition, people as young as 55 would be allowed to buy into Medicare. Also, private insurance companies would face tough new regulations, including being required to spend at least 90 cents of every dollar collected in premiums on medical services for policy-holders.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada expressed optimism an end was drawing near.

"Every day that we work on these amendments and do the negotiations we're doing, the closer we get to the finish line," he told reporters Tuesday.

With exactly 60 votes in the Senate, counting independents Joseph Lieberman of Connecticut and Bernard Sanders of Vermont, the Democrats need everyone on board to bring a healthcare plan to a vote, avoiding a Republican filibuster.

Other, lesser-known amendments would provide for work breaks for breastfeeding moms and would require some chain restaurants to disclose the nutritional content of the food they serve, USA Today reported. Another provision would direct that nurse-midwives be paid the same as doctors for their services under Medicare; they now receive about 35 percent less. Nurse-midwives offer maternity care for disabled women who qualify for Medicare, as well as provide primary care services, the American College of Nurse-Midwives said.

General: Bin Laden key to al-Qaida demise

WASHINGTON, Dec. 9 (UPI) -- Al-Qaida won't be vanquished until after Osama bin Laden is captured or killed U.S. Army Gen. Stanley McChrystal told lawmakers in Washington Tuesday.

The general, who is the top military commander in Afghanistan, told the Senate Armed Services Committee bin Laden has become an "iconic figure" whose survival "emboldens" the insurgency, The Hill reported.

McChrystal told the Senate panel finding bin Laden and pushing back the Taliban are important facets to winning the Afghan war, CNN reported.

"It would not defeat al-Qaida to have him captured or killed, but I don't think we can finally defeat al-Qaida until he is finally captured or killed," the general said.

Despite a multimillion-dollar reward for his capture and the efforts of the United States and its allies, bin Laden, the engineer of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, is still at large eight years later. It is widely believed he is hiding in the mountain along the Afghanistan-Pakistan border, though are some who think he may actually be dead.

North Korea blames U.S. on nuclear issue

PYONGYANG, North Korea, Dec. 9 (UPI) -- North Korea said Wednesday its nuclear issue has nothing to do with South Korea as it resulted from the hostile policy of the United States.

The issue is a "totally bilateral" one between North Korea and the United States which "would be solved spontaneously" after the United States drops its anti-North Korea policy, eradicates the military threat against Pyongyang and stops its nuclear war provocation, according to the Communist country's official newspaper Rodong Sinmun, China's official Xinhua news agency reported.

The statement is timed to the arrival in Pyongyang Tuesday of U.S. special envoy Stephen Bosworth to convince his hosts to return to the six-nation talks on the North's nuclear disarmament. The talks among the United States, China, Russia, the two Koreans and Japan remain stalled after Pyongyang pulled out following U.N. condemnation of the North's nuclear and missile tests earlier this year and the tightening of sanctions.

Rodong Sinmun attacked South Korea for saying a solution to the nuclear issue is a prerequisite for improvement in inter-Korean relations. It warned South Korea would "pay for its policy."

Bosworth's visit marks the first bilateral meeting between North Korea and the United States since President Barack Obama took office.

North Korea, which shut down its Yongbyon nuclear facilities in 2007, began reprocessing plutonium at the reactor there after quitting the six-nation talks. Officially, the United States has said Bosworth's trip is only designed to bring the North back to the six-party format.