WASHINGTON, Dec. 5 -- Congressional Democrats said Friday they have agreed on a plan for short-term loans that one lawmaker said would carry U. S. automakers "well into" next year.

Congressional leaders said they expected to hold votes on the legislation during a special session next week, The New York Times reported.

Rep. Barney Frank, D-Mass. -- chairman of the House Financial Services Committee -- told NBC News Friday night the plan involves using funds from a $25 billion loan that has already authorized for technology upgrades, to allow automakers to meet cash flow needs in the short term.

"What we believe is that $25 billion will get us well into the next year," he said.

WASHINGTON, Dec. 5 -- Kobe Bryant's 23 points Friday led the Los Angeles Lakers' 106-104 win over the Washington Wizards.

Bryant -- who was just 5-of-17 from the field -- secured the victory with a free throw with just under 15 seconds left to play. Washington's Caron Butler missed a potential game-winning three-pointer as time expired.

The Wizards came back from a 20-point deficit, putting together a spirited 22-4 run in the fourth period.

Los Angeles  - Talk show queen Oprah Winfrey was named the most powerful woman in Hollywood Friday as the Hollywood Reporter unveiled its annual list of the most powerful females in the US movie capital.

Winfrey was chosen "based on her dizzying array of Oprah-branded media and her immense cultural influence," the trade publication's editor-in-chief Elizabeth Guider said in a statement Friday.

Washington, Dec 5 : Gwyneth Paltrow has revealed that she no longer wis

Washington, December 5 : Researchers at Cincinnati Children''s Hospital Medical Center say that exposure to environmental tobacco smoke can increase the degrees of hyperactivity, aggression, depression and other behavioural problems among boys with asthma.

The scientists say that even exposure to low levels of tobacco smoke can be detrimental to behaviour.

"These findings should encourage us to make stronger efforts to prevent childhood exposure to tobacco smoke, especially among higher risk populations, such as children with asthma," said Dr. Kimberly Yolton, lead author of the study and a researcher at the Children''s Environmental Health Center at Cincinnati Children''s.