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President Barack Obama expects Americans to support more U.S. troops in Afghanistan once they understand the perils of losing, and he is preparing to make his case to the nation next week.

Eight years after the Sept. 11 attacks led the U.S. into Afghanistan, Obama said it is still in America's vital national interest to "dismantle and destroy" al-Qaida terrorists and extremist allies. "I intend to finish the job," he said.

Obama said he would announce after Thanksgiving his decision

Celebrities, major Democratic fundraisers and prominent Indian businessmen were among those scoring coveted invitations to President Barack Obama's first state dinner.

Most of the names on the 338-person White House guest list for Tuesday night's black-tie fete honoring Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh remained a closely guarded secret until shortly before the dinner. The event was considered the hottest ticket in Washington since Inauguration Day.

"Tonight under the stars, we

Traditional evening gowns and vibrantly colored saris mixed with banded-collar dinner jackets and tuxedos at President Barack Obama's first state dinner.

There also were turbans and bindis and diamonds aplenty, as several hundred guests put on the glitz and joined a White House celebration in honor of Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.

Outshining them all was first lady Michelle Obama in a strapless, cream and gold silk chiffon gown with a sparkling silver floral design.

Award-winning

Eight years after the U.S. Coast Guard and the NAACP signed a voluntary agreement to work together to boost the number of African-Americans at its 1,000-cadet service academy, the annual enrollment and graduation figures for blacks remain in single digits.

Seven blacks graduated from the academy based in New London, Conn., in the spring of 2001, the year the agreement was signed.

The same number graduated from the Class of 2006, the first class for which blacks were recruited under

War-weary Americans will support more fighting in Afghanistan once they understand the perils of losing, President Barack Obama declared Tuesday, announcing he was ready to spell out war plans virtually sure to include tens of thousands more U.S. troops.

He is expected to make his case to the nation in a speech next Tuesday night, even as the military completes plans to begin sending in reinforcements in the spring.

Eight years after the Sept. 11 attacks led the U.S. into Afghanistan,

The White House and Illinois Democrats said Tuesday that their bid to hold on to President Barack Obama's old Senate seat won't be easy and their difficulties aren't just because of the scandal that engulfed ousted Gov. Rod Blagojevich.

Next year is the first major election for Democrats since Blagojevich was arrested last year on federal corruption charges and removed from office. He has pleaded not guilty to charges that he tried to sell or trade Obama's Senate seat.

"No one

A grand jury in Philadelphia indicted four men Tuesday for an alleged plot to support the Lebanon-based terror group Hezbollah through illegal schemes, including buying the group more than a thousand machine guns.

The indictment comes just a day after officials in Philadelphia said they disrupted a similar scheme to acquire anti-aircraft missiles and send them to Syria _ though in that case, authorities have yet to accuse anyone of trying to help a specific terror group.

The indictment

Hollywood A-listers are coming out in force for President Barack Obama's state dinner for India.

Actors Alfre Woodard and Blair Underwood were among the hundreds invited to dinner Tuesday night in a tent on the White House South Lawn.

Also on the list were Hollywood moguls Steven Spielberg, David Geffen and Jeffrey Katzenberg.

Guests with ties to India included Deepak Chopra (CHAHP'-ruh), director M. Night Shyamalan (SHAH'-mah-lahn) and CNN Medical Correspondent Sanjay Gupta,

Congressional Republicans are investigating e-mails stolen from a British climate change research center that they say show scientists attempting to suppress data that does not support man-made global warming.

Oklahoma Sen. James Inhofe, a global warming skeptic, sent letters Tuesday to the inspectors general of several agencies and to scientists asking them to retain records related to the e-mails.

House Republicans want to know how much the scientists contributed to a widely cited

A tearful former Justice Department attorney was spared a jail sentence Tuesday for his role in the influence peddling scandal surrounding former lobbyist Jack Abramoff.

U.S. District Judge Ellen Huvelle said Robert Coughlin did not deserve prison time for his actions, even as she marveled at the number of disgraced government officials who had become enmeshed in the Abramoff case.

"This entire Abramoff-related matter raises a lot of questions," said Huvelle, who recently oversaw

The food and wines on the menu for Tuesday night's White House state dinner in honor of Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh:

___

Potato and eggplant salad

White House arugula with onion seed vinaigrette

2008 sauvignon blanc, Modus Operandi, Napa Valley, Calif.

___

Red lentil soup with fresh cheese

2006 Riesling, Brooks "Ara," Willamette Valley, Ore.

___

Roasted potato dumplings with tomato chutney, chick peas and okra or green curry prawns,

In the history of U.S.-India relations, there's been plenty of broken bread and even a few crumbled Triscuits.

American presidents have entertained India's leaders over fine wine and even finer food for the past 60 years _ at grand White House dinners with hundreds of guests in black-tie, at an intimate Sunday lunch and away from Washington's prying eyes near a storied Civil War battlefield.

With his first White House state dinner on Tuesday, President Barack Obama is putting his

An indisputable Washington insider, Kay Bailey Hutchison has been so close to the federal government's levers of power in her three Senate terms that former Vice President Dick Cheney has endorsed her over another Republican.

The ultimate incumbent, Rick Perry is Texas' longest-serving governor heading into his 10th year at the helm of a no-term-limit state _ and the Republican wants four more years.

A Texas-sized brawl is under way between Hutchison and Perry in a GOP primary race

President Barack Obama says the United States is not responsible for resolving the long-standing conflict between Pakistan and India, but that America wants to encourage security and civil progress in both nations.

Obama said Tuesday that the U.S. will encourage India and Pakistan to feel secure and to "focus on the development of their own countries." He defended U.S. aid to Pakistan that is meant to help that nation combat Islamic extremists. Some Indians fear Pakistan could use the aid

A Nevada man whose wife had an affair with Sen. John Ensign said he discovered the relationship after intercepting a text message around Christmas in 2007.

"How wonderful it is. ... Scared, but excited," it read.

Doug Hampton recounted the text message during an interview taped for broadcast Monday night on ABC's "Nightline." The interview covered a lot of ground already made public since Ensign, R-Nev., admitted to the extramarital affair in June, but provided new details about how

President Barack Obama hosts Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh (MAHN'-moh-hahn SING) at the White House on Tuesday, the first state visit of his presidency.

The president and first lady Michelle Obama welcome the prime minister and his wife with an arrival ceremony on the South Lawn. Obama and Singh then head to the Oval Office for a bilateral meeting. Afterward, the two leaders will hold a joint news conference.

The president meets with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi in the afternoon

In the history of U.S.-India relations, there's been plenty of broken bread and even a few crumbled Triscuits.

American presidents have entertained India's leaders over fine wine and even finer food for the past 60 years _ at grand White House dinners with hundreds of guests in black-tie, at an intimate Sunday lunch and away from Washington's prying eyes near a storied Civil War battlefield.

At his first White House state dinner on Tuesday, President Barack Obama will put

Faced with limited job options, many young adults are turning to an old standby to weather the recession: moving back in with mom and dad.

Nearly 1 in 7 parents with grown children say they had a "boomerang kid" move back home in the past year, according to a study being released Tuesday by the Pew Research Center. In a turnabout in the rite of passage in which a college graduate finds a job and an apartment, many are returning to their parents' empty nests because of tight finances or

A Nevada man whose wife had an affair with Sen. John Ensign said he discovered the relationship after intercepting a text message around Christmas in 2007.

"How wonderful it is. ... Scared, but excited."

Doug Hampton recounted the text message during an interview for broadcast Monday night on ABC's "Nightline." The interview covers a lot of ground already made public since Ensign, R-Nev., acknowledged the extramarital affair in June, but provides new details about how the affair was

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has nominated a Republican state senator to fill California's recently vacated lieutenant governor seat.

Schwarzenegger says Sen. Abel Maldonado is the most qualified person for the post, which opened when Democrat John Garamendi was elected to Congress earlier this month. The governor made the announcement Monday evening on "The Jay Leno Show."

The Assembly and Senate must confirm Maldonado's appointment, which would run through 2010.

The 42-year-old

Two Senate leaders trying to steer a pair of President Barack Obama's high-stakes initiatives through Congress are being dogged by re-election worries, and it's not clear whether their legislative prominence will help or hurt them.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., and Sen. Chris Dodd, D-Conn., are trailing in early polls, and Republicans are eager to topple them in next year's elections.

They also are central players in two of the most ambitious and hotly contested agenda

U.S. Rep. Dennis Moore, the only Democrat in Kansas' congressional delegation, said Monday he will not seek a seventh term, calling it "time for a new generation of leadership."

Moore _ who represents the 3rd District, a heavily Republican district in suburban Kansas City _ said in a statement from his Washington office that he would finish out his term, which ends in January 2011.

Moore said trying to represent "the moderate mainstream of the district" was the most exciting and frustrating

A senior Pentagon official says that preventing roadside bombs from killing troops has proven to be tougher in Afghanistan than in Iraq because of the austere conditions there.

Ashton Carter, the Defense Department's chief weapons buyer, told reporters Monday that "we are just beginning to get set in Afghanistan ... in doing everything that we can" because the country is so remote and lacks infrastructure.

Carter and Lt. Gen. Jay Paxton Jr. are leading a new task force focused on

President Barack Obama called his war council together Monday as he moves toward a decision on whether to add more U.S. forces in Afghanistan.

White House press secretary Robert Gibbs said he's not aware of any more such strategy sessions being scheduled, the latest signal that Obama is closing in on a revamped war strategy after several weeks of review. Gibbs said the soonest Obama would announce a decision would be next week.

Obama first called the high-powered national security

The Pentagon says its review of personnel, health and other policies in light of the Fort Hood massacre will be completed by January 15th.

Defense Secretary Robert Gates announced the review last week, and named two former senior Pentagon officials to head it. Gates was meeting with those officials on Monday, and the review team was expected to soon visit the Fort Hood Army base.

The Pentagon says the review will look at whether there are weaknesses in Defense Department policies

A look at key issues in the health care debate:

THE ISSUE: Republicans are the minority party in both houses of Congress. What health care proposals have they advanced, and are they going anywhere?

THE POLITICS: The most viable Republican proposal on health care has come from Maine Sen. Olympia Snowe, to use the threat of government insurance to force private insurers to lower prices. President Barack Obama and many Democrats saw some political value in including Snowe's "trigger"

Sen. Edward M. Kennedy will be a tough act to follow, even for the Kennedys. His death, coupled with the decision by family members not to seek the seat he held for nearly five decades, has prompted predictions that the family's long-running political dynasty is over.

There's talk the Kennedy political bloodlines are running thin. Some say the younger brood lacks the grit and zest for political combat that drove the liberal Democrat to become one of the leading politicians of the last 40

Two Democratic senators say the health care overhaul bill now going to the Senate floor for debate is a key to saving jobs and reducing the spiraling American budget deficit.

Democratic Sen. Debbie Stabenow of Michigan says health care cost reductions for employers will save 3.5 million jobs.

Democratic Sen. Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania says the health care measure would save the country $800 billion over the coming 20 years.

Republican senators aren't buying those arguments.

Republican

A leading Democratic senator says the proposed health care overhaul must pass the Senate by the end of the year, so that lawmakers can begin to concentrate on the economy and job creation.

Democratic Sen. Dick Durbin of Illinois, the majority whip, says if debate goes into next year, passage of the health care bill becomes more complex.

The Senate agreed on Saturday to begin debate after the Thanksgiving break. A key complication is opposition from moderates who say they will vote

Democratic Sen. Chuck Schumer says health care reform that includes a public option can pass the Senate.

Schumer says he is assuring his more conservative Democratic colleagues that the public option included in the Senate bill is "modest" and not the first step in a government takeover of the insurance industry.

Schumer is also reminding fellow Democratic senators that the bill would allow states to opt out of the public option. He asks that they not prevent his constituents in New

A moderate Democratic senator who voted to allow debate over a health care bill says he might not support the bill in its next hurdle in the Senate.

Sen. Ben Nelson of Nebraska says he has serious problems with the bill. He says he wants tougher restrictions on what services taxpayers pay for.

The Nebraska Democrat says he wants an overhaul of the nation's health care system but still needs to be convinced that the Senate bill is the right path to that goal.

On Saturday night,

A Democratic senator says moderates in his party shouldn't be allowed to dictate the terms of the health care debate and that the final bill should include a government-run option for Americans lacking insurance.

That view, by Sen. Sherrod Brown of Ohio, suggests the difficulty facing Democratic leaders in coming weeks as they try to rally support for legislation that would extend health care coverage to roughly 31 million people who lack it.

The Senate agreed on Saturday to begin

The federal courts and military tribunals that will prosecute suspected terrorists vary sharply in their independence, public stature and use of evidence. But the Obama administration has so far offered no clear-cut rationale for how it chooses which system will try a detainee.

The fuzzy line drawn by the administration has made it easier for critics on both the left and right to assert that no firm legal principle is guiding the choices.

The administration has said similarly situated

The 60-39 roll call Saturday by which the Senate voted to advance a measure overhauling health care to a full debate.

A "yes" vote is a vote to allow the legislation to advance for a full debate. A 60-vote majority was required for approval.

Voting yes were 58 Democrats, 2 independents.

Voting no were 0 Democrats and 39 Republicans.

ALABAMA

Sessions (R), No; Shelby (R), No.

ALASKA

Begich (D), Yes; Murkowski (R), No.

ARIZONA

Kyl

President Barack Obama and his family spent a low-key night out at the home of a senior White House adviser after a whirlwind week spent on a presidential trip to Asia.

The president golfed for more than four hours Saturday on the course at Andrews Air Force Base, then took first lady Michelle Obama and daughters Malia and Sasha to dinner at the Georgetown home of Valerie Jarrett.

The president's golfing buddies during the day trip to Andrews were presidential aide Eugene Kang, photographer

WASHINGTON _ The government intercepted at least 18 e-mails between the alleged Fort Hood gunman and a radical Muslim cleric, and a key senator says there could be more communications that might have tipped off law enforcement or military officials.

Federal investigators say they intercepted the messages between the suspect, Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan, and Anwar al-Awlaki, a radical American-born cleric. They were passed along to two Joint Terrorism Task Force cells led by the FBI, but a senior

The Justice Department intends to drop manslaughter and weapons charges against one of the Blackwater Worldwide security guards involved in a deadly 2007 Baghdad shooting, prosecutors said in court documents Friday.

The shooting in busy Nisoor Square left 17 Iraqis dead and inflamed anti-American sentiment abroad. It touched off a string of investigations that ultimately led the State Department to cancel the company's lucrative contract to guard diplomats in Iraq.

Iraqis have said

The Justice Department intends to drop manslaughter and weapons charges against one of the Blackwater Worldwide security guards involved in a deadly 2007 Baghdad shooting, prosecutors said in court documents Friday.

The shooting in busy Nisoor Square left 17 Iraqis dead and inflamed anti-American sentiment abroad. It touched off a string of investigations that ultimately led the State Department to cancel the company's lucrative contract to guard diplomats in Iraq.

Iraqis have said

The Federal Aviation Administration is blaming an equipment outage this week for delaying 819 flights.

The agency told employees in a briefing memo Friday that air travelers experienced a total of 2,121 delays the previous day due to the equipment outage as well as thunderstorms and other poor weather in the Northeast.

The memo said that the more than 800 flight delays attributable to the equipment outage included 273 in Atlanta. At New York airports, LaGuardia reported 81 equipment-related

A retired State Department worker and his wife accused of a decades-long plot to spy for Cuba pleaded guilty Friday in a deal that will leave him behind bars for the rest of his life but gives her a chance at freedom in six years.

Walter Kendall Myers, 72, and his wife, Gwendolyn, 71, were caught in an undercover FBI sting operation, arrested in June and held without bail.

Two people familiar with the plea deal, speaking on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to

The Senate ethics committee on Friday admonished Democratic Sen. Roland Burris for misleading investigators about his maneuvering to get Barack Obama's old Senate seat from the governor who was ousted for trying to sell it.

Burris was appointed by disgraced former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich, who was impeached and driven from office after he was accused of trying to sell the seat.

The committee placed special emphasis on a phone conversation between Burris and the governor's brother,

The Army says there will be an outside review of how body armor for its soldiers is tested.

The Government Accountability Office said last month that the Army made mistakes in testing a new body armor design. And it recommended the process be reviewed before the armor is sent to troops in Iraq and Afghanistan.

The Army had said that the criticism was overblown. It also said that no U.S. troops have been killed in combat as a result of any problems with the armor.

Nonetheless,

Former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani, encouraged by many Republicans to run for governor in 2010, is instead leaning toward a run for U.S. Senate, according to two party advisers.

"From staff, we have been hearing that he has been indicating quietly and privately recently that governor might not be the best fit for him now," one adviser said Thursday. "But the U.S. Senate could be a perfect fit for him."

The adviser noted that nobody is saying Giuliani has decided, but it "certainly

Democratic Sen. Ben Nelson of Nebraska is a "yes" in a crucial weekend test vote on health care.

The moderate lawmaker told Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., that he would vote with rank-and-file Democrats to move ahead on the legislation.

In a statement Friday, Nelson says the Senate should try to fix a health care system that costs too much and delivers too little for Nebraskans.

The vote is scheduled for Saturday night, and Democrats need the support of every senator

A look at key issues in the health care debate:

THE ISSUE: What can the government do to get doctors and hospitals to deliver cheaper medical services?

THE POLITICS: Medicare's fee-for-service structure means that doctors, hospitals and other providers have a greater financial incentive to provide large quantities of medical services than to provide high-quality medical services. Democrats and the Obama administration want to change that, and use the savings to help pay for their

The Pentagon said Thursday it will scour its procedures for identifying volatile soldiers hidden in the ranks following the Fort Hood shooting rampage and lapses that might allow others to slip through bureaucratic cracks.

"It is prudent to determine immediately whether there are internal weaknesses or procedural shortcomings in the department that could make us vulnerable in the future," Defense Secretary Robert Gates said.

A 45-day emergency investigation will examine personnel,

Former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani is leaning toward running for the U.S. Senate rather than making a bid for governor, two Republican advisers said Thursday.

"From staff, we have been hearing that he has been indicating quietly and privately recently that governor might not be the best fit for him now," one adviser said, "but the U.S. Senate could be a perfect fit for him."

The adviser noted that no one is saying Giuliani has made a decision, but that it "certainly sounds"

The Pentagon said Thursday it will scour its procedures for identifying volatile soldiers hidden in the ranks following the Fort Hood shooting rampage and lapses that might allow others to slip through bureaucratic cracks.

"It is prudent to determine immediately whether there are internal weaknesses or procedural shortcomings in the department that could make us vulnerable in the future," Defense Secretary Robert Gates said.

A 45-day emergency investigation will examine personnel,

Defense Secretary Robert Gates said any new U.S. forces President Barack Obama sends to Afghanistan could move into the country swiftly, despite logistical hassles that force almost all major deliveries of troops and supplies to go by air.

His wording suggested that, as expected, Obama will soon approve an increase in the already record U.S. force of 68,000 in Afghanistan. Months of deliberations over the flagging war are ending, with an announcement of a substantial troop increase expected

Thrilled with twin victories this month, Republican governors are looking to lead a party-wide resurgence in 2010 and shape the GOP for years to come.

Republicans boast of a strong crop of gubernatorial candidates who could be future party leaders, $25 million in the bank a year before the elections and a difficult environment for Democrats, particularly in financially ailing swing-voting states like Ohio and Iowa.

"Next year's going to be a good year for Republican governors," predicted

President Barack Obama will have scant time to rest up from his eight-day Asia trip. On Saturday, two days after his return to Washington, the Senate plans a make-or-break vote on his hard-fought plan to overhaul the nation's health care system. Obama also confronts a difficult choice on strategy and troop levels in Afghanistan, which will be criticized no matter what he decides.

His bid to re-regulate the financial industry faces stiff opposition in Congress. The decision to try high-profile

A Michigan law firm has agreed to pay a $131,000 fine to resolve an investigation into donations to former Sen. John Edwards' 2004 presidential campaign.

The Federal Election Commission said Thursday it had reached an agreement with the law firm of Geoffrey Fieger, who once represented assisted suicide advocate Dr. Jack Kevorkian, after the commission found probable cause that Fieger's firm violated campaign finance laws.

Fieger, a Democrat who lost a bid for Michigan governor in

A Conservative Party candidate is writing to supporters saying he lost a New York race for a U.S. House of Representatives seat because of scheming and needs money in case he lodges a legal challenge.

Earlier this week Doug Hoffman withdrew the election night concession he issued to Democratic Rep. Bill Owens, saying if he had known how close the 23rd Congressional District race was he would have stayed in it. The rural upstate district had long been represented by Republicans.

Hoffman

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid has included at least $100 million in Medicaid funds for Louisiana in his health care bill at the same time he is trying to persuade that state's wavering Democratic senator to cast a pivotal vote for the overhaul legislation.

Sen. Mary Landrieu, D-La., is among a handful of senators who have not said what they will do when Reid holds a showdown vote on beginning debate on the legislation Saturday night. Landrieu said in an interview Thursday that the extra

Congressional investigators said Thursday that tens of thousands of questionnaires aimed at measuring the mental and physical health of returning combat troops can't be found.

As a result, the Government Accountability Office said, the military does not have reasonable assurances that the service members got the opportunity to report their health problems on the forms.

The forms are filled out electronically and used to track health problems among troops. They also give returning

The Senate on Thursday confirmed U.S. District Judge David Hamilton for the Chicago-based federal appeals court, approving a nominee targeted by conservatives as a liberal activist.

Hamilton was approved on a 59-39 vote and became the eighth of President Barack Obama's judicial nominees to win confirmation. He is the third confirmed for a U.S. appeals court, which is usually the last stop for federal court cases.

Republican senators _ backed by their conservative allies outside Congress

Republican Sen. Tom Coburn is backing off his threat to require that the Senate read the 2,074-page health care bill because some GOP colleagues aren't supporting the effort.

The Oklahoma lawmaker said there's uncertainty about whether reading the bill during Thanksgiving week would be productive. He also said that if the Republicans do decide to tie up the Senate for the dozens of hours it would take, six GOP colleagues have committed to pitching in on reading duty.

Coburn also said

The Senate Democratic leader says Congress is closer than ever to overhauling the nation's health care system.

At a Capitol Hill rally, Majority Leader Harry Reid said Thursday that the $848 billion, 10-year bill he unveiled hours earlier will save lives, save money and save Medicare. The Nevada Democrat said the bill is not just a milestone in a journey of a few months or a few years. Rather, he said that it culminates an effort that began over a half century ago.

Reid evoked former

Not a speed reader? Want to get through Sarah Palin's new book in a flash?

A look at Palin's most frequently used words capture some of the key themes of the former Alaska governor's memoir: Alaska, campaign, Todd, family, kids, right, governor, government, oil, work, energy.

The Associated Press electronically scanned the book, "Going Rogue," and, using software to highlight the most common words, created a "word cloud" that captures the book in a nutshell. The software filters out

Former Mayor Rudy Giuliani said Thursday that trying self-professed Sept. 11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed in a federal civilian court in New York is unwise and unnecessary.

"There's no reason to put New York through this," said Giuliani, who was mayor when terrorists flew two hijacked planes into the World Trade Center and one struck the Pentagon. A fourth jet crashed in western Pennsylvania.

"If President Barack Obama had concluded that military tribunals were impermissible,"

President Barack Obama appeared to be taking a page from Richard Nixon's playbook Wednesday when he seemed to declare the suspected Sept. 11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed guilty and deserving of the death penalty.

In Nixon's case, he pronounced cult leader Charles Manson guilty of several murders while Manson was being tried in a California state court for killing actress Sharon Tate and others.

Obama, in a series of TV interviews during his trip to Asia, said those offended

It seems history won't rest until someone fills in that 18 1/2-minute Watergate gap.

One of the enduring mysteries from the scandal that consumed Richard Nixon's presidency is coming under renewed scrutiny from forensic scientists gathered by the National Archives.

Their mission: Use the latest technological tools to find out what Nixon and his chief of staff, H.R. Haldeman, discussed during those missing minutes on the tape recording of a June 20, 1972, meeting. The meeting came

A senior Afghan official allegedly took a $20 million bribe to steer a copper mining project to a Chinese company, a glaring example of the claims of corruption clouding the Obama administration's deliberations over expanding the U.S. commitment in Afghanistan.

In Washington, two U.S. officials familiar with intelligence reports said that Afghanistan's minister of mines, Muhammad Ibrahim Adel, allegedly accepted the money soon after the $3 billion contract was awarded in late 2007 to China

From opposite ends of the globe, President Barack Obama and Attorney General Eric Holder firmly rejected criticism Wednesday of the planned New York trial of the professed Sept. 11 mastermind and predicted Khalid Sheikh Mohammed would be exposed as a murderous coward, convicted and executed.

"Failure is not an option," Holder declared.

The president, in a series of TV interviews during his trip to Asia, said those offended by the legal rights accorded Mohammed by virtue of his facing

Defense Secretary Robert Gates has tapped a former senior defense official to lead a broad Pentagon review of the circumstances surrounding the Fort Hood shootings, The Associated Press has learned.

Gates will announce Thursday that it will be a single, coordinated review, and will call for a quick, short-term report, followed by a longer, more extensive study, according to an administration official.

Components of the wide-ranging probe could include self-examinations by the Army

Sen. Robert C. Byrd became history's longest-serving member of Congress on Wednesday, earning a formal salute from the Senate and President Barack Obama for his nearly 57 years of service.

"I've loved every precious minute of it," the frail West Virginia Democrat, who turns 92 on Friday, said during a day of floor tributes to him, and moments before the Senate passed a resolution marking the milestone.

Obama earlier in the day described the one-time segregationist as a touchstone

National forests can be used as a carbon "sink" with vast numbers of trees absorbing carbon dioxide to help slow global warming, the Forest Service chief said Wednesday, but that goal must be balanced.

He's also concerned about the risk of catastrophic wildfires that produce massive amounts of carbon dioxide.

Forest Service Chief Tom Tidwell said his agency is trying to manage forests to combat climate change while still easing the risk of wildfires that have increased in frequency

A police detective alleges that former Washington Police Chief Charles Ramsey, despite past denials, ordered mass arrests of hundreds of demonstrators who were protesting annual meetings of the World Bank and International Monetary Fund in 2002.

Ramsey, now the commissioner of the Philadelphia Police Department, has given inconsistent statements over the years on the arrests, saying repeatedly, including twice in sworn statements, that he did not order them. He said an assistant chief of

The National Archives is bringing together investigators to search for scribbled secrets from the first days of the Watergate scandal that destroyed Richard Nixon's presidency.

The elusive goal is to find out what Nixon and an aide discussed during the infamous 18 1/2-minute gap in a White House tape recording of a meeting held three days after burglars linked to the president's re-election committee broke into Democratic Party headquarters at the Watergate complex.

Experts have failed

Ten months after Democrats took over the Capitol and the first African-American president moved into the White House, black lawmakers are in control of some of the most powerful positions in Congress _ and face new challenges to using their long-sought influence.

There have been some victories _ guaranteeing that stimulus money reaches some of the poorest parts of the country, expanding hate crimes legislation and moving to close health care disparities.

But "in some ways, our strategies

The head of U.S. naval forces in the Middle East is praising action by armed guards that foiled a pirate attack off the coast of Somalia.

Vice Admiral Bill Gortney says Wednesday's case was the first time a major merchant ship with guards on board had repelled a pirate attack.

He told a Pentagon press conference the crew of the Maersk Alabama tried to use a device that makes a high-decibel noise _ but it was ineffective and the pirates kept coming. He says the pirates were thwarted

President Barack Obama predicted that professed Sept. 11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed will be convicted and executed as Attorney General Eric Holder proclaimed: "Failure is not an option."

Even if a terror trial suspect were acquitted, Holder said, he would not be released in the United States.

In one of a series of TV interviews during his trip to Asia, Obama said those offended by the legal privileges given to Mohammed by virtue of getting a civilian trial rather than a military

Attorney General Eric Holder says he was disturbed to learn of contacts between Fort Hood shooting suspect Nidal Hasan and a radical imam overseas.

Holder is testifying Wednesday before the Senate Judiciary Committee.

Lawmakers asked him about the mass shooting at the Texas Army base, and Holder says the government is conducting a thorough review of Hasan's background to determine if internal warning signs were missed before the shooting.

On the basis of what he knows now, the

Human Rights Watch says conditions in Cuba have not improved under Raul Castro and in some ways are worse than they had been when his brother Fidel was president.

In a report released Wednesday, the group accuses Raul Castro's government of systematic repression and creating "a pervasive climate of fear among dissidents and, when it comes to expression of political views, in Cuban society as a whole."

Fidel Castro ceded power to Raul Castro first on an interim basis in 2006, then

President Barack Obama said Wednesday his upcoming strategy in Afghanistan will "put us on a path towards ending the war" and that his goal is not to pass the conflict on to the next president.

Obama also declined to say he trusted Afghan President Hamid Karzai, offering praise to Karzai for holding his country together but saying: "He has some strengths, but he has some weaknesses."

"I'm less concerned about any individual than I am with a government as a whole that is having difficulty

Ford, Subaru and Volkswagen sit atop the insurance industry's annual list of the safest new vehicles, according to a closely watched assessment used by car companies to lure safety-conscious consumers to showrooms.

The Virginia-based Insurance Institute for Highway Safety awarded its "top safety pick" on Wednesday to 19 passenger cars and eight sport utility vehicles for the 2010 model year. The institute substantially reduced the number of awards compared with 2009, because of tougher

The White House rebuked Israel with heavy criticism Tuesday after the Jerusalem city government moved toward the construction of 900 additional housing units in a Jewish neighborhood in East Jerusalem, which Palestinians claim for the capital of their future state.

President Barack Obama has made restarting peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians a top foreign policy goal. To that end, he has demanded that Israel cease building new or expanding existing Jewish settlements in the

Worried that the Army may have missed red flags about the alleged shooter in the Fort Hood massacre, the Pentagon probably will open an inquiry into how all the military services keep watch on other volatile soldiers hidden in their ranks, officials said Tuesday.

The investigation, still in the planning stages, would be a broad examination ranging beyond the specific case of Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan, the Army psychiatrist accused in the killings, officials said. The inquiry, they said,

The Senate is a resolutely superlative place, so it was resolved that the august body on Wednesday will open its session by saluting Sen. Robert C. Byrd, Congress' longest-serving member.

"United States senators, like baseball fans, love statistics," the West Virginia Democrat, who turns 92 on Friday, observed during a 1986 floor speech.

"From time to time, we stop to congratulate colleagues on their years of service, the number of votes they have cast, their tenure in a committee

Soldier suicides this year are almost sure to top last year's grim totals, but a recent decline in the pace of such incidents could mean the Army is starting to make progress in stemming them, officials said Tuesday.

Army Vice Chief of Staff General Peter Chiarelli said that as of Monday, 140 active duty soldiers were believed to have died of self-inflicted wounds so far in 2009. That's the same as were confirmed for all of 2008.

"We are almost certainly going to end the year higher

Stung by an embarrassing electronic leak last month revealing ethics investigations into dozens of lawmakers, Congress moved Tuesday to prohibit federal employees from using the same type of Internet file-sharing software blamed for the disclosure.

The Secure Federal File Sharing Act, introduced in the House, would bar government employees and contractors from downloading, installing or using so-called peer-to-peer file sharing software such as Limewire without official approval. The bill

A federal judge from Louisiana was falling deeply into gambling debt as he routinely solicited money and gifts from attorneys with cases before his court, congressional investigators said Tuesday as a House panel opened impeachment hearings against the judge.

New Orleans-based District Judge G. Thomas Porteous Jr. had accumulated more than $150,000 in credit card bills by 2000, mostly for cash advances spent in casinos, investigators said.

One lawyer told the House Judiciary Committee

Democrats on Tuesday crushed a Senate filibuster against a controversial appeals court nominee, demonstrating to Republicans they can't stop President Barack Obama from turning the federal judiciary to the left.

The 70-29 vote limited debate over the qualifications of U.S. District Judge David Hamilton of Indiana, and assured his elevation to the Chicago-based appeals court. Sixty votes were needed to end the filibuster, but confirmation only requires a simple majority of the 100-member

Some conservative commentators seized on President Barack Obama's deep bow to Japan's Emperor Akihito over the weekend, accusing the U.S. commander in chief of groveling before a foreign leader.

So did he?

While it may have been an awkward moment, it wasn't without precedent. And it appeared to be well within protocol guidelines that the State Department issues for foreign service officers working in other countries.

U.S. presidents from both political parties have often been

A look at key issues in the health care debate:

THE ISSUE: Researching which treatments work best and how much they cost, and how doctors and patients should use that information.

THE POLITICS: On the surface, it seems like common sense: How different health conditions are treated _ whether with surgery, drugs or managing diet and exercise, for example _ should depend on what works best and costs least. But how that information is used has become a hot-button issue in the current

Apparently, no one told Sonia Sotomayor that Supreme Court justices are supposed to be circumspect, emerging from their marble palace mainly to dispense legal wisdom to law schools, judges' conferences and lawyers' meetings.

Since becoming the first Hispanic justice, Sotomayor has mamboed with movie stars, exchanged smooches with musicians at the White House and thrown out the first pitch for her beloved New York Yankees. A famous jazz composer even wrote a song about her: "Wise

It's the cost, Mr. President. Americans are worried about hidden costs in the fine print of health care overhaul legislation, an Associated Press poll says. That's creating new challenges for President Barack Obama as he tries to close the deal with a handful of Democratic doubters in the Senate.

Although Americans share a conviction that major health care changes are needed, Democratic bills that extend coverage to the uninsured and try to hold down medical costs get no better than a lukewarm

President Barack Obama will travel to Pennsylvania and other states next month after hosting a White House forum on creating jobs.

The White House said Monday that the Dec. 3 forum will include economists and business owners and executives.

Obama announced plans for the forum earlier this month as the nation's unemployment rate surpassed 10 percent for the first time in decades.

The day after the forum the president will travel to Allentown, Pa., and then to other communities

The Supreme Court won't hear an appeal from a group of Native Americans who think the name of the NFL's Washington Redskins football team is offensive.

The high court on Monday turned away an appeal from Suzan Shown Harjo. That ends the latest round in the 17-year court battle between the Redskins and a group of American Indians who want them to change their name.

Harjo and her fellow plaintiffs have been working since 1992 to have the Redskins trademarks declared invalid. They initially

The Supreme Court has rejected an appeal from a student who complained that high school officials violated her constitutional rights when they turned off her microphone during her religion-tinged graduation speech.

The justices said Monday they will not revive a lawsuit filed by Brittany McComb of Henderson, Nev. challenging the actions of Clark County school officials. A federal appeals court ruled previously ruled against her.

During McComb's speech at the Foothill High School graduation

A day-by-day look at President Barack Obama's trip to Asia:

Tuesday, Nov. 17:

Events in Beijing.

Wednesday, Nov. 18:

Events in Beijing. Travels to Seoul, South Korea.

Thursday, Nov. 19:

Events in Seoul. Returns to Washington.

In courtrooms barred to the public, dozens of terror suspects are pleading for their freedom from the Guantanamo Bay prison, sometimes even testifying on their own behalf by video from the U.S. naval base in Cuba.

Complying with a Supreme Court ruling last year, 15 federal judges in the U.S. courthouse here are giving detainees their day in court after years behind bars half a world away from their homelands.

The judges have found the government's evidence against 30 detainees wanting

The radical Muslim imam who communicated with the Fort Hood shooting suspect said he did not pressure Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan to harm Americans, The Washington Post reported Monday.

In an interview with a Yemeni journalist who was contracted by the Post, imam Anwar al-Awlaki said Hasan first e-mailed him in December 2008. Eventually, al-Awlaki said, Hasan came to view him as a confidant.

Al-Awlaki showed the journalist his correspondence with Hasan but would not provide it to the Post.

Bringing those accused in the Sept. 11 attacks to New York for trial would increase the security threat to the city and give radical Islamists a platform to propagate their ideology, former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani said Sunday.

Giuliani's view that the Obama administration is erring in trying Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and four others near the site of the World Trade Center was echoed by other Republicans on the Sunday news programs.

Democrats defended the decision of Attorney General

Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton is waving off rumors that she is considering a run for governor of New York. And former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani says he hasn't decided whether he'll run.

Clinton tells ABC's "This Week" that she wants to put to rest speculation that she would seek the governorship of New York. She says she is committed to her duties as secretary of state.

Giuliani says he'll decide soon whether to make a bid for governor. A Republican presidential candidate

The former mayor of New York City, Rudy Giuliani, says putting suspected Sept. 11 terrorists on trial in New York City places residents there at unnecessary risk.

Giuliani tells CNN's "State of the Union" that a more appropriate choice would be military tribunals for the terror suspects. He says that option recognizes that the U.S. is at war with Islamic terrorists.

Giuliani was mayor of New York when terrorists attacked the World Trade Center on Sept. 11, 2001.

Attorney General

Abortion rights groups, outflanked and outnumbered in the health debate, are scrambling to regain lost ground after the House passed a health bill with strict abortion limits.

They're blanketing Capitol Hill with lobbyists, petitions, letters and phone calls in efforts to defeat the restrictions in the Senate, where debate could begin in a few days. They also have a larger goal: to prove that with their Democratic allies in control of the White House and both congressional chambers _ but

In a move both politically and legally risky, the Obama administration plans to put on trial the professed mastermind of the Sept. 11 terror attacks and four alleged accomplices in a lower Manhattan courthouse.

The venue for the biggest trial in the age of terrorism means prosecutors must balance difficult issues such as rough treatment of detainees and sensitive intelligence-gathering with the Justice Department's desire to prove that the federal courts are able to handle terrorism cases.

Attorney

Sarah Palin is embarking on a book tour. Tim Pawlenty is building a national political operation. Mitt Romney is weighing in on the recession.

They're all jockeying for the 2012 Republican presidential nomination _ even if they won't say so.

Make no mistake: At least a half-dozen Republicans are in the early stages of campaigning for the chance to challenge President Barack Obama in his expected re-election race.

Ultimately, some may decide against running. But, at this point,