Kmiec As Vatican Ambassador Is No Insult

(NEWSER) - President Obama told Pope Benedict XVI yesterday that he would make every effort to reduce the number of abortions in the US, according to a Vatican spokesman. Bioethics and life issues were the focus of the men's 40-minute talk yesterday. The pontiff gave the president a booklet explaining the church's opposition to abortion and stem cell research, Reuters reports. More»

President asks Benedict to pray for ill senator

(NEWSER) - President Obama delivered a letter from Ted Kennedy to Pope Benedict XVI at the Vatican today, CNN reports. Obama met with the pontiff for about a half hour before leaving Rome for Ghana. The contents of Kennedy’s letter were personal, an Obama aide said, and “not known to anyone I know of except Senator Kennedy." More»

(AP) - Barack Obama today selected a Harvard physicist and a marine biologist for key science posts, in a sign he plans a more aggressive response to global warming than did the Bush administration. John Holdren and Jane Lubchenco are leading experts on climate change who have advocated forceful government action. “It's time we once again put science at the top of our agenda,” Obama said today. More»

May quickly provide infrastructure funding; states want $136B

(NEWSER) - President-elect Obama pledged today to approve billions in government expenditures on public works projects when he assumes office, the New York Times reports. Invoking Eisenhower’s Interstate program, Obama said “we will create millions of jobs,” possibly by funding some or all of $136 billion in infrastructure projects already approved by state governments. More»

DC lawyer, who has accepted post, oversaw VP selection; confirmation looks likely

(NEWSER) - Eric Holder, a former US Attorney, judge, and deputy attorney general under Bill Clinton, will be Barack Obama’s nominee to head the Justice Department, Newsweek reports. Sources say Holder has been considered for the post from the beginning, and he ran the Democrat’s vice-presidential search along with Caroline Kennedy. If confirmed, Holder would be the first African American Attorney General. More»