Politics News

WASHINGTON - President-elect Barack Obama's decision to fill the nation's top intelligence jobs with two men short on direct experience in intelligence gathering surprised the spy community and signaled the Democrat's intention for a clean break from Bush administration policies.

WASHINGTON - President-elect Barack Obama plunged into rare pre-inaugural crisis talks with congressional leaders Monday, declaring the national economy was "bad and getting worse" and embracing tax cuts now expected to reach $300 billion. He predicted lawmakers would approve a mammoth revitalization package within two weeks of his taking office.

WASHINGTON - Parts of three remote and uninhabited Pacific island chains are being set aside by President George W. Bush as national monuments to protect them from oil and gas extraction and commercial fishing in what will be the largest marine conservation effort in history.

WASHINGTON - Joe Biden is heading to Southwest Asia just days before becoming vice president, a visit that signals the new administration's plans to make the troubled region an immediate priority.

ST. PAUL, Minn. - A Minnesota board on Monday certified results showing Democrat Al Franken winning the state's U.S. Senate recount over Republican Norm Coleman, whose lawyer promised a legal challenge that probably will keep the race in limbo for months.

WASHINGTON, (AFP) - The new US Senate is set to convene in a swirl of allegations of corruption, voter fraud and dynastic nepotism that threatens to dog the early days of Barack Obama's presidency.

WASHINGTON - Spending on health care slowed slightly in 2007 as consumers turned more to generic drugs instead of brand-names to fill their medicine cabinets, the government reported Monday.

WASHINGTON - Motorists are driving less and buying less gasoline, which means fuel taxes aren't raising enough money to keep pace with the cost of road, bridge and transit programs.

WASHINGTON - Since taking control of the Gaza Strip in 2007, Hamas has adopted the rocket tactics used by Lebanese Hezbollah, shifting away from its reliance on suicide bombers in attacks on Israel.

UNITED NATIONS - The United Nations said Monday there is an "increasingly alarming" humanitarian crisis in Gaza, directly contradicting Israeli denials that its offensive caused the growing problem.

UNITED NATIONS - The Palestinians urged the U.N. Security Council on Monday to quickly adopt a resolution calling for an immediate end to Israeli attacks in Gaza and a permanent cease-fire, including international border monitors and an international force to protect civilians.

MOSCOW (AFP) - World leaders hardened their rhetoric and expressed mounting concern about the impact on civilians of the fighting in Gaza Monday, as Israel rejected diplomatic efforts to bring it to an end.

WASHINGTON - President-elect Barack Obama on Monday chose the dean at his alma mater, Harvard Law School, to represent the United States before the Supreme Court.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President-elect Barack Obama filled top Justice Department posts on Monday with four former Clinton administration lawyers, including naming the Harvard Law School dean to argue the government's position in U.S. Supreme Court cases.

WASHINGTON - Chief Justice John Roberts said Wednesday that Congress should be as generous to judges as it already has been to itself, by approving an inflation-related increase in their pay.

WASHINGTON (AFP) - The Bush family's 18-year-old cat, India, has died at the White House, First Lady Laura Bush's office announced Monday.

President George W. Bush will leave behind a legacy of Bushisms, the label stamped on the commander in chief's original speaking style. Some of the president's more notable malaprops and mangled statements:

WASHINGTON - President-elect Barack Obama's decision to fill the nation's top intelligence jobs with two men short on direct experience in intelligence gathering surprised the spy community and signaled the Democrat's intention for a clean break from Bush administration policies.