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U.S. Army Spc. Stoney Harper from Winsboro, So. Carolina, from the South Carolina National Guard guards an alley near the town of Baraki Barak, Logar province, Afghanistan, Monday, Nov. 23, 2009. (AP Photo/Dario Lopez-Mills)

Obama could lock in Afghanistan decision Monday

12 minutes ago

WASHINGTON - The White House said President Barack Obama could use an unusual evening war council session Monday to lock in his long-awaited decision on whether to commit tens of thousands of new U.S. forces to the stalemated war in Afghanistan.

  • Govt issues record 2.1M recall for dropside cribs 27 minutes ago

    WASHINGTON - More than 2.1 million drop-side cribs by Stork Craft Manufacturing are being recalled, the biggest crib recall in U.S history, following reports of four infant suffocations.

  • FILE - In this Nov. 19, 2009 file photo, shoppers prepare to load their car with purchases from a Kmart store in Somerville, Mass. This week, which will be abbreviated due to Thanksgiving, investors will look to reports on home sales, unemployment and consumer confidence and the start of the holiday shopping season on Friday for more insight into the direction of the economy. (AP Photo/Elise Amendola, File)
    AP-GfK Poll: Debt turning shoppers into Scrooges 12 minutes ago

    WASHINGTON - A lot more Americans are feeling stressed out by debt this holiday season, raising the glum likelihood they'll behave like Scrooge rather than Santa.

  • In this photo provided by CBS, Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., appears on CBS's 'Face the Nation' in Washington, Sunday, Nov. 22, 2009. (AP Photo/CBS Face the Nation, Karin Cooper) MANDATORY CREDIT, NO SALES,  NO ARCHIVE
    Schumer says failure not an option on health care 12 minutes ago

    WASHINGTON - Failure is not an option on health care, a leading Democratic senator said Monday, even as Republicans turned up the heat on moderates who hold the fate of the legislation in their hands.

  • Obama takes his leave a bit early, then returns 18 minutes ago

    WASHINGTON - President Barack Obama is getting used to leaving events before they end — even when he doesn't have to.

  • FBI Special Agent in Charge Ralph Boelter answers questions during a news conference, Monday, Nov. 23, 2009, in Minneapolis, about newly unsealed charges against eight defendant related to involvement with extremist groups in Somalia. U.S. Attorney for Minnesota B. Todd Jones looks on at right. (AP Photo/Star Tribune, David Denney) ST. PAUL PIONEER PRESS OUT. MINNEAPOLIS-AREA TV NOT TV. MAGS OUT.
    Charges unsealed in missing Somalis terror probe 50 minutes ago

    MINNEAPOLIS - Promising both "true brotherhood" and "fun," several Somali men convinced fellow immigrants in Minneapolis to return to their East African homeland and take up arms with a terrorist group, according to federal charges unsealed Monday against eight individuals.

  • Ryan Damm, 19, a swine flu patient whose life was saved by using a lung-bypass technology called ECMO, sees his physician, Dr. Jeff DeMare at Children's Hospital of Omaha in Omaha, Neb., Friday, Nov. 20, 2009. A technology originally developed for premature babies may be helping to save some of the sickest swine flu patients, by rerouting their blood so their lungs can rest. (AP Photo/Nati Harnik)
    Trying last-ditch lung bypass for worst swine flu 29 minutes ago

    WASHINGTON - A technology originally developed for premature babies may be helping to save some of the sickest swine flu patients by rerouting their blood so their lungs can rest.

  • Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi and Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, speak to the media prior their meeting at her office on Capitol Hill in Washington, Monday, Nov. 23, 2009. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)
    Indian PM says Pakistan must reject terror 9 minutes ago

    WASHINGTON - Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said Monday that the world must press Pakistan to stop supporting terrorists who continue to target India.

  • President Barack Obama, right, and Ethyl Kennedy, second from right, watch as Robert F. Kennedy Human Right Award recipients Jenni Williams, left, and Magodonga Mahlangu, second from left, receive their award in the East Room of the White House in Washington, Nov., 23, 2009. Williams is the Founder of Women of Zimbabwe Arise (WOZA) and Magodonga is a member of the human right group. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)
    Zimbabwe women, receiving rights award, speak out 32 minutes ago

    WASHINGTON - President Barack Obama praised representatives of a women's organization whose members have been beaten by Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe's police force and face court trials for challenging Zimbabwe's government. He said their grassroots efforts could improve the African country.

  • U.S. Army Stf. Sgt. Leslie Harbin from East Over, S.C., left,  and Stf. Sgt. Joseph Timms from Williamston, S.C. foreground, belonging to the South Carolina National Guard patrol near the town of Baraki Barak, Logar province, Afghanistan Monday Nov. 23, 2009. (AP Photo/Dario Lopez-Mills)
    Obama calls security meeting on Afghanistan Mon Nov 23, 1:58 PM ET

    WASHINGTON - 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.

  • Defense Secretary Roberty Gates, third from left, watches as President Barack Obama speaks during a meeting with members of his Cabinet in the Cabinet Room of the White House in Washington, Monday, Nov. 23, 2009. Also seated at the table are Secretary of Sate Hillary Rodham Clinton, left, Commerce Secretary Gary Locke, second from right, and Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood, right. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)
    Obama: US economy has 'core strengths' 1 hour, 12 minutes ago

    WASHINGTON - President Barack Obama said Monday the nation's economy is in good shape for the long term thanks to "core strengths" such as its universities, its innovation and a dynamic workforce.

  • More anti-gay, religious-motivated crimes reported Mon Nov 23, 3:12 PM ET

    WASHINGTON - Reports of hate crimes against gays and religious groups increased sharply in 2008, according to FBI data released Monday.

  • Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., embraces Sen. Chris Dodd, D-Conn as he speaks after the U.S. Senate voted to begin debate on legislation for a broad healthcare overhaul at Capitol Hill in Washington on Saturday, Nov. 21, 2009, as Sen. Tom Harkin, D-Iowa  looks on. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)
    For Reid, Dodd, clout on big issues cuts both ways 1 hour, 57 minutes ago

    WASHINGTON - 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.

  • President Barack Obama, center, poses for a group photo with local area students at the Executive Office Building in the White House complex, in Washington, Monday, Nov. 23, 2009. Earlier Obama spoke about several initiatives designed to boost science, technology, engineering, and mathematics education. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais)
    Obama to honor young inventors at science fair Mon Nov 23, 1:34 PM ET

    WASHINGTON - Hey kids, grab those beakers and Petri dishes, the White House is going to hold a science fair.

  • Iraqi Shiite protesters chant slogans against the veto made by  Iraq's Sunni Arab vice president Tariq al-Hashemi on the election law in Basra, Iraq's second-largest city, 550 kilometers (340 miles) southeast of Baghdad,on Friday, Nov. 20, 2009. Iraqi lawmakers will vote Saturday on how to break a deadlock over a key election law after a vice president vetoed the legislation, causing a crisis that could delay a national vote scheduled for January and affect the timetable for an American troop withdrawal.(AP Photo/Nabil al-Jurani)
    Clinton says Iraqi election might be delayed Mon Nov 23, 12:20 PM ET

    WASHINGTON - Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton is holding out the possibility that Iraq's national election could be delayed beyond January because of a dispute over the allocation of seats in parliament.

  • FILE - In this Oct. 31, 2002 file photo, then-Maryland Democratic gubernatorial candidate Lt. Gov. Kathleen Kennedy Townsend is embraced by her uncle, Sen. Edward Kennedy, D-Mass., at a campaign rally at Bowie State University in Bowie, Md. The late Sen. Edward Kennedy will be a tough act to follow, even for the Kennedys. Kennedy's brain-cancer death, coupled with the decision by family members not to seek the seat he held for nearly five decades, has prompted plenty of speculation that the family's long-running political dynasty is over. (AP Photo/Roberto Borea, File)
    Sizing up the Kennedy dynasty's next generation Mon Nov 23, 6:38 AM ET

    WASHINGTON - 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.

  • Morning commuters drive past the Federal Reserve Bank building in Washington March 18, 2009. REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst
    Analysis: Fed under fire as public anger mounts Mon Nov 23, 3:34 AM ET

    WASHINGTON - Suddenly the Federal Reserve is everybody's punching bag.

  • Graphic shows percentage of women 40 years and older having a mammogram by race and cervical cancer incidence and mortality rates per 100,000 population
    Mammogram guidelines spark debate over health bill Sun Nov 22, 3:41 PM ET

    WASHINGTON - Lawmakers broke along party lines on a new aspect of the health care debate Sunday as a former National Institutes of Health chief urged women to ignore guidelines that delay the start of breast cancer screenings.

  • Warming's impacts sped up, worsened since Kyoto Mon Nov 23, 12:00 AM ET

    WASHINGTON - Since the 1997 international accord to fight global warming, climate change has worsened and accelerated — beyond some of the grimmest of warnings made back then.

  • Democrats: Health care bill saves money and jobs Sun Nov 22, 11:53 AM ET

    WASHINGTON - 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.