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  Obama to plead US case at global warming summit

  President Barack Obama will commit the United States to substantial cuts in greenhouse gas pollution over the next decade — despite resistance in Congress over higher costs — when he travels to a major climate conference in Copenhagen next month.

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  INSIDE WASHINGTON: Stream of WH health care visits

  President Barack Obama's top aides met frequently with lobbyists and health care industry heavyweights as his administration pieced together a national health care overhaul, according to White House visitor records obtained by The Associated Press.

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  Ex-CNN host Lou Dobbs weighs Senate run in NJ

  Former CNN host Lou Dobbs is seriously considering running for U.S. Senate in New Jersey in 2012 as a stepping stone to a possible White House bid — a congressional matchup that would pit one of illegal immigration's biggest critics against a champion for immigrant rights.

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  Couple slips though security to crash state dinner

  Crashing a state dinner at the White House apparently takes a security breakdown as well as some kind of nerve.

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  Obama will unveil Afghan troops move at West Point

  President Barack Obama plans to announce a redrawn battle plan for Afghanistan, including what the military says could be a roughly 50 percent increase in U.S. forces, in a national address Tuesday night from the U.S. Military Academy.

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  Obama family distributes Thanksgiving treats

  The Obama family passed out turkeys, stuffing and other Thanksgiving favorites to people at a food pantry organization.

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  Toyota to replace gas pedals on 4 million vehicles

  Toyota plans to replace the gas pedals on 4 million vehicles in the United States because the pedals can get stuck in the floor mats and cause sudden acceleration, a flaw that led to the sixth-largest recall ever in the U.S.

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  Obama's first pardon: A turkey named Courage

  After 10 months in office, President Barack Obama on Wednesday granted his first pardon — to Courage, a 45-pound turkey spared from the Thanksgiving table.

• US welcomes Israeli settlement moratorium

  The Obama administration on Wednesday welcomed Israel's decision to temporarily freeze new construction in Jewish settlements in the West Bank as a step toward restarting Israeli-Palestinian peace talks.

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  Indian PM warns Pakistan on terrorism

  India's prime minister said Wednesday that Pakistan must do more to punish the masterminds of last year's terrorist attacks in the Indian financial capital.

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  U.S. will be out of Afghanistan by 2017: White House

  The United States will not be in Afghanistan eight years from now, the White House said on Wednesday, as President Barack Obama prepared to explain to Americans next week why he is expanding the war effort.

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  Obama offers U.S. climate cut, to attend Copenhagen

  The United States unveiled its proposal to cut greenhouse gases by 2020 on Wednesday and said President Barack Obama will attend U.N. climate talks in Copenhagen next month -- before other world leaders show up.

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  Obama's agenda runs into economic angst in Congress

  President Barack Obama is paying a price for a recession that began before he took office, and fellow Democrats have started to balk at his legislative agenda and demand greater efforts to create jobs.

• Credit card usury bill coming soon in House

  Several congressional Democrats said on Wednesday they plan to introduce legislation next week to cap credit card interest rates.

• Health public option fight - symbol over substance

  The fight over a U.S. government-run public insurance plan may be getting louder and noisier, but for now the program's political symbolism far exceeds its practical impact on expanding health coverage.

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  India's PM Singh says assured by U.S. on Pakistan

  Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said on Wednesday he was assured that U.S. influence on Pakistan would help prod Islamabad to crack down on militants who target India.

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  Israeli settlement limits may help peace effort: U.S.

  An Israeli decision on Wednesday to limit settlement construction in the West Bank fell short of the U.S. goal of a full freeze but was more than previous government have done and could advance peace efforts, U.S. officials said.

• Gay marriage losing support in New Jersey: poll

  New Jersey voters are split on whether to legalize gay marriage, but more people now oppose it than support it, a poll found on Wednesday.

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  U.S. landmines policy still under review

  A review of U.S. landmines policy is ongoing and will take awhile to complete, a State Department spokesman said on Wednesday, clarifying an earlier comment that the Obama administration had concluded it needed the weapons.

• Salazar blasts critics of U.S. energy policy

  Interior Secretary Ken Salazar on Tuesday fired back at critics who claim he's not supportive enough of domestic energy production, saying their accusations have the same "poison and substance of election-year politics."

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  Wang Zifei, 'Beauty In Black Beside Obama,' Becomes A Sensation In China, Speaks Out (PHOTOS)

  Whether or not you consider President Obama's visit to China to have been a diplomatic success, it did manage to turn one young Chinese woman into the country's version of the infamous 'Obama Girl.' Wang Zifei, a student at Shanghai Jiao Tong University, attended Obama's town hall at the Shanghai ...

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  Michelle Obama Pictures UPDATE: Offensive Image REMOVED, Google 'SORRY' (PHOTO)

  UPDATE: The offensive Michell Obama picture has reportedly been removed from the website, Hot Girls, that posted the image. The Hot Girls blog posted a short explanation in Chinese, along with a loosely translated apology in English, explaining, "I am very sorry for this article, and that this is ...

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  Scott Stapp: Oral Sex Tape With Kid Rock Not Actual Sex

  Creed's Scott Stapp and Kid Rock may have been caught on camera receiving blow jobs from groupies on a tour bus in 1999, but the Christian rocker insists they did not have sex with those women. "Wel, there's no sex on the sex tape.

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  State Dinner Arrivals PHOTOS: Who Was Best-Dressed? (PICTURES, POLL, VIDEO)

  The red carpet was rolled out in Washington on Tuesday night as President and First Lady Obama welcomed Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and his wife Gursharan Kaur for their first official WhiteHouse state dinner.

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  Robin Williams Takes On Sarah Palin (VIDEO)

  Robin Williams stopped by the "Late Show" this week to promote his new movie "Old Dogs" and ended up trying out some Palin material. "It's wonderful, I went looking for her book and I found it in te fantasy aisle.

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  Michelle Obama's State Dinner Dress By Naeem Khan (PHOTOS, POLL, VIDEO)

  Michelle Obama looked dazzling in a sleeveless gold dress and shawl as she and President Obama welcome Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and his wife Mrs. Gursharan Kaur for the first official state dinnr on Tuesday night.

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  Too Fat To Graduate? Lincoln University's BMI Requirement Causes Uproar

  Lincoln University students now have one more hurdle to pass before they graduate: losing weight. According to a recently instituted requirement, university students with a body mass index (BMI) over30 will have to take a physical education class in order to receive their diploma.

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  JLo FALLS At The AMAs (VIDEO)

  Jennifer Lopez took a spill during her performance at Sunday's American Music Awards. After climbing a stair of dancers and jumping off, JLo landed on her butt instead of her feet, but she made a qick recovery.

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  State Dinner Guest List FULL UPDATE: Who's In, Who's Out

  5:45 UPDATE: The White House has released the list of expected attendees: Check out our State Dinner Big News page and follow the state dinner LIVE on Twitter! THE WHITE HOUSE Office of the Press Secretary _____________________________ FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE November 24, 2009 Below is a list...

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  Will The Unemployment Disaster Be Obama's Katrina?

  There's a Category 5 storm about to make landfall, and the president and the officials in charge of preparing for the approaching disaster don't seem to be particularly worried. Sound familiar? Just as Katrina exposed critical weaknesses in the priorities and competence of the Bush administration,...

• FDR Invoked God, Too;Pat Robertson Isn't the First Politician With the Lord on His Side

  "THE FUNDAMENTAL basis of this nation's law was given to Moses on the Mount. The fundamental basis of our Bill of Rights comes from the teachings which we get from Exodus and St. Matthew, from Isaiahand St.

• In Afghanistan speech, Obama will outline both escalation and exit

  When he talks to the nation next week about his Afghanistan strategy, President Obama will face the central challenge of explaining why he is escalating an eight-year-old war that is increasingly unppular with the American public, while he also outlines plans for ending it.

• Obama hails Manmohan Singh, hails India's regional role

  President Obama on Tuesday welcomed Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, who is in Washington for the first state visit under the Obama administration, and moved to calm India's concerns that the United Sttes is neglecting the Asian power as it seeks closer ties with China and Pakistan, India's.

• Fewer Americans believe in global warming, poll shows

  The percentage of Americans who believe global warming is happening has dipped from 80 to 72 percent in the past year, according to a new Washington Post-ABC News poll, even as a majority still suppot a national cap on greenhouse gas emissions.

• Officials: Census worker hanged himself

  The Census Bureau employee found dead in September killed himself and staged his death to look like a homicide, state and federal law enforcement officials said Tuesday.

• President Obama welcomes Indian Prime Minister Manmohon Singh to the White House

  OBAMA: Prime Minister Singh, Mrs. Gursharan Kaur, members of the Indian delegation, on behalf of Michelle and myself, it is a great pleasure to welcome you to the White House.

• Washington Sketch: Seeing a setback in the race against breast cancer

  Nancy Brinker, the breast cancer activist who painted the world pink, was feeling blue.

• Fine Print: The two sides of Hamid Karzai

  One of President Obama's problems, as he wrestles with choosing a new strategy for Afghanistan, is which Hamid Karzai he is dealing with: the leader who set out specific, promising goals in his inaugral address last week, or the apparently bitter and defensive politician seen in a PBS interview .

• The ultimate crop rotation: Wealthy nations outsource crops to Ethiopia's farmlands

  BAKO, ETHIOPIA -- In recent months, the Ethiopian government began marketing abroad one of the hottest commodities in an increasingly crowded and hungry world: farmland.

• Support for legalizing marijuana gaining ground rapidly

  The same day they rejected a gay marriage ballot measure, residents of Maine voted overwhelmingly to allow the sale of medical marijuana over the counter at state-licensed dispensaries.

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• What Karadzic Did to Bosnia

  Former Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadzic is on trial, but whatever the outcome, the pain of war will remain.

• The Big Freak Out

  The downfall of the brains behind the Freakonomics phenomenon.

• Pacific Angst

  As Obama heads to Asia, some worry that American influence in the region is diminishing -- but most nations still prefer the United States as a strategic ally over rival neighbors.  

• No One Left to Blame

  Why Radovan Karadzic's trial won't heal Bosnia's divisions.

• No Good Choices

  You might think Afghanistan's fate lies in U.S. President Barack Obama's forthcoming strategic decision on troop levels. But the picture is bleak, no matter what.

• Destroying al Qaeda Is Not an Option (Yet)

  If the world's most notorious network goes down, terrorism will get a whole lot messier.

• Calm Down, Chávez

  War-mongering Venezuela is stirring up trouble down south again. But will he really go to war with Colombia this time around?

• Briefing Book: Iran's Sanctions

  What could sanctions against Iran really do?

• Europe After the Berlin Wall: 4 Surprises

  For Europe the effects of the Berlin Wall's collapse were almost as surprising as the fall itself. Here are 4 of the unexpected consequences that the end of the Soviet Union had for Europe -- ones evn the experts didn't see coming.

• Please Send More Than Troops

  If the window closes to fix Afghanistan's government, more boots on the ground won't matter.

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• 21 lawmaking days left for House

  It will put in a couple of five-day work weeks as Dems rush to finish their agenda before Christmas.

• Jenny Sanford endorses in gov race

  Wife of embattled S.C. governor endorses GOP state Rep. Nikki Haley to replace her term-limited husband.

• U.N. chief pushes Senate on climate

  U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon urges the Senate to move forward on climate change legislation.

• 'No easy way out' for Dems on abortion

  Should Dems support a bill that imposes limits on abortion access or demand one that might fund it with taxpayer money?

• Health vote shatters abortion cease-fire

  Should Dems support a bill that imposes limits on abortion access or demand one that might fund it with taxpayer money?

• Health vote shatters abortion ceasefire

  Should Dems support a bill that imposes limits on abortion access or demand one that might fund it with taxpayer money?

• We shouldn't be attacking our own

  In an Ideas piece, Whitman takes RNC Chairman Michael Steele to task for his handling of the GOP.

• Emanuel keeps call for settlement halt

  W.H. Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel stands behinds the call for Israel to freeze settlement activity.

• Health vote pits Democrat vs. Democrat

  Dems who voted against the health care bill are facing serious blowback from liberals.

• Deal makers pushed limits

  Last-minute deals on the House health reform vote didn't escape notice.

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