Elections

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.

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.

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.

Trevor Francis, communications director of the Republican National Committee, abruptly resigned Monday, and two Republican strategists familiar with the situation said he was pushed out because Chairman Michael Steele didn’t feel he was getting enough credit for the GOP’s electoral success earlier this month.

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

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.

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.

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

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.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. President Barack Obama honored a group of women Monday who have confronted Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe and said they had defied a dictator.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. acceptance of a treaty banning landmines is "long, long overdue" and President Barack Obama should use a 10-year review this weekend to announce plans to join the accord, anti-landmines campaigners said on Monday.

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

LOS ANGELES (AFP) - The daughter of former US presidential candidate John Kerry will not be charged after being arrested on suspicion of driving under the influence, Los Angeles prosecutors have said.

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.

Call it “pay as you fight.”

WASHINGTON (AFP) - The United States is "deeply involved" in efforts to help Iraqi rivals adopt an electoral law, but elections may be delayed, Secretary of Stage Hillary Clinton said Monday.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama assured Americans on Monday that boosting jobs was a top priority, but gave no specifics about how to meet this goal that some economists say warrants more government spending.

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.

Many Republicans have already announced their interest in running for the seat currently held by Rep. Dennis Moore (D-Kan.), who unexpectedly [@url@announced Monday morning@@http://www.kansascity.com/842/story/1587369.html@] that he would not run for re-election after six terms in the House.

It's been a bad few weeks for the Obama administration when it comes to climate change, as the White House has found itself trapped between a stalled Senate and constant hammering from world leaders on a lack of leadership on global warming.

TOPEKA, Kan. - 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."

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. lawmakers and exiled Chinese dissidents urged President Barack Obama on Monday to intervene with China's government on behalf of Jiang Tianyong, a rights activist who tried to see Obama while he was in China last week.

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

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.

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

BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Iraq's parliament on Monday approved an amended law needed to hold an election next year, but the new text risks being vetoed a second time -- which could delay both the vote and next year's partial U.S. troop withdrawal.

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.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama added a Monday night meeting with top advisers on Afghanistan to his schedule as he closes in on a decision on whether to send more U.S. troops.

President Obama on Monday unveiled a campaign intended to promote science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) education among children – an effort that includes about $260 million in financial support from companies like Time Warner Cable, Discovery Communications, Sony, and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.