Happening Now

GOP wary of peaking too soon, despite lead
By Seth McLaughlin - The Washington Times
The caution of appearing overconfident comes despite polls released this week showing voters think Republicans are more fit to handle most of the country's pressing issues and that the GOP holds an "unprecedented" lead over Democrats in a new Gallup Poll. Published 8:06 p.m. September 2, 2010
Mobs attack home of Iranian opposition leader
By Brian Murphy and Nasser Karimi - Associated Press
Pro-government crowds swarmed outside the battered home of a key Iranian opposition leader Friday after militiamen attacked with firebombs and beat a bodyguard unconscious in a brazen message of intimidation and pinpoint pressure on dissent. Published 7:53 p.m. September 3, 2010
U.N. report on Congo genocide strengthenedTWT World
Pakistan Taliban bombing kills 43 Shi'itesWorld
U.N. nuclear chief asks Israel to join treatyWorld

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Question of the Day

Will you be affected by Hurricane Earl?

Photo Galleries

Clinton hosts Mideast talks
Sec. of State Hillary Clinton host talks between Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in Washington.
8 Photos
Hurricane Earl spins along East Coast
Hurricane Earl with winds hovering around 115 mph barrels toward the Eastern Seaboard of the United States.
14 Photos
Activist gunman killed after tense standoff
James J. Lee, the gunman who on Wednesday took three hostages at the Discovery Channel headquarters in Silver Spring, is killed by police.
11 Photos
Pakistan bombing kills 25
Three bombs are detonated during a Shi'ite Muslim religious procession, killing 25 in the eastern Pakistan city of Lahore.
7 Photos
Mideast peace talks commence
President Obama on Wednesday hosts the first Israeli-Palestinian peace talks in two years in the Oval Office of the White House.
19 Photos
Obama meets with troops
President Obama travels to Fort Bliss to speak with the troops, before addressing the nation and formally ending the combat mission in Iraq.
11 Photos
Anti-Kremlin protests
Russian police broke up unauthorized anti-Kremlin protests in Moscow and St. Petersburg, detaining dozens of demonstrators.
14 Photos
Oval Office decor
A behind the scenes look at the renovations to the Oval Office of the White House, including a new carpet, drapes, wallpaper and furniture.
12 Photos
Clemens pleads 'not guilty'
Seven-time Cy Young winner Roger Clemens has pleaded not guilty in federal court to charges of lying to Congress about whether he used steroids.
6 Photos
Biden steadfastly optimistic about midterms
Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. implores Democrats not to fall victim to pessimism about midterm elections at the summer meeting of the Democratic National Committee.
6 Photos

A passer-by walks past a store-front window featuring a placard depicting Hurricane Earl, in Chatham, Mass., Friday, Sept. 3, 2010. Some shops in the town have boarded their windows in anticipation of the storm. (AP Photo/Steven Senne)

Earl threatens Mass. with wind, rain, surf

By Bob Salsberg - Associated Press

A weakening but still dangerous Hurricane Earl dumped wind-driven rain on Cape Cod's gray-shingled cottages and fishing villages Friday night, disrupting people's vacations on the unofficial final weekend of the short New England summer. Published 7:28 a.m. September 3, 2010

updated 4 minutes ago

People stand outside a building damaged by a 7.4-magnitude earthquake in central Christchurch, New Zealand, early Saturday, Sept. 4, 2010. A powerful 7.4-magnitude earthquake struck much of New Zealand's South Island early Saturday. No tsunami alert was issued and there were no reports of injuries, but looters broke into some damaged shops in Christchurch, police said. (AP Photo/NZPA, David Alexander)

New Zealand hit by 7.1 earthquake

By Associated Press

A powerful 7.1-magnitude earthquake struck much of New Zealand's South Island early Saturday and caused widespread damage, but there were just two reports of serious injuries. Looters broke into some damaged shops in Christchurch, police said. Published 2:12 p.m. September 3, 2010

updated 3 hours, 31 minutes ago

President Obama reports on the economy as the latest unemployment figures are released, Friday, Sept. 3, 2010, in the Rose Garden at the White House in Washington. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

Jobless rate rose to 9.6 percent in Aug.

By Patrice Hill - The Washington Times

Growth in jobs last month was not fast enough to prevent the unemployment rate from ticking up to 9.6 percent from 9.5 percent, the Labor Department reported Friday morning. Published 9:46 a.m. September 3, 2010

updated 10 hours, 28 minutes ago

Republican Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer, shown waiting for a televised Arizona gubernatorial debate to begin Wednesday, Sept. 1, 2010, in Phoenix. (AP Photo/Matt York)

Ariz. governor recants beheadings statement

By Amanda Lee Myers and Paul Davenport - Associated Press

Gov. Jan Brewer rose to national fame defending the state's immigration law and warning of rising violence along the U.S.-Mexico border, including a claim that headless bodies were turning up in the Arizona desert. Published 10:04 p.m. September 3, 2010

Latest Video

Politics

Ariz. governor recants beheadings statement

By Amanda Lee Myers and Paul Davenport - Associated Press

National

FILE - In a March 10, 2003 file photo,Dr. Thomas Butler leaves the Mahon Federal Building in Lubbock, Texas, after a federal judge sentenced him to 24 months in federal prison, fined $15,000, and ordered to pay $38,000 in restitution after Butler's report of missing plague-causing bacteria caused a bioterrorism scare. A senior law enforcement official said Friday, Sept. 3, 2010 that officials decided to shut down much of Miami International Airport Thursday after a database showed Butler, a scientist with a suspicious item in his luggage, had once been charged with illegally transporting bubonic plague. (AP Photo / Lubbock Avalanche-Journal, Jim Watkins, File)

Scientist in '03 plague scare sets off airport shutdown

By Curt Anderson and Jennifer Kay - Associated Press

updated 24 minutes ago

The suspicions airport security officials had when they saw the metal canister grew when they learned about the man who brought it in from the Middle East: a scientist who sparked a bioterrorism scare after he reported missing vials of plague samples seven years ago. Published 8:21 a.m. September 3, 2010

Amtrak hired private lawyers for executivesTWT
Jobless rate rose to 9.6 percent in Aug.TWT
updated 10 hours, 28 minutes ago
Former egg farm workers say complaints ignored
Earl threatens Mass. with wind, rain, surf
updated 4 minutes ago
Preciado captured in MexicoTWT
Bernanke out of moves, critics sayTWT

Election

ASSOCIATED PRESS
Rep. Chet Edwards (right) listens to Army veteran Dan Poluda at the VFW post in West, Texas, on Wednesday.

Veteran Democrats vulnerable

By Angela K. Brown - Associated Press

Rep. Chet Edwards consistently makes the list of the most vulnerable Democrats; he hails from a district that gave Republican John McCain a whopping 67 percent of the presidential vote in 2008. Published 8:06 p.m. September 2, 2010

Inside Politics

World

U.N. report on Congo genocide strengthened

By Ashish Kumar Sen - The Washington Times

A draft U.N. report accusing the Rwandan army of massacring Hutus in the Democratic Republic of the Congo in the 1990s is corroborated by findings of an international human rights group. Published 2:55 p.m. September 3, 2010

Pakistan Taliban bombing kills 43 Shi'ites
updated 9 hours, 51 minutes ago
New Zealand hit by 7.1 earthquake
updated 3 hours, 31 minutes ago
U.N. nuclear chief asks Israel to join treaty
Mexican soldiers kill 25 in gunbattle near border
Fidel Castro wears full military uniform at speech
Crowds attack home of Iranian opposition leader

Security

Draft alien-detention rules could run afoul of the law, senators say

By Stephen Dinan - The Washington Times

The Obama administration could be breaking the law if it follows through on guidance that would mean the government detains fewer illegal immigrants, two top Republican senators said in a warning letter to the Department of Homeland Security this week. Published 9:30 p.m. September 2, 2010