Politics - AP

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.

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.

MINNEAPOLIS - Federal prosecutors unsealed new terror-related charges against eight people on Monday as part of the long-running investigation of young men who left the United States to fight in Somalia.

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 Indian and U.S. officials will sign a memorandum intended to improve cooperation on energy security, clean energy and climate change.

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 - 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.

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

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.

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

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 - 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.

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

WASHINGTON - After the beatings by President Robert Mugabe's policemen, the overcrowded, lice-ridden jail cells, the degradation of nightly strip-searches, Jenni Williams and Magondonga Mahlangu still cling to hope for Zimbabwe.

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.

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.

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.

WASHINGTON - The former director of the National Institutes of Health is advising women to ignore new guidelines that delay the start of routine mammogram testing for breast cancer.