Obama visits Edwards  —  Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) paid a secret visit to his former rival, John Edwards, in quest of his endorsement on Sunday.  —  The meeting in Chapel Hill, N.C., where Edwards lives, is the latest effort by Obama and Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-N.Y.) to win …

BILL SPARS WITH OBAMA SUPPORTER  —  From NBC/NJ's Mike Memoli  —  CANTON, OH — Robert Holeman came to Timken High School here today with a message to deliver to Bill Clinton.  He did — and he said the former president wasn't happy about it.  —  Clinton spoke to a capacity crowd …

USDA Orders Largest Meat Recall in U.S. History  —  The Agriculture Department has ordered the largest meat recall in its history — 143 million pounds of beef, a California meatpacker's entire production for the past two years — because the company did not prevent ailing animals from entering …

Democrats Should Read Kipling  —  Browsing through a used-book store Friday — in the Milwaukee airport, of all places — I came across a 1981 paperback collection of George Orwell's essays.  That's how I happened to reread his 1942 essay on Rudyard Kipling.

Russia denounces Kosovo declaration  —  MOSCOW - Russia denounced Kosovo's independence declaration Sunday, warning that the move threatened to ignite a new conflict in the Balkans and calling on NATO and U.N. officials in the territory to nix the decision.  —  Russia requested a meeting …

Tanzania Welcomes Bush, but Obama Is Topic No. 1 on the Streets  —  DAR ES SALAAM, Tanzania — President Bush has been smothered with affection here, never more so than on Sunday, when he sat at a wooden desk under a sweltering sun with President Jakaya Kikwete by his side and signed a $698 million grant of foreign aid to Tanzania.

For McCain, a Choice on a Role for Bush  —  WASHINGTON — Senator John McCain's campaign advisers will ask the White House to deploy President Bush for major Republican fund-raising, but they do not want the president to appear too often at his side, top aides to Mr. McCain said Sunday.

Count WHOSE Vote?  —  Based on exit polls, among the approximately 16.3 million people who identified themselves as Democrats, over 678,000 more voted for Hillary Clinton than Barack Obama.  If we-??re going to -??let the people decide" who the Democratic nominee would be, shouldn-?? …

In Washington State Vote, Relevance Is an Issue  —  SEATTLE — As many as 1.5 million votes are projected to be cast in Washington State's presidential primary on Tuesday.  The question is whether they will count.  —  The state is obliged to tally the numbers, of course …

Clinton would seek to try 9/11 plotters in established courts  —  If elected president, Hillary Clinton would ask the Justice Department to determine if alleged 9/11 plotters currently held at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, could be tried in civilian courts or regular military courts rather …

Poetic Political Commetary: Election (Under) Coverage  —  If you try really hard and know where to look, you can find the major presidential candidates' positions on important issues.  But you sure won't learn these things from what passes in this country for prime time election coverage...

Northern Rock Takeover Marks Risky Bet for U.K.  —  Surprise Move Reveals Global Crisis' Depth; Holders Decry Action  —  LONDON — The U.K. government has decided to take full control of troubled mortgage lender Northern Rock PLC, in a surprise move that reflects the depth of the global credit crisis …

Candidates on Message  —  MUNICH — Karl Wendl, an Austrian journalist and author and my neighbor at this Bavarian capital's annual conference on global security, gets a lot of fun out of the American election campaign for a mere $30 plus online charges.  —  Wendl is cranking up his BlackBerry …