Retail Sales Plummet  —  Price-slashing failed to rescue a bleak holiday season for beleaguered retailers, as sales plunged across most categories on shrinking consumer spending, according to new data released Thursday.  —  Despite a flurry of last-minute shoppers lured by the deep discounts …

Little Blue Pills Among the Ways CIA Wins Friends in Afghanistan  —  The Afghan chieftain looked older than his 60-odd years, and his bearded face bore the creases of a man burdened with duties as tribal patriarch and husband to four younger women.  His visitor, a CIA officer, saw an opportunity …

Poll: Obama is man Americans admire most  —  WASHINGTON — A month before his inauguration, Americans choose Barack Obama as the man they admire most in the world, according to a new USA TODAY/Gallup Poll.  It's the first time a president-elect has topped the annual survey in more than a half-century.

Barack Be Good  —  Times have changed.  In 1996, President Bill Clinton, under siege from the right, declared that “the era of big government is over.”  But President-elect Barack Obama, riding a wave of revulsion over what conservatism has wrought, has said that he wants to “make government cool again.”

Expansion of Clinics Shapes a Bush Legacy  —  NASHVILLE — Although the number of uninsured and the cost of coverage have ballooned under his watch, President Bush leaves office with a health care legacy in bricks and mortar: he has doubled federal financing for community health centers …

Blagojevich Attorney Asks Illinois Panel to Subpoena Emanuel and Others  —  An attorney for Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich (D) has asked the legislative panel considering impeachment of the governor to subpoena more than a dozen witnesses, including President-elect Barack Obama's incoming chief of staff.

Chinese Savings Helped Inflate American Bubble  —  “Usually it's the rich country lending to the poor.  This time, it's the poor country lending to the rich.”  —  WASHINGTON — In March 2005, a low-key Princeton economist who had become a Federal Reserve governor coined a novel theory …

Naked man fights Harris deputies; dies after Taser shocks  —  A naked man who was banging on doors and windows at a northside apartment complex died Wednesday after being shocked by Tasers at least three times during a confrontation with Harris County sheriff's deputies, authorities said.

White House Press Corps Faces Unique Challenges in Hawaii  —  It's prime time and CNN's Ed Henry is standing on the white sand of Waikiki Beach, reporting live on President-elect Barack Obama's holiday vacation in Hawaii.  With the volcanic mountain Diamond Head in the distance …

Peace for the Mideast  —  How Our Plan Could Aid Barack Obama's Efforts  —  RIYADH, Saudi Arabia — President-elect Barack Obama is about to inherit not just a nation entrenched in two wars but a world of instability and an entire Middle East that is sick with discord.

Clinton Helping Clinton Retire Debt  —  Clinton Foundation Business Helps Reduce Hillary Clinton's Remaining Campaign Debt  —  Sen. Hillary Clinton's in-the-red campaign committee has found an innovative way to pay down a slice of its debt — and is getting help from President Clinton's foundation …

Obama Follows a Tradition of Testifying for Prosecutors  —  Every president for more than three decades has had to talk with federal prosecutors at one time or another.  President-elect Barack Obama may have set a land-speed record by giving his first interview to investigators even before taking the oath of office.