Barack Obama administration ‘prepared to talk to Hamas’  —  The incoming Obama administration is prepared to abandon George Bush's ­doctrine of isolating Hamas by establishing a channel to the Islamist organisation, sources close to the transition team say.

Palin: Media goes easy on Kennedy  —  Gov. Sarah Palin (R-Alaska) believes Caroline Kennedy is getting softer press treatment in her pursuit of the New York Senate seat than Palin did as the GOP vice presidential nominee because of Kennedy's social class.  —  “I've been interested …

Lei-off: Obama snubs Dean  —  The conspicuous absence of Howard Dean from Thursday's press conference announcing Tim Kaine's appointment as Democratic National Committee chair was no accident, according to Dean loyalists.  —  Rather, they say, it was a reflection of the lack of respect accorded …

Key Senate Democrats blast Obama tax proposals  —  WASHINGTON (CNN) — Even as President-elect Barack Obama was giving a major address on his economic stimulus plan, it was running into trouble with key members of his own party on Capitol Hill.  —  Several Senate Democrats emerged …

Obama serves Reid taste of Chicago Way  —  So the Chicago Way hauled off and slapped the U.S. Senate in the face—one of those backhands with the knuckles to unsuspecting lips—and guess who blinked?  —  It wasn't Chicago.  —  It was the Senate.  —  Get used to it, America.

High-Profile Doctor in Gaza Called an ‘Apologist for Hamas’  —  A high-profile Norwegian doctor who has said the September 11 terrorists were justified in their attack is now treating patients in Gaza and is being accused of presenting “hard-core propaganda” to TV interviewers in his telling of the conflict between Hamas and Israel.

Former FEMA director among evacuated  —  Michael D. Brown, former director of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, was among those forced to flee his home by the Olde Stage Road Fire.  —  Brown's home north of Boulder was spared, but he and his wife, Tamarra, spent Wednesday night at a friend's rental apartment in nearby Longmont.

The Bush Administration's Most Despicable Act  —  “This is not the America I know,” President George W. Bush said after the first, horrifying pictures of U.S. troops torturing prisoners at the Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq surfaced in April 2004.  The President was not telling the truth.

Nationwide Inquiry on Bids for Municipal Bonds  —  The federal investigation that prompted Gov. Bill Richardson of New Mexico to withdraw his nomination as commerce secretary offers a rare glimpse into a long-simmering investigation of possible bid-rigging, tax evasion and other wrongdoing throughout the municipal bond business.

UN backs ceasefire call for Gaza  —  Diplomats cast their vote on the resolution  —  The UN Security Council has passed a resolution urging an immediate ceasefire between Israel and Hamas in Gaza, with the US alone abstaining.  —  The UK-drafted resolution also calls for a full Israeli withdrawal …

Jan. 1 Attack By CIA Killed Two Leaders Of Al-Qaeda  —  A New Year's Day CIA strike in northern Pakistan killed two top al-Qaeda members long sought by the United States, including the man believed to be behind September's deadly suicide bombing at a Marriott hotel in the Pakistani capital …

Conyers: Obama Should Not Nominate Sanjay Gupta  —  Rep. John Conyers has written a letter to Democratic colleagues urging them to join him in publicly opposing the nomination of Dr. Sanjay Gupta for Surgeon General.  —  Conyers, the veteran Judiciary Committee chairman, writes that Gupta …

Eric Holder pushed for controversial clemency  —  As deputy attorney general in 1999, Holder — now attorney general nominee — pressed subordinates to drop objections to clemency for 16 members of violent Puerto Rican nationalist organizations.  —  Reporting from Washington …

Geithner Preparing Overhaul Of Bailout  —  Obama Team Broadens Scope to Secure Final $350 Billion for Rescue  —  Confronted with intense skepticism on Capitol Hill over the $700 billion financial rescue program, Treasury Secretary nominee Timothy F. Geithner and President-elect Barack Obama's economic team …

Questions surround shooting of baseballer's son  —  (CNN) — Robbie Tolan sits in a Houston, Texas, hospital bed with a bullet from a police officer's gun lodged in his liver.  The son of a famed baseball player was shot in his own driveway.  —  But how this unarmed 23-year-old …

Report of possible P-I sale surprises papers' leaders  —  The future of one of Seattle's two daily newspapers was called into question Thursday by a TV station report, though top leaders at both papers appeared surprised by the report.  —  KING 5 reported at about 5 p.m. that …

Paterson notes Kennedy's ‘lack of elected experience’  —  ALBANY - Caroline Kennedy's lack of elected office experience “does not help her” in her quest to represent New York in the U.S. Senate, Gov. David Paterson told The Buffalo News this morning.  —  “The notion that I have to take Caroline …

Obama Recommends Delay in Digital TV Switch  —  Six weeks before the nation's television stations are scheduled to convert to digital transmission, an aide to President-elect Barack Obama is asking Congress to consider a delay.  —  In the most significant sign to date of concern …