Paterson Is Set to Name Senate Pick  —  ALBANY — Gov. David A. Paterson, after a confusing and even embarrassing two-month ordeal, said Thursday that he would announce a replacement to fill Hillary Rodham Clinton's Senate seat at noon on Friday.  —  Mr. Paterson made the announcement …

Obama flashes irritation in press room  —  President Obama made a surprise visit to the White House press corps Thursday night, but got agitated when he was faced with a substantive question.  —  Asked how he could reconcile a strict ban on lobbyists in his administration …

On Plane to Texas, Critiques of the Speech  —  WASHINGTON — On the plane, no longer Air Force One but now Special Air Mission 28000, they talked about the speech.  George W. Bush, the former president, was heading home to Texas with his inner circle, having just left the west front of the Capitol …

Freed by U.S., Saudi Becomes a Qaeda Chief  —  BEIRUT, Lebanon — The emergence of a former Guantánamo Bay detainee as the deputy leader of Al Qaeda's Yemeni branch has underscored the potential complications in carrying out the executive order President Obama signed Thursday that the detention center be shut down within a year.

Obama urges Israel to open Gaza borders  —  By Daniel Dombey in Washington and Tobias Buck in Jerusalem  —  President Barack Obama urged Israel on Thursday to open its borders with Gaza.  —  The plea came in a speech that signalled the new US administration's shift from Bush-era policy on the Middle East and the world as a whole.

Obama Orders Secret Prisons and Detention Camps Closed  —  WASHINGTON — Saying that “our ideals give us the strength and moral high ground” to combat terrorism, President Obama signed executive orders Thursday effectively ending the Central Intelligence Agency's secret interrogation program …

Obama to Bush: I Can Release Your Records.  Don't Like It?  Sue.  —  On his first day in office, President Obama put former president Bush on notice.  His administration just released an executive order that will make it difficult for Bush to shield his White House records …

Pa. defense firm raided by FBI  —  Federal agents raided the offices of a Western Pennsylvania defense contractor that has received millions in federal earmarks at the request of Rep. John Murtha, according to local media reports.  —  The offices of Kuchera Industries and Kuchera Defense Systems …

Glenn Beck freaks out about the missing Bible at Obama's do-over swearing in.»  —  Today on his new Fox News show, Glenn Beck panicked about the re-do oath of office President Obama took last night, because Obama did not place his hand on a Bible.  “I checked.

“Whore for the far-right”  —  The Huffington Post demonstrates its moral superiority and commitment to Obama-esque positivity by breaking out the w-word again.  They're incensed that conservatives on Fox News would dare to express dissenting views of the inaugural festivities.

John Thain's $87,000 Rug  —  Merrill Shocker: CEO Thain's $87,000 Office Rug by Charlie Gasparino  —  Full Coverage: Obama Inauguration, Bush Farewell  —  Blogs and Stories  —  In a Daily Beast/CNBC exclusive, Charlie Gasparino reveals how Merrill Lynch's CEO spent over $1 million …

Senate Gets Reacquainted With McCain the Maverick  —  He Chides Republicans Who Hindered Clinton  —  A joke made its way around the Capitol yesterday: How do you know the 2008 election is really over?  Because John McCain is causing trouble for Republicans again.

Our Struggle for the Soul of our Nation  —  In remarks delivered yesterday at the Cardinal O'Connor Conference on Life, Robert P. George reflected on the history of the pro-life movement and offered advice for its future.  —  Thirty-six years ago tomorrow, the Supreme Court of the United States handed …

Obama CIA choice won't call waterboarding torture  —  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama's choice to head the CIA declined on Thursday to call waterboarding “torture,” only days after his attorney general nominee condemned the interrogation practice as precisely that.

Clinically Depressed Poodle Mauls Former French President Chirac  —  Former French President Jacques Chirac was rushed to a hospital after being mauled by his pet dog who is being treated for depression, in a dramatic incident that rattled the ex-president's wife.

Obama bides time on abortion measure  —  It might have been the perfect symbolism for Barack Obama - abolishing a key anti-abortion provision on the very anniversary of the Roe v. Wade decision Thursday.  —  Yet Thursday came and went without Obama changing the rule, the way two presidents before him did on that day.

Unilateral al-Qaeda ceasefire with the U.S.?  —  Mohammed Essam Derbala, one of the leaders of the Egyptian al-Gama'a al-Islamiya, today called on Osama bin Laden and al-Qaeda to declare a unilateral four month ceasefire [hudna] with the United States to test Barack Obama's pledges to establish …

Geithner Hints at Harder Line on China Trade  —  WASHINGTON — Timothy F. Geithner, who moved closer to confirmation as Treasury secretary on Thursday, told senators that President Obama believed China was “manipulating” its currency, suggesting a more confrontational stance toward that country than under the Bush administration.

Frigid Fingers Were Live but the Music Wasn't  —  It was not precisely lip-synching, but pretty close.  —  The somber, elegiac tones before President Obama's oath of office at the inauguration on Tuesday came from the instruments of Yo-Yo Ma, Itzhak Perlman and two colleagues.

Who Expects To Gain — And Lose — Under Obama  —  More Americans say that people like themselves will gain influence under the Obama administration than was the case for the last two incoming presidents.  An analysis finds that those who think they will gain under the new president includes groups …

The New Anti-Semitism  —  Obama's put a dent in racism.  Will he defend Jews?  —  America has just thrown one of the world's biggest parties, rejoicing with good reason at the fall of the racial barrier to the White House.  But bigotry ebbs and flows on many fronts, and a question …