Obama's Order Is Likely to Tighten Auto Standards  —  WASHINGTON — President Obama will direct federal regulators on Monday to move swiftly on an application by California and 13 other states to set strict automobile emission and fuel efficiency standards, two administration officials said Sunday.

Republicans Are Resistant to Obama's Stimulus Plan  —  Republicans plan to test President Obama's commitment to bipartisanship as his $825 billion stimulus package heads to the floor of the House of Representatives this week, with the House Republican leader saying Sunday morning …

KENNEDYS LIVID AS GOV ASKED CAROLINE TO ‘LIE’  —  An “apoplectic” Kennedy family is seething over the rough treatment that heiress apparent Caroline got from Gov. Paterson's office and is spoiling for revenge, several sources close to the clan have told The Post.

Pelosi Shrugs off Alcatraz as Possible Terror Detention Facility  —  Republicans opposing an Obama administration order to close Guantanamo Bay prison facility within a year suggest sending terror detainees to House Speaker Pelosi's district.  —  FOXNews.com

Blagojevich in NBC interview compares himself to Gandhi, King and Mandela  —  Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy  —  Impeached Gov. Blagojevich, on the first leg of his media blitz timed to the start of his impeachment trial, in an NBC interview broadcast …

Drug Lawyer Turns Informant, Stings Clients  —  Share This: Digg!  —  This is an amazing story.  Frank Pignatelli was a criminal defense attorney representing drug defendants in Akron Ohio.  He got busted for helping his clients buy stash houses and faced a criminal indictment.

Swedish Police Chief Allows Antisemitic Stonethrowing Mob To Attack Demonstrators  —  Update:  —  The Twingly-service, that lists blogs that link to an article in a newspaper, at first showed my blog posts about the demo.  Now, all Twingly-links to the newspaper Sydsvenskan have been removed.

Al-Qaeda's New Problem  —  For years now, liberals have had to put up with basic points about the value of not doing stuff that's hugely unpopular around the world caricatured as the idea that if we just act nicer, al-Qaeda leaders will lay down their arms.  The reality, as Joby Warrick reports …

Economy in free fall in fourth quarter  —  Worst quarter since early 1980s, and more to come  —  WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) — The U.S. economy contracted violently in the fourth quarter, with gross domestic product falling at its fastest pace in more than 25 years, economists said ahead …

PELOSI SAYS BIRTH CONTROL WILL HELP ECONOMY  —  Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi boldly defended a move to add birth control funding to the new economic “stimulus” package, claiming “contraception will reduce costs to the states and to the federal government.”

Time Running Out For A Two-State Solution?  —  60 Minutes: Growing Number Of Israelis, Palestinians Say Two-State Solution Is No Longer Possible  —  (CBS) Getting a peace deal in the Middle East is such a priority to President Obama that his first foreign calls on his first day in office were to Arab and Israeli leaders.

Deep in Debt, and Now Deep in Worry  —  NOT long ago, a woman in California called me for advice.  She is divorced, with two children, and has a series of interlocking financial problems.  —  She lives in a lovely home in a stylish inland enclave.  It has an interest-only mortgage …

Hamas tried to hijack ambulances during Gaza war  —  In ruins... a masked Hamas militant walks through the devastated area of east Jabaliya in the northern Gaza Strip.  —  Jason Koutsoukis in Gaza City  —  PALESTINIAN civilians living in Gaza during the three-week war with Israel have spoken …

Challenges loom as Obama seeks space weapons ban  —  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama's pledge to seek a worldwide ban on weapons in space marks a dramatic shift in U.S. policy while posing the tricky issue of defining whether a satellite can be a weapon.