Geithner Said to Have Prevailed on the Bailout  —  WASHINGTON— The Obama administration's new plan to bail out the nation's banks was fashioned after a spirited internal debate that pitted the Treasury secretary, Timothy F. Geithner, against some of the president's top political hands.

Obama Backs Off a Reversal on Secrets  —  SAN FRANCISCO — In a closely watched case involving rendition and torture, a lawyer for the Obama administration seemed to surprise a panel of federal appeals judges on Monday by pressing ahead with an argument for preserving state secrets originally developed by the Bush administration.

Transcript: Obama takes questions on economy  —  (CNN) — President Obama held the first evening press conference of his presidency Monday, with the financial crisis as the main topic.  Before taking questions, he gave a brief speech.  Here is a transcript of the speech and news conference:

Harvard Dean, Chosen as Solicitor General, Goes Before Senators  —  When Harvard Law School hosted a huge dinner a few years ago for the conservative Federalist Society, the school's dean, Elena Kagan, received such long and enthusiastic applause that she felt compelled to hold up her arms in mock protest.

Obama warns GOP he's no pushover  —  Yes, there will be time to change the politics of Washington and to give people wondrous examples of bipartisanship.  —  But, no, not now, President Barack Obama made clear at his first White House news conference—not if it gets in the way of passing …

At His First Prime-Time News Conference, Obama Is Serious and Expansive  —  In a prime-time debut for the new Oval Office occupant and a press corps often accused of being too enamored of him, President Obama faced journalistic skepticism from the opening question.

Live-blogging Obama's first press conference.  —  6:38: Starting soon.  Think he'll get the hard questions?  Think he'll use his boring professorial mode or his testy exasperated mode or might he attain true presidentiality?  —  7:02: He begins.  If you don't believe we're in a crisis …

Schultz gets front row seat  —  What if Sean Hannity or Rush Limbaugh were up front at Bush's press conferences in the East Room?  —  Well, as network correspondents sat in the second row, liberal radio host Ed Schultz managed to snag a seat up front, right next to Helen Thomas.

Bush Faithful Rewarded With Jobs  —  On the Way Out, He Placed Aides and Big-Money GOP Donors  —  Fred F. Fielding, Emmet T. Flood, William A. Burck and Daniel M. Price worked together at the White House under George W. Bush.  Less than two weeks before leaving office …

FACT CHECK: Obama has it both ways on pork  —  WASHINGTON (AP) - At least Route 31 is a road to somewhere.  —  President Barack Obama had it both ways Monday when he promoted his stimulus plan in Indiana.  He bragged about getting Congress to produce a package with no pork …

There's No Stimulus Free Lunch  —  It's hard to spend wise and spend fast.  —  How much will the stimulus package moving in Congress really stimulate the economy?  —  The evaluations to date have been incomplete, so we looked at the likely stimulative effect from the spending parts …

The Chess Master  —  It was just a week ago that the bad-mouthing of Barack Obama seemed to be reaching a fever pitch.  —  The president was taking heat for the tax problems of Tom Daschle, Timothy Geithner and other appointees and nominees.  Liberal supporters of the president were upset …

This Can't Be What Obama, Pelosi and Reid Expected  —  Either Congressional Democrats went from undeniably brilliant to unbelievably inept in just a few weeks, or being in the majority in Congress isn't nearly as easy as being the opposition.  —  Those seem to be the two obvious alternatives …

Left silent on Social Security, Medicare  —  President Barack Obama plans a busy February.  The new administration hopes to have a stimulus package passed by Congress, a new plan in place to shore up ailing banks and, by month's end, to hold a “fiscal responsibility” summit.

Artist Sues The A.P. Over Obama Image  —  In a pre-emptive strike, the street artist Shepard Fairey filed a lawsuit on Monday against The Associated Press, asking a federal judge to declare that he is protected from copyright infringement claims in his use of a news photograph as the basis …

Suspect leads police on low-speed pursuit in a Bentley, kills self during standoff  —  A businessman of Pakistani origin who led police on a more than three-hour chase in a luxury Bentley sedan shot himself to death early today after more than a dozen police cruisers surrounded …

Obama, Crist team up in Florida  —  President Barack Obama and Gov. Charlie Crist sharing a stage in battleground Florida to stump for the same economic stimulus plan might seem like an unusual alliance.  —  But the Democratic president and the Republican governor are more similar …

Obama Says Economic Crisis Comes First  —  President Tells Nation Stimulus Plan Must Pass, With or Without GOP Support  —  President Obama declared last night in his first prime-time news conference that the task of saving and creating jobs is more important than cultivating the bipartisan cooperation …

Israelis Vote in Volatile Contest for New Leader  —  JERUSALEM — Israeli voters went to the polls Tuesday with public opinion polls showing many still wavering until the last minute in deciding whom to support.  —  Benjamin Netanyahu's conservative Likud Party has led in all the recent polls …

Voters turn out en masse despite forecast of apathy  —  As of 14:00 p.m. Tuesday afternoon, some 34 percent of the 5.2 million people eligible to vote had cast their ballots at the 9,263 polling stations available nationwide, the Central Elections Committee said.