Obama to Unveil an Ambitious Budget Plan  —  President Obama is putting the finishing touches on an ambitious first budget that seeks to cut the federal deficit in half over the next four years, primarily by raising taxes on business and the wealthy and by slashing spending on the wars in Iraq …

Mass migrations and war: Dire climate scenario  —  CAPE TOWN, South Africa - If we don't deal with climate change decisively, “what we're talking about then is extended world war,” the eminent economist said.  —  His audience Saturday, small and elite, had been stranded here by bad weather and were talking climate.

Hold the Eulogies, Kennedy Says  —  WASHINGTON — After the president of Harvard hailed him as a “national leader but a local servant,” after the pastor read the “Let us now praise famous men” passage from the Bible and after the cellist Yo-Yo Ma honored him by performing a Gershwin prelude …

Obama Upholds Detainee Policy in Afghanistan  —  WASHINGTON — The Obama administration has told a federal judge that military detainees in Afghanistan have no legal right to challenge their imprisonment there, embracing a key argument of former President Bush's legal team.

Federal authorities question Burris about appointment  —  Federal authorities questioned U.S. Senator Roland Burris today at his lawyer's office — a long-awaited interview involving his U.S. Senate seat appointment — the Sun-Times-NBC/5 team has learned.  —  Burris is not accused of wrongdoing …

Gov. Rendell skeptical about stimulus potential  —  Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell (D) backed the $787 billion stimulus but said Saturday that he isn't sure whether it will actually fix the economy.  —  Rendell, at the National Governors Association meeting in Washington …

From Islamabad to Bradford  —  'It is hard to understand this deal," said Richard Holbrooke, President Obama's special envoy.  And, if the special envoy of the so-called smartest and most impressive administration in living memory can't understand it, what chance do the rest of us have?

Governor's rift with GOP grows wider  —  After his turnaround on taxes in the budget battle, he won't be attending a state party convention — and many won't miss him.  —  Reporting from Sacramento — After five years as governor, Arnold Schwarzenegger came full circle on Friday …

Jobs Elude Some Bush Ex-Officials  —  The jobless rate is hanging high — for many of the roughly 3,000 political appointees who served President George W. Bush.  Finding work has proved a far tougher task than those appointees expected.  —  “This is not a great time for anyone to be job hunting …

Gideon Levy / ‘Antiwar’ film Waltz with Bashir is nothing but charade  —  Everyone now has his fingers crossed for Ari Folman and all the creative artists behind “Waltz with Bashir” to win the Oscar on Sunday.  A first Israeli Oscar?  Why not?  —  However, it must also be noted that the film …