Speaking Freely, Biden Finds Influential Role  —  WASHINGTON — When President Obama and Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. meet for their standing Friday lunch engagement, Mr. Obama always picks the cuisine — a subtle break from previous administrations in which the president …

Iran missile experts in North Korea ‘to help with rocket launch’  —  Missile experts from Iran are in North Korea to help Pyongyang prepare for a rocket launch, according to reports.  —  Amid increasing global concern over the launch, which the US and its allies consider to be illegal …

Staff infection: Allies rip Palin team  —  A seemingly unending series of public relations gaffes has Sarah Palin loyalists frustrated and worried she is diminishing her stature.  And they blame an inner circle they say is composed of not-ready-for-primetime players.

Public financing ‘dead,’ McCain says  —  Questions Obama's bipartisanship vows  —  Sen. John McCain, an architect of sweeping campaign-finance reform who got walloped by a presidential candidate armed with more than $750 million, predicts that no one will ever again accept federal matching funds to run for the nation's highest office.

Detainee's Harsh Treatment Foiled No Plots  —  Waterboarding, Rough Interrogation of Abu Zubaida Produced False Leads, Officials Say  —  When CIA officials subjected their first high-value captive, Abu Zubaida, to waterboarding and other harsh interrogation methods, they were convinced …

Hillary Clinton leaves flowers for Our Lady of Guadalupe, asks ‘Who painted it?’  —  Mexico City, Mexico, Mar 27, 2009 / 04:59 pm (CNA).- During her recent visit to Mexico, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton made an unexpected stop at the Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe and left a bouquet …

Albany Agrees on a Plan to Raise Taxes on Top Earners  —  Gov. David A. Paterson and leaders of the Legislature have reached a deal to temporarily raise taxes on New York's highest earners in order to close the state's yawning budget deficit, lawmakers and officials involved in the talks said on Saturday.

Geithner: End ‘booms and busts’  —  Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner said on back-to-back appearances on Sunday shows that the administration had “no good choices” for dealing with the AIG bonus debacle.  —  “You've already seen a lot of those payments returned,” Geithner told NBC's David Gregory on “Meet the Press.”

US Treasury: $134.5 Billion Left in TARP  —  WASHINGTON — The U.S. Treasury Department estimates that it has about $134.5 billion left in its financial-rescue fund, which would mean that about 81% of the $700 billion program has been committed.  —  In its estimate, the Treasury projects …

Obama's Nobel Headache  —  Paul Krugman has emerged as Obama's toughest liberal critic.  He's deeply skeptical of the bank bailout and pessimistic about the economy.  Why the establishment worries he may be right.  —  From the magazine issue dated Apr 6, 2009  —  Traditionally, punditry in Washington has been a cozy business.

Marijuana issue suddenly smoking hot  —  Smoking pot doesn't cause schizophrenia, but marijuana as an issue sure gives our political system the symptoms.  We have just elected our third president in a row who at least tried marijuana in early adulthood, yet it remains illegal.

It Pays to Understand the Mind-Set  —  IN 1934, the journalist Johannes Steel wrote a remarkably prescient book, “The Second World War,” which described the social psychology that laid the groundwork for global tragedy.  —  Mr. Steel was trying to peer into people's minds and infer …

BREAKING: Inquirer CEO Tierney Got Bonus Before Bankruptcy  —  Though the company teetered on the verge of bankruptcy at the time, this past December Philadelphia Media Holdings awarded bonuses to CEO Brian P. Tierney, vice president of finance Richard Thayer and Daily News publisher Mark Frisby.

Antarctica to Pyramids — lights dim for Earth Hour  —  BONN, Germany - From an Antarctic research base to the Great Pyramids of Egypt and beyond, the world switched off the lights on Saturday for Earth Hour, dimming skyscrapers, city streets and some of the world's most recognizable monuments …