US Unemployment Rate Gallops Ahead of Expectations  —  The White House says America's employment picture is worse than the Obama administration had anticipated just a few months ago.  The somber admission follows the latest jobless report showing the highest unemployment rate the United States has seen in more than 25 years.

Obama's Economic Circle Keeps Tensions Simmering  —  WASHINGTON — President Obama was getting his daily economic briefing one recent morning when a fly distracted him.  The president swatted and missed, just as the pest buzzed near the shoes of Lawrence H. Summers, the chief White House economic adviser.

Palin versus GOP  —  Sarah Palin's on-again, off-again appearance at Monday night's gala GOP fundraising dinner is off — again.  —  After being invited — for a second time — to speak to the annual joint fundraiser for the National Republican Congressional Committee and the National …

Elections - BNP wins its first seat in European Parliament  —  The British National Party broke into the political mainstream last night when it won its first seat in the European Parliament.  —  The far-Right party won almost 10 per cent of the vote in Yorkshire and the Humber …

Suspect in abortion doctor death warns of violence  —  WICHITA, Kan. — The man charged with murdering a high-profile abortion doctor claimed from his jail cell Sunday that similar violence was planned around the nation for as long as the procedure remained legal, a threat that comes days …

In Iran, Harsh Talk as Election Nears  —  TEHRAN — The leading candidates are accusing each other of corruption, bribery and torture.  The wife of the strongest challenger to President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has threatened to sue him for defaming her.  And every night, parts of the capital become …

President Obama's French food tested by ‘taster’ … A US “taster” tested the food being dished up to President Barack Obama at a dinner in a French restaurant, a waiter said on Sunday.  —  “They have someone who tastes the dishes,” said waiter Gabriel de Carvalho from the “La Fontaine de Mars” …

Closed Clinic Leaves Abortion Protesters at a Loss  —  WICHITA, Kan. — For the first time in years, only a Wichita police car has been waiting outside the abortion clinic of Dr. George R. Tiller, who was shot to death a week ago.  Gone are the trucks bearing enormous images of bloody fetuses …

Sotomayor and the Politics of Race  —  Americans thought they were electing a president who would transcend grievance.  —  Printer  —  Friendly  —  President Obama's nomination of Sonia Sotomayor for the Supreme Court points to a dilemma that will likely plague his presidency: How does a …

Sestak: Only an ‘act of God’ will keep him out of Senate race  —  PITTSBURGH—Short of divine intervention, Congressman Joe Sestak (D-7) is running for Senate.  —  “It would take an act of God for me to not get in now,” Sestak told a Democratic State Committeeman Saturday morning within earshot of reporters.

NKorea jails US journalists for 12 years  —  SEOUL (AFP) — A North Korean court sentenced two female US journalists to 12 years in a labour camp for an illegal border crossing and an unspecified “grave crime,” state media reported.  —  The “trial confirmed the grave crime they committed …

Group Linked to Al Qaeda May Have Killed Minnesota Man Recruited in Somalia  —  A Minnesota man recruited to join an Al Qaeda-linked terrorist group overseas may have been assassinated in Somalia by the very terrorist group he went there to help.  —  The Federal Bureau of Investigation …

France gets its Obama moment  —  PARIS (AP) — People gawked and cameras clicked as the Obamas cut a wide figure through the French capital even while confined to a presidential motorcade.  It was more personal for the few kept not so distant — the restaurant owner who “saw God,” the chauffeur reveling in a “magnificent mission.”

New Orleans mayor quarantined in China  —  (CNN) — The mayor of New Orleans, Louisiana, has been quarantined in China after possible exposure to the H1N1 virus, his office said Sunday.  —  Mayor Ray Nagin, who traveled to China on an economic development trip, flew on a plane that carried …

China Squeezes PC Makers  —  Beijing Is Set to Require Web Filter That Would Censor ‘Harmful’ Internet Sites  —  BEIJING — China plans to require that all personal computers sold in the country as of July 1 be shipped with software that blocks access to certain Web sites …

Hugging Republicans Until It Hurts  —  WASHINGTON — As Representative John M. McHugh of New York began planning his retirement from the House after being picked to be the new secretary of the Army, a chunk of Republican morale prepared to depart with him.  —  And that was just what Democrats had counted on.