Obama's Economic Circle Keeps Tensions High  —  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.

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.

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 …

IT'S A FEATURE, NOT A BUG.... The New York Times had an item over the weekend on the inclusion of a public option in a health care reform.  The piece was primarily about the existence of state-based plans in which employees are given a choice “between government-backed insurance options and a menu of commercial policies.”

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 …

N. Korea Convicts 2 U.S. Journalists  —  A North Korean court sentenced two U.S. journalists to 12 years in a labor camp Monday, as the government of Kim Jong Il continued to ratchet up tension with the United States and its neighbors.  —  Laura Ling and Euna Lee, television reporters detained …

In Iraq, Colbert Does His Shtick for the Troops  —  CAMP VICTORY, Iraq — It was Sunday night in Baghdad, and President Obama was ordering Gen. Ray Odierno, the commander of the American troops here, to shave Stephen Colbert's head.  (Not to give everything away, but the general is not as brutal …

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 …

Source: Booby-trapped horses used in failed terror attack  —  Article's topics: Gaza Strip, IDF, Palestinians  —  Under the cover of morning fog, a group of around 10 Palestinian gunmen armed with “huge amounts of explosives” launched a failed Gaza border assault at the Karni Crossing on Monday …

U.S. to Propose Wider Oversight of Compensation  —  The Obama administration plans to require banks and corporations that have received two rounds of federal bailouts to submit any major executive pay changes for approval by a new federal official who will monitor pay, according to two government officials.

Dr. Goolsbee gets it wrong on the auto loans  —  This morning on Fox News Sunday, host Chris Wallace moderated a discussion about the auto industry.  One of his guests was Dr. Austan Goolsbee, who is a Member of President Obama's Council of Economic Advisers and chief economist on the President's Economic Recovery Advisory Board.

EXCLUSIVE: Recently Released Gitmo Detainee Talks to ABC News  —  Held Seven Years, Former Aid Worker Tells ABC News He Was Tortured  —  For 7½ years, Lakhdar Boumediene was known simply by a number: “10005.”  —  These were the digits assigned to him when he arrived at the detention center …

Understanding the Kennedy health care bill  —  Over the weekend a draft of Senator Kennedy's (D-MA) health care bill leaked.  After playing with Adobe Acrobat, here is the text of the draft Kennedy bill as a text file (173 K), and as a single Acrobat file (3.4 MB).  Unlike the leaked version, both of these are searchable.

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 …

One-Party Rule in Washington — It's Not Gridlock, but . . .  For moderate voters clinging to some faith in government, the question over the past two decades of mostly two-party rule was: Can't Washington do anything?  —  Now, with one party pretty much in control, the question has become …

'Don't Ask, Don't Tell' Policy Left Intact by U.S. High Court  —  The U.S. Supreme Court refused to question the “don't ask, don't tell” policy that prohibits openly gay people from serving in the military, turning away a constitutional challenge to the ban.

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 …