The UN loves Barack Obama because he is weak  —  It is not hard to see why a standing ovation awaits Barack Obama when he addresses the United Nations General Assembly today, writes Nile Gardiner.  —  Barack Obama's Gallup approval rating of 52 percent may well be lower at this stage …

Obama Considers Strategy Shift in Afghan War  —  WASHINGTON — President Obama is exploring alternatives to a major troop increase in Afghanistan, including a plan advocated by Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. to scale back American forces and focus more on rooting out Al Qaeda there and in Pakistan, officials said Tuesday.

Palin Speaks to Investors in Hong Kong  —  HONG KONG — Sarah Palin, in what was billed as her first speech overseas, spoke on Wednesday to Asian bankers, investors and fund managers.  —  A number of people who heard the speech in a packed a hotel ballroom, which was closed to the media …

Conservatives Turn Their Sights On Health Care Reform's Most Obvious Provision  —  Democrats are bracing themselves for a new line of conservative attack against a provision in the health care legislation once considered so non-controversial that it was endorsed by several major Republican officials.

Budget chief contradicts Obama on Medicare costs  —  WASHINGTON — Congress' chief budget officer is contradicting President Barack Obama's oft-stated claim that seniors wouldn't see their Medicare benefits cut under a health care overhaul.  —  The head of the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office …

Glenn Beck, Post-Modern Conservative  —  Buried in the cross-tabs of the new NBC/Wall Street Journal poll is a question that takes a temperature reading of Glenn Beck.  Beck actually makes out pretty well.  While just 24 percent of Americans have a favorable view of him (13 percent strongly so) …

Justice Dept. to Limit Use of State Secrets Privilege  —  WASHINGTON — The Justice Department is preparing to impose new limits on the government assertion of the state secrets privilege used to block lawsuits for national security reasons.  The practice was a major flashpoint in the debate …

New poll: Democrat lead over GOP is smallest in five years; doubts about Obama continue to grow  —  The new NBC/Wall Street Journal poll asked respondents whether they would prefer to see next year's elections result in a Congress controlled by Democrats or a Congress controlled by Republicans.

Up to 24 More People Sought as NYC Tightens Security in Terror Probe  —  NEW YORK — Police in New York City stepped up their patrols and increased their random searches on subways and buses Wednesday following reports that as many as 24 more people are being sought in a suspected cross-country terror plot.

Carper Publicly Defends Secret PhRMA Pact; Deal Made in Exchange for Support Ads  —  In a stunning moment during the Senate Finance Committee markup Sen. Tom Carper defended a secret deal that the White House, Baucus, and PhRMA had reached.  The White House has long denied the deal.

Canada to walk out on Ahmadinejad's UN speech  —  Ahmadinejad warned Western powers it was too late to stop Iran's nuclear programme, amid ...  UNITED NATIONS — Canada will boycott Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's speech at the United Nations on Wednesday, saying his outbursts about the Holocaust and Israel are “shameful.”

South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford says he will fight to stay in office  —  STAFF REPORTS  —  Gov. Mark Sanford said this morning he has no plans to resign, will fight any attempt at impeachment and believes he may have the best chance next year at pushing for government restructuring.

Election 2010: Missouri Senate  —  2010 Missouri Senate: Blunt 46%, Carnahan 46%  —  Democrat Robin Carnahan and Republican Roy Blunt are dead even in the first Rasmussen Reports Election 2010 survey of the hotly contested race for the U.S. Senate in Missouri.

Senator Is the Centerfold  —  Long before he was a politician, the Republican candidate vying for Ted Kennedy's U.S. Senate seat posed nude for the centerfold of Cosmo.  Scott Brown won our “America's Sexiest Man” contest and appeared in the June 1982 issue.