Key 9/11 Suspect to Be Tried in New York  —  WASHINGTON — Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, the self-described mastermind of the Sept. 11 attacks, and four other men accused in the plot will be prosecuted in federal court in New York City, a federal law enforcement official said early on Friday.

HER TURN!  —  Chapter Four; Section 8, pages 255-257  —  By the third week in September, a “Free Sarah” campaign was under way and the press at large was growing increasingly critical of the McCain camp's decision to keep me, my family and friends back home, and my governor's staff all bottled up.

After spending binge, W.H. says it will focus on deficits  —  President Barack Obama plans to announce in next year's State of the Union address that he wants to focus extensively on cutting the federal deficit in 2010 - and will downplay other new domestic spending beyond jobs programs, according to top aides involved in the planning.

RNC to opt out of abortion coverage  —  The Republican National Committee will no longer offer employees an insurance plan that covers abortion after POLITICO reported Thursday that the anti-abortion RNC's policy has covered the procedure since 1991.  —  “Money from our loyal donors …

Free to Lose  —  Consider, for a moment, a tale of two countries.  Both have suffered a severe recession and lost jobs as a result — but not on the same scale.  In Country A, employment has fallen more than 5 percent, and the unemployment rate has more than doubled.

More in U.S. Say Health Coverage Is Not Gov't.  Responsibility  —  Marks significant shift from the attitudes of the past decade  —  PRINCETON, NJ — More Americans now say it is not the federal government's responsibility to make sure all Americans have healthcare coverage (50%) than say it is (47%).

Goldman To Private Insurers: No Health Care Reform At All Is Best  —  WHAT'S YOUR REACTION?  —  A Goldman Sachs analysis of health care legislation has concluded that, as far as the bottom line for insurance companies is concerned, the best thing to do is nothing.

Explaining Away Mass Murder  —  WASHINGTON — What a surprise — that someone who shouts “Allahu Akbar” (the “God is great” jihadist battle cry) as he is shooting up a room of American soldiers might have Islamist motives.  It certainly was a surprise to the mainstream media …

Meet John Thune  —  Some days the Republican Party seems to be going crazy.  Its public image is often shaped by people who appear to have gone into government because they saw it as a steppingstone to talk radio.  —  But deep in the bowels of the G.O.P., there are serious people having quiet conversations.

Obama's world record  —  It sounds tailor-made for a GOP ad:  —  Unemployment hits 9.4 percent.  President Obama flies to France.  —  Joblessness reaches 9.7 percent.  Obama jets off to Denmark.  —  The rate of those out of work soars to 10.2 percent.  Obama packs his bags for Japan, Singapore, China and South Korea.

Obama ‘risking Suez-like disaster’  —  Leading authority on counter-insurgency fears US is heading for ‘irresponsible’ fudge on extra troops  —  A key adviser to Nato forces warned today that Barack Obama risks a Suez-style debacle in Afghanistan if he fails to deploy enough extra troops and opts instead for a messy compromise.

No more ‘too big to fail’  —  Our company, J.P. Morgan Chase, employs more than 220,000 people, serves well over 100 million customers, lends hundreds of millions of dollars each day and has operations in nearly 100 countries.  And if some unforeseen circumstance should put this firm at risk of collapse …

Obama on the rise in North Carolina  —  Barack Obama's approval rating in North Carolina is headed in the right direction this month.  An equal 47% of the state's voters approve and disapprove of his job performance after PPP's monthly surveys from August through October had found his numbers in the red.

Time for Dems to Panic?  —  A Gallup poll released yesterday showed the Republicans with a 4-point lead on the House generic ballot — a reversal from October, when the Democrats had maintained a 2-point lead.  Making matters worse for Democrats, this was a poll of registered voters …

Klobuchar Bests Franken, Bachmann Among Minnesota Voters  —  Minnesota voters give Senator Amy Klobuchar higher marks for job performance than her fellow senator Al Franken and Michele Bachmann, the congresswoman who has become a conservative lightning rod in the national health care debate.