Govt Officials: US Expecting S&P Downgrade — Based on ‘Serious Mistake’ in Analysis*  —  Two government officials tell ABC News that the federal government is expecting and preparing for bond rating agency Standard & Poor's to downgrade the rating of U.S. debt from its current AAA value.

U.S. Troops Killed as Copter Shot Down in Afghanistan  —  KABUL, Afghanistan — Insurgents shot down a NATO Chinook helicopter during an overnight operation in eastern Afghanistan, killing at least 37 people on board, a coalition military official said on Saturday.

Perry's prayer gathering sets stage for national attention  —  Texas Gov. Rick Perry's (R) high-profile prayer gathering Saturday is set to pave the way for his possible but increasingly likely late entry into the race for the Republican presidential nomination.

Hypocrisy, irony, and the New Civility  —  Meet Froma Harrop, syndicated columnist and head of the National Conference of Editorial Writers, a group that has a project called Restoring Civility as a featured part of its website.  Her twice-weekly column appears in more than 200 newspapers, and she also blogs at RealClearPolitics.

Washington's uneasy alliance with Bahrain  —  The political crisis in Bahrain appears to have subsided, even if the issues that provoked it remain unresolved.  Now, the challenge before Washington is redefining the terms on which it deals with an important but seriously tarnished ally.