LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Past the security man and his pit bull and through a haze of eye-watering smoke, two youths load up a pipe next to a row of shiny glass jars with two dozen varieties of marijuana bud displayed like candy.

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Past the security man and his pit bull and through a haze of eye-watering smoke, two youths load up a pipe next to a row of shiny glass jars with two dozen varieties of marijuana bud displayed like candy.

Supporters of Taiwan in the US Congress pushed for President Barack Obama to move toward selling arms to the island, a step that would likely set back warming US ties with China.

Today in History - Nov. 21. Today is Saturday, Nov. 21, the 325th day of 2009. There are 40 days left in the year.

Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh left for the United States on Saturday with talks on terrorism and the global economy expected to dominate the agenda.

US President Barack Obama, back from a tour of Asia, called Saturday for the United States to produce more goods to sell across the Pacific, touting trade as a way to revive the troubled US economy.

Today is Monday, November 23, the 327th day of 2009. There are 38 days left in the year.

President Barack Obama on Sunday won the strongest backing yet from Russian counterpart Dmitry Medvedev on the Iranian nuclear crisis as the US leader warned that Tehran was "running out of time".

Fearing roadblock to drilling, Alaska fights to take polar bears off threatened species list. Alaska Gov. Sean Parnell says he has the best interest of polar bears at heart, but he doesn't intend to let the federal government's expanded protection for bears get in the way of the state's continued prosperity.

Calif. lawyers reap financial benefits from voting rights law they wrote. Every lawsuit filed or even threatened under a California law aimed at electing more minorities to local offices ? and all of the roughly $4.3 million from settlements so far ? can be traced to just two people: a pair of attorneys who worked together writing the statute, The Associated Press has found.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - American squeamishness about talking about sex has helped keep common sexually transmitted infections far too common, especially among vulnerable teens, U.S. researchers reported Monday.

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on Monday appealed to American firms to sponsor the US pavilion for next year's World Expo in Shanghai, saying their support would strengthen Sino-US ties.

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on Monday appealed to American firms to sponsor the US pavilion for next year's World Expo in Shanghai, saying their support would strengthen Sino-US ties.

NAIROBI (Reuters) - The United States will attend an International Criminal Court (ICC) meeting this week as an observer for the first time since the Hague court was set up in 2002, President Barack Obama's war crimes envoy said Monday.

When student Hemnecher Amen joined a protest outside the White House recently, it was the latest visible opposition here to US wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Hardly anyone took notice.

When student Hemnecher Amen joined a protest outside the White House recently, it was the latest visible opposition here to US wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Hardly anyone took notice.

President Barack Obama's drawn-out decision-making on Afghanistan is sending messages. To the Afghan government: Clean up your act. To the Pentagon: I'm no rubber stamp. To the American public: More troops can't be the sole answer.

The CIA provides hundreds of millions of dollars to Pakistan's spy service, including payments for the capture or killing of wanted militants, a US newspaper reported, citing unnamed officials and former officials.

Sarah Palin, queen of the Republican right, was to meet TV talk queen Oprah Winfrey on Monday at the start of a frenzied book tour -- and, some believe, an unlikely White House challenge.

The CIA provides hundreds of millions dollars to Pakistan's spy service, including payments for the capture or killing of wanted militants, a US newspaper reported, citing unnamed officials and former officials.