WASHINGTON (Reuters) - German Chancellor Angela Merkel urged the United States on Tuesday to agree to binding climate goals, telling U.S. lawmakers in a speech to Congress there was "no time to lose" in the fight against global warming.
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. military on Tuesday said it met its goal of conducting collision analysis on 800 maneuverable satellites in September, and expects to be able to track 500 more non-maneuvering satellites by year's end.
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Senate Finance Committee chairman Max Baucus said on Tuesday Congress could pass a sweeping overhaul of the nation's healthcare system before the end of the year.
ISTANBUL (Reuters) - Former U.S. President Bill Clinton said on Monday he would have preferred to leave the White House in a coffin because he loved being commander in chief, but signaled his political life was over.
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. House of Representatives will take up a broad healthcare reform bill later this week and it has enough support to pass, House Democratic leader Steny Hoyer said on Tuesday.
Virginia, New Jersey to elect governors in an early test of Obama political influence. President Barack Obama's political influence a year after his election is being tested as voters cast ballots in Virginia and New Jersey, two states he's worked hard to keep in Democratic hands. A handful of congressional and mayoral races and a same-sex union initative also are among the featured face-offs this Election Day.
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Projected U.S. budget deficits are too high and could force up interest rates and crowd out investments unless the country takes action, the White House budget chief said on Tuesday.
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. House of Representatives is expected to back a Senate plan to extend a popular homebuying tax credit through April and also expand its scope, House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer said on Tuesday.
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Republicans seeking a comeback from recent losses may pick up the governor's seats in Virginia and New Jersey on Tuesday in campaigns that tested the limits of U.S. President Barack Obama's influence.
MARRAKESH, Morocco (Reuters) - U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton offered aid on Tuesday to boost ties with the Muslim world and urged Israel, the Palestinians and Arab countries to move beyond recrimination in the search for peace.
Virginia, New Jersey to elect governors in an early test of Obama political influence. In a very early test of President Barack Obama's political influence, two states are choosing whether to continue Democratic rule while voters elsewhere elect a handful of congressmen and big-city mayors.
TEHRAN (Reuters) - Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said on Tuesday the Islamic state would not be deceived into reconciliation with its arch foe and the United States was a "really arrogant power," state radio reported.
SEOUL (Reuters) - North Korea said on Tuesday it had completed reprocessing spent fuel rods at its Yongbyon nuclear plant and turned it into arms-grade plutonium, giving the mercurial state more material to produce atomic arms.
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - For-profit insurance companies use a smaller amount of premium dollars on medical claims than consumers are being told, according to a Senate analysis of data filed with insurance regulators.
What's at stake in Tuesday's elections. What's at stake in Tuesday's election:
YANGON (Reuters) - A delegation of senior U.S. officials arrived in Myanmar Tuesday for Washington's highest-level talks with the reclusive military regime in 14 years.
Remaining 2 candidates duke it out in unpredictable upstate NY congressional race. With the Republican out of the race and unions lining up behind their candidate, national Democrats on Monday used a high-profile campaigner and ramped up get-out-the-vote efforts to try to grab a congressional seat in a district held for decades by the GOP.
Democratic candidate for governor in Va. tries to cut into Republican's big lead. Democrat R. Creigh Deeds turned to the man he hopes to succeed as Virginia governor to lash the Republican front-runner in a final rally before Tuesday's election.
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Navy's top admiral said on Monday he hoped to speed up work on unmanned weapons systems, including underwater vehicles and an unmanned combat plane being developed by Northrop Grumman Corp.
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Obama administration has decided to transfer overseas a Kuwaiti held at the U.S. military prison in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba and will not appeal a court decision freeing him, the Justice Department said on Monday.
Tuesday's New Jersey gubernatorial race is as much a referendum on gay marriage as it is a question on who will govern the Garden State . Tuesday's New Jersey gubernatorial race is as much a referendum on gay marriage as it is a question on who will govern the Garden State. The state's Democratic governor Jon Corzine has already promised the gay and lesbian community that if reelected he would shepherd a gay marriage bill through the Legislature, while his opponent, Republican Chris Christie, has vowed to oppose any such attempt. Opponents have blasted Corzine's newly found gay marriage support, saying he is simply pandering to his gay supporters. The governor has opposed gay nuptials in the past, but says he has evolved on the issue. In a recent response to the Newark daily the 'Star-Ledger', Corzine made his strongest statements in favor of gay marriage to date. ?I think we ought to go to marriage equality,? he said. ?I want to be very clear on this. I don't call it gay marriage. I c
Maine's gay marriage referendum remains a tight contest but gay marriage advocates are heading into the final lap with the advantage. Question 1, Maine's gay marriage referendum, remains a tight contest but gay marriage advocates are heading into the final lap with the advantage, one analyst concludes. Gay marriage has yet to win a popular vote but proponents hope Mainers will be the first to buck the trend. At least one analysis favors a gay marriage win. Question 1 asks Mainers to affirm ? or reject ? a gay marriage law approved by lawmakers in the spring. If approved, the law would not go into effect; gay men and lesbians would not be allowed to marry, but gay marriage would not be banned outright. That is, the Legislature would be free to enact a new law during its ordinary session. Which is different from a voter-approved constitutional gay marriage ban ? such as California's Proposition 8 ? that leaves lawmakers and courts impotent on the issue. A ban severely hamstrings gay marr
House GOP leader criticizes Republican candidate who dropped out of special election in NY. The House Republican leader says he regrets that he and other members of his party spent time and money supporting the GOP nominee in a special House election in upstate New York.
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Democrats who control a key U.S. Senate panel said they would begin debating a climate change bill on Tuesday, despite a planned boycott by minority Republicans who are demanding more study of the issue.
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Forty U.S. lawmakers backing Boeing Co urged President Barack Obama on Monday to ensure a new Air Force competition for aerial refueling planes takes account of alleged illegal subsidies received by Airbus.
JERSEY CITY, New Jersey (Reuters) - An independent candidate stressing New Jersey's economic woes is attracting surprising voter support in the governor's race, which features an unpopular Democratic incumbent and a Republican challenger with ties to former President George W. Bush.
Correction: NY House race story. In an early version of an Oct. 31 story about the special election in New York's 23rd Congressional District, The Associated Press reported erroneously that Republican candidate Dierdre Scozzafava had instructed her supporters to embrace Conservative Doug Hoffman. Scozzafava originally only said she released her supporters; she later asked them to support Democrat Bill Owens.
MARRAKESH, Morocco (Reuters) - Israel's offer to show restraint on settlements falls short of U.S. expectations, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said on Monday in an effort to counter Arab accusations she had been too soft on Israel.
Bolstered by out-of-state money and volunteers, both sides jockeyed Monday to boost turnout for a Maine referendum that could give gay-rights activists in the U.S. their first victory at the ballot box on the deeply divisive issue of same-sex marriage.
Stakes are high in Maine's vote on gay marriage; out-of-state money pours in from both sides. Bolstered by out-of-state money and volunteers, both sides jockeyed Monday to boost turnout for a Maine referendum that could give gay-rights activists in the U.S. their first victory at the ballot box on the deeply divisive issue of same-sex marriage.
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. President Barack Obama signaled on Monday that Washington's support for Afghan leader Hamid Karzai would come with more strings attached, including a demand he get much tougher on rampant corruption.
National stars pour fuel on fire in once-obscure upstate NY congressional campaign. A burst of star power Monday brought the vice president, a former presidential candidate, a country singer and the man who used to be "America's mayor" to a largely rural patch of upstate New York as a Democrat tried to fend off a late-campaign surge from a maverick conservative.
In tight NJ governor's race, candidates scramble for last-minute votes. New Jersey's candidates for governor darted through the state on the last day of a campaign being billed as a vote on President Barack Obama's popularity.
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Houston-based KBR Inc could save the government at least $193 million by reducing its workforce in Iraq more quickly, in line with the drawdown of U.S. troops, the Pentagon's chief auditor said on Monday.
MARRAKESH, Morocco (Reuters) - U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton will travel to Egypt for a meeting on Wednesday with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, a U.S. official said on Wednesday.
Bloomberg and challenger who has spent far less make final pitches to NYC voters. New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg and his Democratic challenger spent the final day of the campaign shoring up support and readying their get-out-the-vote forces.
Filmmakers get behind closed doors for look at Obama campaign to air Election Night. Pivotal presidential campaigns are frequently defined in retrospect by documentaries.
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Supporters say New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg, who appears set to win a third term this week, gets credit for saving the city from the worst of the financial recession but his critics say he did not do enough.
BEIJING (Reuters) - China lashed out at the United States on Monday after the Obama administration sent six Uighur Chinese detainees from the U.S. military prison at Guantanamo Bay to the Pacific island nation of Palau.
SINGAPORE (Reuters) - Leaders of the 21 APEC economies are concerned that high level political commitment to conclude the Doha Round of world trade talks has yet to translate into substantive progress and called for a deal next year, a draft statement from the grouping seen by Reuters on Monday said.
TOKYO (Reuters) - A trip by Japan's foreign minister to Washington to try to soothe strained ties was up in the air on Monday as doubts simmered over whether a feud about a military base will be resolved before a visit by President Barack Obama.
Obama campaigns a final day for NJ's governor, calling Corzine central to his own agenda. In a final campaign swing on behalf of the only governor seeking re-election this fall, President Barack Obama on Sunday pitched Democratic Gov. Jon Corzine's bid as a key component for the White House to make good on its political promises.
KABUL/WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Afghan presidential challenger Abdullah Abdullah's decision to quit an election run-off will not complicate President Barack Obama's deliberations on war strategy, senior U.S. officials said.
NY's 23rd House race leaves questions about future of GOP, inclusion of moderate Republicans. In a Republican Party struggling to find its identity, the surprise withdrawal of the chosen GOP candidate for a New York congressional race amid a rising conservative upstart renews a lingering national debate: Are moderates welcome in today's Grand Old Party?
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Republicans in the U.S. House of Representatives plan to offer an alternative to Democrats' massive healthcare reform bill that would not raise taxes or require people or businesses to buy health insurance, the House Republican leader said on Sunday.
Obama campaigns a final day for NJ's governor, calling Corzine central to his own agenda. In a final campaign swing on behalf of the only governor seeking re-election this fall, President Barack Obama on Sunday pitched Democratic Gov. Jon Corzine's bid as a key component for the White House to make good on its political promises.
Tuesday's disparate elections will hint at public's attitudes, national political landscape. President Barack Obama isn't on the ballot. Neither are all members of Congress, nor most governors.
Obama campaigns one more day for NJ's governor, calling Corzine central to his own agenda. In a final campaign swing on behalf of the only governor seeking re-election this fall, President Barack Obama on Sunday pitched Democratic Gov. Jon Corzine's bid as a key component for the White House to make good on its political promises.
NAIROBI (Reuters) - Kenya's attorney general Amos Wako was the senior government official handed a travel ban by Washington last month, the U.S. envoy to Kenya said on Sunday.
Maine voters to pass judgment on gay marriage; contest is being closely watched around the US. Gay marriage has lost in every single state in which it has been put to a popular vote. Come Election Day, gay-rights supporters are hoping to make Maine the exception.
