Politics

WASHINGTON The rules in the Obama household for Malia and Sasha are clear-cut:

WASHINGTON The State Department wants to use about two-thirds of its proposed military equipment aid for Pakistan's anti-terrorism programs to help the key U.S. ally upgrade its aging fleet of U.S.-made F-16 fighter planes.

WASHINGTON Cash-strapped homebuyers and borrowers facing foreclosure will get some relief from a housing bill passed by the House on Wednesday but the bill won't solve the deep-rooted ills of the U.S. housing market.

IN THE HEADLINES

BERLIN Democratic presidential hopeful Barack Obama landed in Berlin Thursday, kicking off the European leg of his overseas trip amid high expectations.

BETHLEHEM, Pa. Republican John McCain pushed back on Wednesday against Democratic criticism that he misstated when the troop buildup ordered by President Bush began, saying elements were put in place before Bush announced the strategy in early 2007.

WASHINGTON A veterans group critical of the war in Iraq accuses John McCain of wanting to occupy Iraq indefinitely, against the wishes of the country's leaders, in an ad that will air later this week.

WASHINGTON Rescue legislation sailed through the House on Wednesday aimed at helping 400,000 strapped homeowners avoid foreclosure and preventing the collapse of troubled mortgage companies Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

WASHINGTON Barack Obama is going for the gold.

CHICAGO Charles T. Payne had his first close brush with history at the end of World War II, when his infantry division liberated Ohrdruf, a subcamp of the Nazis' Buchenwald concentration camp.

WASHINGTON The towering trucks that give U.S. troops the best protection against roadside bombs and enemy bullets also make them vulnerable to routine hazards like sharp turns, rutted roads and rickety bridges.

SDEROT, Israel From the solemnity of a Holocaust museum to a dusty village battered by Hamas rockets, Democratic presidential contender Barack Obama on Wednesday professed "an unshakable commitment to the security" of Israel, whether the threat comes from terrorists, Iran or elsewhere.

WASHINGTON Al-Qaida's foreign fighters who have for years bedeviled Iraq are increasingly going to Afghanistan to fight instead, the Iraqi ambassador to the United States said Wednesday.

WASHINGTON It's so easy to fabricate the medical certificates required to operate commercial trucks on the nation's highways that there's almost no incentive for truckers to obtain a legitimate document, according to a congressional study.

IN THE HEADLINES

WASHINGTON South Dakota Rep. Stephanie Herseth Sandlin is expecting her first child in late December.

Quotes from John McCain, the Republican nominee-in-waiting.

SDEROT, Israel Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama defended his proposal to negotiate with Iran Wednesday and said he would use "big sticks and big carrots" to persuade the country's leaders not to develop nuclear weapons.

WASHINGTON The State Department reversed course and turned down a Syrian delegation's request for a meeting with a top U.S. diplomat for the Middle East.