AP - President Barack Obama and congressional Democrats are looking ahead to a health care showdown on the House floor in September following a key committee's passage of sweeping overhaul legislation.

Politico - The former Beatles star dedicates their song 'Michelle' to the first lady.

AFP - One year after US-Russia ties hit a low over the war in Georgia, President Barack Obama's administration is walking a tightrope between resetting ties with Moscow and supporting ally Tbilisi.

Politico - POLITICO's guide to some of the must-read passages from 'The Battle for America 2008'.

AP - U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said Wednesday that the two journalists released from North Korea are 'extremely excited' to be on their way back to the United States.

AP - Panicked passengers scrambled and pushed to the emergency exits of an Airbus 320 preparing to carry 165 passengers from Paris to a vacation city in Spain after an engine suddenly caught fire Wednesday, a passenger said.

Politico - Fox host jokes on air about poisoning Nancy Pelosi, drawing a sharp rebuke from a liberal media group.

AP - As they head home to their congressional districts for the August recess, lawmakers who support health care reform are bracing for protests and demonstrations that threaten to turn violent.

AP - President Barack Obama will fly to Mexico for a two-day summit with the leaders of Mexico and Canada.

AP - The Kremlin-backed leader of Chechnya said in a radio interview that a human rights activist whose bullet-ridden body was found in a neighboring province last month 'never had any honor, dignity or conscience.'

AP - Not tonight, dear.

Time.com - The Senator's retirement is a double test for Governor Charlie Crist -- of his own ambitions and of his party's outreach to women and minorities

Politico - Grassley defends drafting the health care bill, but also seemed to distance himself from the legislation.

Politico - Former president says change could last for decades if Dems can pass ambitious measures.

Politico - Tim Pawlenty insists that a rejection of the Democratic plan could usher in a Republican resurgence.

AP - President Barack Obama's special envoy to Pakistan praised the country's 'very significant' progress in taking back key areas from Taliban militants and said the U.S. would provide more weapons for the fight as well as badly needed economic aid.

Reuters - Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan promised democratic reforms on Saturday in a rare meeting with Turkey's religious minority leaders highlighting the issue of minority rights, a key stumbling block in its EU membership bid.

AP - Born in the political rubble of the Watergate scandal, the nation's 34-year experiment with limiting the influence of big money in federal elections is being tested as never before.

AFP - With the Obama-inspired slogan 'Yes Weekend' and a pledge to make a bunny the national symbol, a mock candidate for German chancellor has injected some much-needed humour into a drab election campaign.

AP - Norway's ambassador to the United Nations has accused Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon in a confidential letter of weak leadership, lack of charisma and angry outbursts, the Oslo newspaper Aftenposten newspaper reported Wednesday.

Bloomberg - Aug. 21 (Bloomberg) -- House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said legislation to revamp the U.S. health-care system won’t get through her chamber unless it creates a government-run insurance program to compete with the private industry.

AP - The top U.S. Marine is checking on troops in one war zone as he gets ready to send more to the next.

AFP - A classic New England summer spot off the coast of Massachusetts is in a frenzy as locals prepare to welcome US President Barack Obama and his family for their vacation on Sunday.

AFP - US President Barack Obama has approved the creation of an elite team of interrogators to question key terrorism suspects, The Washington Post reported Monday.

Reuters - U.S. President Barack Obama will nominate Ben Bernanke to a second term as chairman of the Federal Reserve on Tuesday, seeking to keep him in place to steer the world's largest economy out of its deepest downturn since the Great Depression.

Politico - Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, battling for health-care reform and against cancer, died late Tuesday night.

AP - Turns out you can fear a government takeover of health care even if the government already took over your health care.

Politico - Despite choosing a Fed Chairman and losing a friend, Obama tried to carry on with his vacation.

AP - Guy von Dardel, a particle physicist who sought for years to find his half-brother Raoul Wallenberg in Soviet imprisonment, died Friday at his home in Geneva. He was 90.

Politico - Al Gore and Bill Clinton are increasingly showing up as Obama goes through his first real trials in office.

AP - Russia's president defended Moscow's role in World War II before the 70th anniversary of its outbreak, saying in an interview broadcast Sunday that anyone who lays equal blame on the Soviet Union and Nazi Germany is telling a 'cynical lie.'