WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The White House and U.S. Congress will issue separate budget estimates on Tuesday that could slow President Barack Obama's domestic policy proposals as he faces increased skepticism among lawmakers.

HOUSTON (Reuters) - A federal appeals court in New Orleans said on Monday that accused swindler Allen Stanford must stay in jail until his fraud trial.

KABUL (Reuters) - Afghan election authorities were preparing on Tuesday to publish the first partial results from last week's presidential election, but the tiny sample may do little to resolve a dispute over the outcome.

AP - Thunderstorms forced NASA to call off shuttle Discovery's launch to the international space station early Tuesday.

Reuters - The White House and U.S. Congress will issue separate budget estimates on Tuesday that could slow President Barack Obama's domestic policy proposals as he faces increased skepticism among lawmakers.

Reuters - A federal appeals court in New Orleans said on Monday that accused swindler Allen Stanford must stay in jail until his fraud trial.

Reuters - Afghan election authorities were preparing on Tuesday to publish the first partial results from last week's presidential election, but the tiny sample may do little to resolve a dispute over the outcome.

AFP - North Korea has invited a US special envoy to visit Pyongyang for talks on ending the standoff about its nuclear weapons programme, South Korean media reports said Tuesday.

OAK BLUFFS, Massachusetts (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.

AP - President Barack Obama plans to reappoint Ben Bernanke to a second term as chairman of the Federal Reserve, a position from which he guided the economy away from its worst recession since the 1930s and, the White House hopes, toward an economic recovery critical to its legacy.

AP - With just two weeks of training, or about half the time it takes to become a truck driver, the CIA certified its spies as interrogation experts after 9/11 and handed them the keys to the most coercive tactics in the agency's arsenal.

AP - Car dealers will have a bit more time to get reimbursed for their Cash for Clunkers deals after the government extended the deadline for filing applications for the $3 billion government incentives into Tuesday.

AP - NASA will try again to launch the shuttle Discovery to the international space station on Wednesday after having to call it off early Tuesday because of thunderstorms.

AP - A few days ago, Capt. Nathan Williams asked the Iraqi battalion commander in charge of a northern Baghdad district whether he needed help with a planned security operation. The response, judging by the silence and body language, was clear: a polite 'Thanks, but no thanks.'

AP - Miguel Cabrera homered and drove in five of Detroit's runs and Carlos Guillen added a three-run shot in the Tigers' 10-7 victory over the Los Angeles Angels on Monday night in a matchup of first place teams.

KABUL (Reuters) - Afghan election authorities were preparing on Tuesday to publish the first partial results from last week's presidential election, but the tiny sample may do little to resolve a dispute over the outcome.

TEHRAN (Reuters) - Iran put prominent reformers in the dock on Tuesday, official media reported, in its fourth mass trial of people accused of orchestrating unrest after June's disputed presidential election.

AP - Six Afghan presidential candidates, including one being floated as a potential 'chief executive' for the next government, warned Tuesday that fraud allegations threaten to undermine the recent election and could stoke violence.

AP - South Korea's first rocket blasted off into space Tuesday following an aborted attempt last week and just months after its rival North Korea drew international ire for its own launch.

AP - The Tampa Bay Rays have scored seven runs off Roy Halladay before and lost. Not this time.

Reuters - Afghan election authorities were preparing on Tuesday to publish the first partial results from last week's presidential election, but the tiny sample may do little to resolve a dispute over the outcome.

Reuters - South Korea launched its first space rocket on Tuesday but failed to put a scientific satellite into its planned orbit in a setback for the country's nascent space program.

Reuters - Iran put prominent reformers in the dock on Tuesday, official media reported, in its fourth mass trial of people accused of orchestrating unrest after June's disputed presidential election.

AFP - President Hamid Karzai's camp insisted it had triumphed in landmark elections while his main rival claimed foul play as Afghanistan readied Tuesday for the first results from the contested polls.

KABUL (Reuters) - Four U.S. servicemen were killed by a roadside bomb in Afghanistan on Tuesday, making 2009 the deadliest year for the growing contingent of foreign troops since the overthrow of the Taliban in 2001.

TEHRAN (Reuters) - An Iranian prosecutor called on Tuesday for 'maximum punishment' of a senior reformer for acting against national security, a crime punishable by death, in the fourth mass trial of moderates after the disputed election.

AP - Six Afghan presidential candidates, including one being floated as a potential 'chief executive' for the next government, warned Tuesday that fraud allegations threaten to undermine the recent election and could stoke violence.

AP - The Los Angeles County coroner's finding that the death of Michael Jackson was a homicide could mean criminal charges for his doctor, who told investigators that he administered a mix of powerful drugs to treat the pop star's insomnia hours before his death.

AP - An Islamic court in Malaysia on Tuesday indefinitely put on hold the caning of a woman found guilty of drinking beer, saying the sentence was too harsh, a news report said.

AP - South Korea launched its first rocket Tuesday, just months after rival North Korea's launch drew international anger, but space officials said the satellite it carried failed to enter its intended orbit.

AP - Several thousand fans sang and danced at the airport Tuesday in support of Caster Semenya as the runner, who is undergoing gender testing after her 800-meter win at the world championships, returned home to South Africa.

Reuters - Four U.S. servicemen were killed by a roadside bomb in Afghanistan on Tuesday, making 2009 the deadliest year for the growing contingent of foreign troops since the overthrow of the Taliban in 2001.

Reuters - Mohammad Jawad, one of the youngest detainees to be held at the U.S. detention facility in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, said on Tuesday after his return home to Afghanistan he had been abused and humiliated during six years in custody.

Reuters - North Korea has invited the U.S. envoy overseeing ties with the prickly state to visit for nuclear talks next month, South Korean media said on Tuesday, reaching out to Washington as the United States pushes sanctions against Pyongyang.

Reuters - An Iranian prosecutor called on Tuesday for 'maximum punishment' of a senior reformer for acting against national security, a crime punishable by death, in the fourth mass trial of moderates after the disputed election.

AFP - Several aides to former Iranian president Mohammad Khatami were put on trial on Tuesday on charges of masterminding post-election unrest and plotting a 'soft coup' in the Islamic republic.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The White House on Tuesday said U.S. unemployment would be higher and the budget deficit larger than previously thought, which could slow President Barack Obama's drive to push his domestic policy plans through a skeptical Congress.

KABUL (Reuters) - Afghan President Hamid Karzai held a slender lead over challenger Abdullah Abdullah on Tuesday with around 10 percent of the votes from last week's election officially tallied, the country's election commission said.

KABUL (Reuters) - Mohammad Jawad, one of the youngest detainees to be held at the U.S. detention facility in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, said on Tuesday after his return home to Afghanistan he had been abused and humiliated during six years in custody.

OAK BLUFFS, Massachusetts (Reuters) - U.S. President Barack Obama nominated Ben Bernanke to a second term as Federal Reserve chairman on Tuesday, entrusting him with guiding the economy out of the worst downturn since the Great Depression.

SEOUL (Reuters) - North Korea has invited the U.S. envoy overseeing ties with the prickly state to visit for nuclear talks next month, South Korean media said on Tuesday, reaching out to Washington as the United States pushes sanctions against Pyongyang.

AP - Consumer sentiment rose more than expected in August, and home prices in a closely watched index posted their first quarterly increase in three years, more signs that the economy is on the rebound.

AP - President Hamid Karzai and top challenger Abdullah Abdullah both have roughly 40 percent of the nationwide vote for president with 10 percent of ballots counted, the country's election commission said Tuesday.

AP - President Barack Obama announced Tuesday he wants to keep Ben Bernanke on as Fed chairman, saying he shepherded America through the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression.

AP - Congressional budget analysts project a cumulative $7 trillion deficit from 2010-2019, a figure roughly $2 trillion less than the one projected by the White House budget office.

AP - Two commanders of the Pakistani Taliban say the militants' top leader, Baitullah Mehsud, is dead. They say he died from wounds from a U.S. missile strike.

AP - Jessica Biel is the most dangerous celebrity on the Web.

Reuters - Afghan President Hamid Karzai held a slender lead over challenger Abdullah Abdullah on Tuesday with around 10 percent of the votes from last week's election officially tallied, the country's election commission said.

Reuters - U.S. President Barack Obama nominated Ben Bernanke to a second term as Federal Reserve chairman on Tuesday, entrusting him with guiding the economy out of the worst downturn since the Great Depression.

Reuters - The White House on Tuesday said U.S. unemployment would be higher and the budget deficit larger than previously thought, which could slow President Barack Obama's drive to push his domestic policy plans through a skeptical Congress.

AFP - Incumbent Hamid Karzai narrowly led the race for the Afghan presidency with just two percent more votes than his closest rival, the election commission announced Tuesday in the first partial results.

KABUL (Reuters) - The first partial results from Afghanistan's election had President Hamid Karzai and his main rival running neck-and-neck on Tuesday, suggesting a close race headed for a second round.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Former U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney criticized President Barack Obama's ability to handle national security after the Justice Department appointed a special prosecutor to investigate CIA interrogation abuses.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. national debt will nearly double over the next 10 years as recession crimps government revenue while spending on retirement and medical benefits soars, official forecasts said on Tuesday.

RAMALLAH, West Bank (Reuters) - An international airport for a future state of Palestine, national institutions and new rail links were listed by the Palestinian prime minister on Tuesday in a government program needing foreign funding.

AP - President Hamid Karzai and top challenger Abdullah Abdullah both have roughly 40 percent of the nationwide vote for president with 10 percent of polling stations counted, the Afghan election commission said Tuesday.

AP - People who repeatedly download copyrighted films and music could have their Internet connection cut off under proposed laws to tackle illegal file-sharing unveiled by the British government on Tuesday.

Reuters - The first partial results from Afghanistan's election had President Hamid Karzai and his main rival running neck-and-neck on Tuesday, suggesting a close race headed for a second round.

Reuters - Former U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney criticized President Barack Obama's ability to handle national security after the Justice Department appointed a special prosecutor to investigate CIA interrogation abuses.

Reuters - The U.S. national debt will nearly double over the next 10 years as recession crimps government revenue while spending on retirement and medical benefits soars, official forecasts said on Tuesday.

Reuters - An international airport for a future state of Palestine, national institutions and new rail links were listed by the Palestinian prime minister on Tuesday in a government program needing foreign funding.

AFP - Incumbent Hamid Karzai is running neck and neck with his main rival in the fraud-tainted race for the Afghan presidency, according to the first partial results unveiled Tuesday.

KABUL (Reuters) - With early results on Tuesday showing Afghanistan's presidential race neck-and-neck, a massive truck bomb that killed 40 civilians and wounded 60 in Kandahar showed the scale of problems facing the eventual winner.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. national debt will nearly double over the next 10 years, government forecasts showed Tuesday, challenging President Barack Obama's economic and healthcare overhaul agenda.

AP - Pakistani Taliban commanders acknowledged Tuesday that the militants' top leader, Baitullah Mehsud, was dead, ending weeks of claims and counterclaims over his fate following a U.S. missile strike on his father-in-law's home this month.

AP - South Korea's first rocket launch Tuesday failed to push a satellite into its orbit but the flawed mission may still anger rival North Korea, coming just months the communist nation's own launch drew international condemnation.

AP - The Los Angeles County coroner's finding that the death of Michael Jackson was a homicide could mean criminal charges for his doctor, who told investigators he administered a mix of powerful drugs to treat the pop star's insomnia hours before his death.

AP - Roger Federer and Dinara Safina are seeded No. 1 for the U.S. Open.

Reuters - With early results on Tuesday showing Afghanistan's presidential race neck-and-neck, a massive truck bomb that killed 40 civilians and wounded 60 in Kandahar showed the scale of problems facing the eventual winner.

Reuters - The U.S. national debt will nearly double over the next 10 years, government forecasts showed Tuesday, challenging President Barack Obama's economic and healthcare overhaul agenda.

AFP - A massive bomb ripped through the downtown area of the troubled Afghan city of Kandahar Tuesday, killing up to 36 people and wounding dozens near hotels and government offices, officials said.

AP - Five car bombs detonated in a single simultaneous blast Tuesday in Afghanistan's largest southern city, flattening buildings and killing at least 41 people, officials said.

AP - President Hamid Karzai and his main rival, former Foreign Minister Abdullah Abdullah, were running virtually even Tuesday in the first fragmented returns from last week's Afghan election, raising the possibility of a runoff that could drag the process out for months.

AP - The crime scene inside a small Pentecostal church where a pastor was slain was the most brutal he has seen in nearly 20 years as a prosecutor, the local district attorney said Tuesday.

AP - A retired South Carolina state employee who spent two bucks on the lottery last week is the winner of a $260 million Powerball jackpot. Solomon Jackson Jr. of Columbia refused Tuesday to say much about himself or his plans, including whether he will take his winnings annually over three decades or in a $129 million lump sum.

AP - A new study links hormone therapy for prostate cancer with a higher risk of death in older men who've had serious heart problems.

AP - An off-duty Anchorage police officer arrested a woman accused of threatening to kill a postal worker because a package was late. Anchorage Police Lt. Dave Parker said Officer Cameron Hokenson was at the post office Monday on personal business when he witnessed a 64-year-old woman threaten an employee at the postal counter.

AP - Johan Santana needs surgery for bone chips in his left elbow and the star pitcher is out for the season, the latest blow to a New York Mets team battered by injuries.

AFP - A massive bomb ripped through Afghanistan's troubled southern city of Kandahar on Tuesday, killing 36 people near a construction company and government offices, officials said.

SEOUL (Reuters) - North Korea has invited the U.S. envoy overseeing ties with the prickly state to visit for nuclear talks next month, South Korean media said on Tuesday, as the United States pushes sanctions against Pyongyang.

UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - The head of the joint U.N.-African Union peacekeeping mission in Sudan's conflict-torn Darfur region, who some diplomats say has been ineffective, is stepping down, the U.N. said on Tuesday.

AP - In a chilling forecast, the White House is predicting a 10-year federal deficit of $9 trillion — more than the sum of all previous deficits since America's founding. And it says by the next decade's end the national debt will equal three-quarters of the entire U.S. economy.

AP - After weeks of denials, two Pakistani Taliban commanders acknowledged Tuesday that the group's top leader, Baitullah Mehsud, was dead — claiming he died 18 days after a U.S. missile strike and disputing reports that the al-Qaida linked movement he left behind was falling apart.

AP - NASA has called off the launch of space shuttle Discovery because of a bad fuel valve.

Reuters - North Korea has invited the U.S. envoy overseeing ties with the prickly state to visit for nuclear talks next month, South Korean media said on Tuesday, as the United States pushes sanctions against Pyongyang.

CHICAGO (Reuters) - Larger-than-expected gains in U.S. housing prices and consumer confidence on Tuesday lent new weight to views that the economy is emerging from the longest recession since the 1930s.

AP - Conservatives and liberals alike reacted critically, though for different reasons, to Attorney General Eric Holder's decision to appoint a federal prosecutor to investigate possible abuses by CIA interrogators in using harsh tactics on terror detainees.

AP - Police said a man was arrested on Monday for his 22nd drunken driving offense — and his blood-alcohol content tested almost five times higher than New Mexico's legal limit. State Police Lt. Eric Garcia said an officer pulled up to a car parked along a highway and found a 51-year-old man on the ground near his vehicle.

AP - Police said a man was arrested at a grocery store after workers found him at a table in the deli, eating avocados, cake and other items. Bismarck Police Lt. Randy Ziegler said the 38-year-old man was intoxicated and had a hearty spread, including cake, cookies and plums, in the deli area of Cashwise Foods about 2:45 a.m. Tuesday.

AP - Troy Tulowitzki lined a fastball into center field off James McDonald with one out and the bases loaded in the 10th to give the Colorado Rockies a wild, 5-4 win over the Los Angeles Dodgers in the opener of a crucial three-game series Tuesday night.