AP - Lawmakers from states untouched by Hurricane Katrina face a conundrum — showing compassion toward the devastated Gulf Coast without breaking the bank and, at the same time, balancing disaster-relief needs in their own regions.

AP - The administration's point man on tightening welfare requirements says he senses that Congress is closer to making significant changes to the program than at any time during President Bush's tenure.

AP - In a Thanksgiving weekend radio address to Americans, President Bush mourned the growing number of fallen troops but vowed to keep fighting for the cause they died for.

AP - The federal government needs to create a comprehensive energy policy to address rising costs across the country, Gov. Christine Gregoire of Washington said Saturday in the Democratic Party's weekly radio address.

AP - Haiti's electoral board on Friday again postponed the first elections since the ouster of President Jean-Bertrand Aristide, saying it needs need more time to organize the vote in the impoverished country.

AP - In Alabama, a man with a history of mental illness killed two police officers with a rifle he bought on Christmas Eve.

AP - A prospective gun buyer's criminal record is the most common reason the FBI rejects sales that are submitted by federally licensed guns dealers to the National Instant Criminal Background Check System.

AP - Abortion dominates the debate over Supreme Court nominee Samuel Alito. What Alito has written, his mother has said and the observations of senators who have met with Alito:

AP - To some, a never-enforced New Hampshire law requiring parental notification before a minor has an abortion is a backward step for women's rights. To others, it protects parents' right to know if their child is having an abortion.

AFP - The United Nations has warned against shifting focus from urgent relief to reconstruction in Pakistani quake-ravaged areas where thousands of children are still struggling to stay alive.

AP - The federal government needs to create a comprehensive energy policy to address rising costs across the country, Gov. Christine Gregoire of Washington said Saturday in the Democratic Party's weekly radio address.

AP - In a Thanksgiving weekend radio address to Americans, President Bush mourned the growing number of fallen troops but vowed to keep fighting for the cause they died for.

AP - Three years ago, Massachusetts Reps. Martin Meehan, Stephen Lynch and Edward Markey bucked their state Democratic colleagues and cast votes to give President Bush a green light to go to war in Iraq.