AP - U.S. District Judge Royce Lamberth may have long ago chosen to work in straight-laced Washington, but he radiates his love for his home state of Texas.

AP - President Bush is trying to build support for a comprehensive immigration strategy even though Congress has shelved the issue for now.

AP - President Bush is trying to build support for a comprehensive immigration strategy even though Congress has shelved the issue for now.

AP - The chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee on Sunday suggested that President Bush use an FDR-style presentation to update people on progress in the war in Iraq.

AP - A second Time magazine reporter has agreed to cooperate in the CIA leak case and will testify about her discussions with Karl Rove's attorney, a sign that prosecutors are still exploring charges against the White House aide.

AP - A former Green Party member who advocates an immediate withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq says he will challenge incumbent Hillary Rodham Clinton for the 2006 Democratic nomination for Senate.

USATODAY.com - Thousands of low-income Americans on waiting lists for scarce federal housing aid will have to wait longer while communities nationwide give priority to victims of Hurricane Katrina. More than 1.5 million families sit on local waiting lists for public housing or rental vouchers because federal aid has not kept pace with demand.

AP - President Bush is trying to build support for a comprehensive immigration strategy — and mollify conservatives wary of his guest worker plan for foreigners — even though Congress has shelved the issue for now.

AP - Rep. Randy 'Duke' Cunningham will plead guilty to tax violations, a source close the investigation of the California Republican has told The Associated Press.

AP - A former FBI translator failed Monday to persuade the Supreme Court to revive her lawsuit alleging she was fired for reporting possible wrongdoing by other linguists involved in counterterrorism investigations.

AP - War crimes prosecutors demanded the maximum punishment Friday for Serb paramilitary troops who refuse to confess to the slaughter of 192 Croat prisoners, one of the worst POW massacres of the Balkan wars.

DUBAI (Reuters) - The United States should not back 'sham' reforms in the Arab world which continue to isolate powerful Islamist opposition, former U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright said on Monday.

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - California Republican Rep. Randy 'Duke' Cunningham pleaded guilty in San Diego federal court on Monday to conspiracy and tax evasion for taking money from a defense contractor in exchange for supporting its efforts to secure Defense Department contracts.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The centerpiece of the White House holiday decor, an 18-1/2 foot (5.6 meter) Fraser Fir from North Carolina, arrived at the president's residence on a horse-drawn wagon on Monday as the Marine Corps band played 'O Christmas Tree.'

CARACAS, Venezuela (Reuters) - Venezuela's President Hugo Chavez signed a $1.56 billion deal on Monday to buy naval ships and transport aircraft from Spain in a military transaction Washington worries could threaten regional stability.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Supreme Court let stand on Monday the dismissal of a lawsuit by a former FBI linguist who said she had been fired in 2002 for speaking out about possible security breaches, misconduct and incompetent translation work.

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Some package of relief for the Gulf Coast and southeastern United States utilities affected by hurricanes Katrina, Rita and Wilma is likely to pass Congress by Christmas, the Stanford Washington Research Group said on Monday.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A military vehicle carrying three congressmen overturned on a Baghdad road on Saturday night, and two of the representatives, Ike Skelton of Missouri and Tim Murphy of Pennsylvania, were flown to Germany for medical tests.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday asked for the U.S. government's views about Weyerhaeuser's appeal of a $78.7 million judgment for monopolizing and trying to monopolize the forest products market in the Pacific Northwest.

AP - Rep. Randy "Duke" Cunningham pleaded guilty Monday to conspiracy and tax charges, admitting taking $2.4 million in bribes in a case that grew from an investigation into the sale of his home to a wide-ranging conspiracy involving payments in cash, vacations and antiques.

AP - A horse-drawn wagon pulled up to the White House Monday with an 18 1/2-foot Christmas tree that will adorn the Blue Room, marking the official start of the holiday decorating season at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue.

AP - President Bush is trying to build support for a comprehensive immigration strategy — and mollify conservatives wary of his guest worker plan for foreigners — even though Congress has largely shelved the issue for now.

AP - The Democratic National Committee plans to hold a meeting of about 400 people in New Orleans early next year as a way to express confidence in the city's future after Hurricane Katrina, officials said.

AP - The nation's top aviation official said Monday that federal mediators should intervene in talks between the government and air traffic controllers, but the union says there's no reason for it because the talks are progressing.

AP - A top aide to former Secretary of State Colin Powell said Monday that wrongheaded ideas for the handling of foreign detainees arose from White House and Pentagon officials who argued that "the president of the United States is all-powerful" and the Geneva Conventions irrelevant.

AP - The Bush administration on Monday determined that China was not manipulating its currency to gain economic advantages but still pressed the Chinese to move more quickly to allow the yuan's value to be set by market forces.

AP - New Hampshire Democrats are proposing their own plan for the 2008 presidential calendar that would leave Iowa and New Hampshire first, closely followed by a couple of contests in states with more diverse populations.

AP - Sen. Joe Lieberman, fresh from a two-day visit to Iraq over the Thanksgiving holiday, said Monday he was hopeful U.S. forces could begin a 'significant' withdrawal by the end of next year or in 2007.

AP - The iconic U.S. Marine Corps War Memorial, which faces the nation's capital, is undergoing the most extensive restoration in its more than 50-year history.

Reuters - NATO allies are in intensive talks to allay security concerns among nations key to a plan to expand peacekeeping in Afghanistan amid growing violence there, alliance sources said on Friday.

AP - Lobbyist Jack Abramoff instructed an Indian tribe to make a $5,000 donation to Sen. Byron Dorgan shortly after the lawmaker signed a letter requesting federal money for a school program that Abramoff's tribal clients wanted, the tribe's lawyer said Monday.

Reuters - Interpol will hold a global simulation under the auspices of the United Nations to test the world's readiness to deal with a natural disaster or terrorist attack, a top official said on Friday.

AP - Embattled former House majority leader Tom DeLay criticized Democratic leaders and told supporters at a rally Monday not to lose faith as he faces charges of campaign finance violations.

AP - Rep. Tim Murphy, one of two members of Congress treated at a military hospital after a weekend accident in Iraq, said Monday that wounded soldiers had told him the United States should remain in Iraq.

AP - An appeals court was wrong to throw out the conviction and death sentence of a U.S.-British citizen in a fire that killed an Ohio toddler, the Supreme Court said Monday in the second death penalty ruling under new Chief Justice John Roberts to go against an inmate.