AP - The first deadline in the presidential money primary holds promise and pitfalls for Democratic Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton.

AP - The State Department criticized Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir on Tuesday for retreating on his promise to support deployment of U.N.-African Union peacekeepers in Darfur, calling the Sudanese position 'not acceptable to the international community.'

AFP - A US Senate probe into extrajudicial killings in the Philippines appeared biased against the Manila government and was an affront to its sovereignty, a senior Filipino official said Friday.

AP - The White House on Friday backed off its earlier contention that then-White House Counsel Harriet Miers first raised the idea of firing U.S. attorneys — an act that led to a firestorm of criticism of Attorney General Alberto Gonzales.

AP - Rep. Patrick Kennedy said Friday he sought treatment for an addiction to the painkiller OxyContin months before wrecking his car outside the U.S. Capitol last year.

AP - Irish Prime Minister Bertie Ahern, at the White House to celebrate St. Patrick's Day, said Friday that he hopes the U.S. Congress will embrace President Bush's immigration proposal that would affect illegal Irish immigrants in the United States.

AP - With violence high in Darfur's refugee camps, some of those driven from their homes are choosing to stay away, living in rebel-controlled areas in constant fear of government or militia attack. They struggle to stay alive with little access to outside humanitarian aid.

AP - The vast right-wing conspiracy. Evil and bad men. Sticking with people who stick with you.

AP - The Arkansas Ethics Commission unanimously dismissed a complaint Friday over Republican presidential hopeful Mike Huckabee's destruction of computer hard drives as he left the governor's office this year.

AP - The Federal Election Commission has dismissed a complaint a conservative group filed against Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid over his use of campaign money to pay holiday bonuses at the hotel where he lives.

AP - An unidentified man with a package scaled a White House fence Friday, prompting a security lock down on the White House compound, the Secret Service said.

AP - The Supreme Court will hear arguments Monday in the case of Joseph Frederick, the Alaska high school student who was suspended for displaying a 'Bong Hits 4 Jesus' banner.

AFP - The United States said Wednesday it was looking to take tough new action, including at the United Nations, to force Sudan to allow a UN-led peacekeeping force into war-torn Darfur.

AP - Republican presidential contender John McCain on Friday used the term 'tar baby,' considered by some a racial epithet, and later said he regretted it.

AP - The White House dropped its contention Friday that former Counsel Harriet Miers first raised the idea of firing U.S. attorneys, blaming 'hazy memories' as e-mails shed new light on Karl Rove's role. Support eroded further for Attorney General Alberto Gonzales.

AP - After four years, America's cost for the war in Iraq has reached nearly $500 billion — more than the total for the Korean War and nearly as much as 12 years in Vietnam, adjusting for inflation. The ultimate cost could reach $1 trillion or more.

AP - President Bush talked with the leaders of Saudi Arabia and Egypt on Friday about the war in Iraq and the long-stalemated search for peace between Israel and the Palestinians.

Reuters - The chairman of the U.S. House of Representatives Financial Services Committee said on Friday he is targeting the end of 2007 for passage of a bill to curtail predatory lending like that seen behind the widening financial crunch in the subprime mortgage market.

AP - Overwhelmed by unprecedented demand, the State Department is warning would-be travelers to brace for lengthy delays in getting U.S. passports, even when they pay a hefty fee to speed their applications.

AP - The Secret Service on Friday arrested a man it said had scaled a White House fence with a package and falsely claimed he had a bomb. The incident led to a security lockdown around the White House for more than three hours.

AFP - George W. Bush will be remembered as the worst US president ever, real estate mogul Donald Trump said Friday, adding that US Senator Hillary Clinton could be Bush's White House successor.

AP - The message connected drug use and religion in a nonsensical phrase that was designed to provoke, and it got Joseph Frederick in a heap of trouble.

AP - A federal judge ruled Friday that a former escort service owner cannot sell phone records and other documents that could be used to publicly identify thousands of her clients.

AP - Thousands of people gathered for a Christian anti-war worship service Friday night at the Washington National Cathedral, kicking off a weekend of protests around the country to mark the fourth anniversary of the war in Iraq.

AP - Democratic presidential hopeful Barack Obama had little difficulty winning over the audience at a senior center made famous by the husband of his biggest rival.

AP - Rudy Giuliani, leading in national polls but trailing his opponents' organizations in Michigan, spent Friday picking up endorsements and some criticism in Macomb County north of Detroit.