AP - Success in New Hampshire's first-in-the-nation presidential primary may hinge on how well candidates win over the politically fickle as well as the party faithful.

AFP - The Supreme Court examines Monday a case raising questions over free speech rights in US high schools as it hears arguments over a student's unfurling of a quirky banner proclaiming "Bong Hits 4 Jesus."

AP - President Bush on Monday marked the fourth anniversary of the war in Iraq, which has stretched longer with higher costs than the White House ever expected.

AFP - The House of Representatives is expected to consider this week crucial legislation for the Iraq war that includes a provision requiring a US withdrawal by September 2008.

AP - Scores of students waited outside the Supreme Court on Monday for a chance to listen to arguments in a test of student speech rights — a high school senior's display of a banner reading 'Bong Hits 4 Jesus.'

AP - Amid bipartisan calls for Attorney General Alberto Gonzales' resignation in a scandal over dismissals of eight federal prosecutors, the White House said Monday, 'We hope he stays.'

AP - Republican presidential hopeful John McCain praised a new apartment building for homeless veterans as a welcome contrast to the shoddy conditions recently revealed at Walter Reed Medical Center in Washington.

AP - Republican Sen. Arlen Specter, a moderate who has often clashed with the Bush administration and his fellow GOP lawmakers, plans to seek a sixth term in 2010.

AP - Text of President Bush's statement Monday on Iraq, as transcribed by CQ Transcriptions.

AP - The optimism that helped sustain Iraqis during the first few years of the war has dissolved into widespread fear, anger and distress amid unrelenting violence, a survey found.

AP - A high school principal was acting reasonably and in accord with the school's anti-drug mission when she suspended a student for displaying a 'Bong Hits 4 Jesus' banner, her lawyer told the Supreme Court Monday.

AP - The temptation of the Democrats' high-powered candidates may be too much for the South Carolina voters who helped John Edwards to his only presidential primary win in 2004.

AP - The cost of mailing a letter will go up on May 14, but you'll be able to lock in that price — no matter how rates rise in the future — by buying the new 'forever' stamp.

AFP - The Supreme Court on Monday heard arguments about whether a US high school was within its rights for suspending a student who had unfurled a banner proclaiming "Bong Hits 4 Jesus," in one of the quirkier free speech cases to come before America's top court.

AP - Fox News could be back in the debate business. Just days after Democrats canceled a Nevada debate co-sponsored by the cable news network, Fox is negotiating with the Congressional Black Caucus Political Education and Leadership Institute to broadcast up to two face-offs by presidential candidates.

AP - Any time he honors a championship team, President Bush looks for a chance to bring up the underdog theme.

AP - Republican Sen. Arlen Specter, a moderate who has often clashed with the Bush administration and his fellow GOP lawmakers, said Monday he plans to seek a sixth term in 2010.

CQPolitics.com - The first major campaign finance reports of the 2007-08 campaign cycle are due to the Federal Election Commission (FEC) by April 15, when candidates for president, the House and the Senate will disclose receipts and expenditures for the first three months of this year.

AP - Lifting the ban on taxpayer funding of research on new stem cells from fertilized embryos would better serve both science and the nation, the chief of the National Institutes of Health told lawmakers Monday.

AP - A high school senior's 14-foot banner proclaiming 'Bong Hits 4 Jesus' gave the Supreme Court a provocative prop for a lively argument Monday about the extent of schools' control over student speech.