AP - President-elect Barack Obama appears to have settled on Congressional Budget Office chief Peter Orszag to be his budget director, Capitol Hill Democrats said Tuesday.

Bloomberg - Nov. 19 (Bloomberg) -- Alaska Senator Ted Stevens lost his bid to stay in office after being convicted on felony charges as ballot counts two weeks after Election Day gave Democrat Mark Begich an insurmountable lead.

AP - The election of Barack Obama has delivered a decisive victory to 'fair traders,' mainly Democrats and their allies who for years have contended that the free-trade policies of past administrations were recipes for American job losses and environmental degradation.

AP - Possible Republican presidential candidates already are making Iowa a winter destination four years before the leadoff caucuses, but some wonder if the state Republican Party's drift to the right could hurt its influence in choosing a nominee capable of winning back the White House.

AP - Many women recoil at the thought of baring their arms in sleeveless dresses or blouses, but not Michelle Obama — half of the fabulously fit new first couple.

AP - Moscow prosecutors say they have warned the Russian-language edition of the Newsweek magazine for allegedly insulting Muslims.

Politico - The Democratic pursuit of 60 Senate seats received new life Tuesday night after Alaska Democrat Mark Begich was declared the winner against Ted Stevens, the longest-serving Republican in the Senate.

AP - The largest-ever recount in Minnesota history has more than just voters in the state biting their nails.

Politico - The Democratic pursuit of 60 Senate seats received new life Tuesday night after Alaska Democrat Mark Begich was declared the winner against Ted Stevens, the longest-serving Republican in the Senate.

AP - A former French prime minister was ordered Tuesday to stand trial over a political smear campaign against Nicolas Sarkozy before he became France's president, a French judicial official said.

AP - Former President Bill Clinton has offered several concessions to help Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, his wife, become secretary of state, people familiar with President-elect Barack Obama's transition vetting process said Wednesday.

AP - Diplomats say that the U.N nuclear watchdog agency is expected to circulate reports on Syria and Iran later in the day.

Politico - Negotiations between the Clintons and President-elect Obama’s transition team are rapidly moving toward a formal offer of secretary of State for Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-N.Y.), with both sides expecting a formal announcement in the next seven days, according to numerous officials who are involved.

AP - Delaware Attorney General Beau Biden says he plans to fulfill his National Guard duties and won't accept an appointment to his father's U.S. Senate seat.

AP - Dr. Howard Dean, it turns out, wrote the right prescription for the Democratic Party.

AP - Cyprus is backing Russia's call for a new European security treaty and urging other European Union members to do the same.

AP - Former Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle has accepted President-elect Barack Obama's offer to be Secretary of Health and Human Services, Democratic officials said Wednesday.

Politico - Negotiations between the Clintons and President-elect Barack Obama’s transition team are rapidly moving toward a formal offer of secretary of state for Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-N.Y.), with both sides expecting a formal announcement in the next seven days, according to numerous officials who are involved.

AP - The radical shift in the focus of the $700 billion economic bailout package led one senator Wednesday to question what the young prosecutor tapped to be the program's inspector general will be investigating.

AP - Government officials say a decorated federal immigrations officer has been arrested on drug distribution charges.

AP - The British government announced plans Wednesday to make it illegal to pay for sex with women forced into prostitution and to name men who solicit sex on the streets — measures that prostitutes say will put more women at risk.

Bloomberg - Nov. 19 (Bloomberg) -- U.S. auto company executives today will make their plea for government aid for the second straight day, as prospects for a Democratic-backed assistance plan waned.

AP - Rep. Henry Waxman of California has been selected by a key Democratic leadership panel to replace veteran Chairman John Dingell to head a crucial House committee with jurisdiction over energy, global warming and many other issues like health care.

Politico - Whether it’s relaxing pollution control standards for power plants or allowing loaded weapons into national parks, the Bush Administration is scrambling to approve or change as many federal rules as it can before it hands off power to President-elect Barack Obama. This surge of “midnight regulations” presents a thorny question for the next administration: What can it do to void rules it thinks should be undone?

AP - Republican John McCain has defeated President-elect Barack Obama in Missouri — the last state to be decided in the 2008 presidential election.

AP - A Massachusetts state senator photographed while allegedly stuffing thousands of dollars in bribe money into her sweater has resigned.

AP - The FBI is offering a reward of up to $50,000 for information leading to the arrest of four environmental extremists accused of sabotage attacks in five Western states — including a 1998 firebombing at a Colorado ski resort that caused $12 million in damage.

AP - Polish officials marked the border of the former Warsaw Ghetto on Wednesday with plaques and boundary lines traced in the ground to preserve the memory of the tragic World War II-era Jewish quarter.

CQPolitics.com - Former Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle is President-elect Barack Obama's choice to lead the Department of Health and Human Services, an appointment that many Democrats predict will greatly help with efforts next year to overhaul the health care system.

Bloomberg - Nov. 19 (Bloomberg) -- Alaska Senator Ted Stevens lost his bid to stay in office after his conviction on felony charges as ballot counts two weeks after Election Day gave Democrat Mark Begich an insurmountable lead.

AP - House Republicans on Wednesday re-elected John Boehner as leader of their depleted ranks while putting together a more conservative team to represent them in the next, Democratic-controlled, Congress.

AP - The U.N. nuclear watchdog agency said Wednesday that a Syrian site bombed by Israel in 2007 had the characteristics of a nuclear reactor. It also admitted that its investigation into Iran's alleged nuclear weapons program is deadlocked.

AP - Former President Bill Clinton on Wednesday appealed to Georgians to send Democrat Jim Martin to Washington arguing the state's hotly contested Senate runoff must provide a 'bridge not a firewall' to the progress promised by President-elect Barack Obama.

Politico - Democratic officials said they see new signs that President-elect Obama will ask Defense Secretary Robert Gates to stay in his post.

AP - Delaware Attorney General Beau Biden says he plans to fulfill his National Guard duties and won't accept an appointment to his father's U.S. Senate seat.

AP - The Cleveland Museum of Art agreed Wednesday to return 14 ancient treasures ranging from Etruscan jewelry to a Medieval cross that authorities say were looted or stolen from Italy.

Politico - Count Joe Lieberman as on board for the HRC as SecState.

AP - A wide array of former top U.S. officials urged President-elect Barack Obama on Wednesday to make the United Nations a close partner in confronting global threats and environmental challenges.

Reuters - U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said on Wednesday the United Nations was looking into reports of aerial bombings in Sudan's war-ravaged Darfur region after the Sudanese government declared a ceasefire.