AP - Former President Bill Clinton has agreed to publicly disclose the names of most donors to his presidential foundation and library, a significant concession aimed at helping smooth the path for his wife to become the next secretary of state.

Politico - Arizona Gov. Janet Napolitano (D) has been chosen to serve as secretary of the vast and troubled Department of Homeland Security for President-elect Obama, Democratic officials said. Napolitano is a border governor who will now be responsible for immigration policy and border security, which are part of Homeland Security’s myriad functions.

AP - A young gunman arrested this week turns out to be the head of the Basque separatist group ETA — the first member of an uncompromising and ultra-violent new generation to lead the organization, Spanish officials said Wednesday.

AP - A plan to give troubled U.S. automakers billions of dollars in government-backed loans is on life support, leaving the fate of hundreds of thousands of workers and Detroit's once-venerable car companies hanging in the balance.

AP - Eric Holder is in line for nomination by President-elect Barack Obama to the attorney general's job that Holder has long wanted, but the 2001 episode with fugitive financier Marc Rich is stirring partisan acrimony.

AP - President-elect Barack Obama is urging the United Nations chief to embark on 'far-reaching reform' of the world organization to help it address pressing global issues.

AFP - Alaska Senator Ted Stevens, the longest-serving Republican in US Senate history, conceded defeat in his re-election bid when voters turned against him after a graft scandal.

AP - In two undecided open-seat House races, both candidates are playing Congress member-elect this week.

AP - As the manual recount in Minnesota's U.S. Senate race began, one volunteer judge asked the city election director what to do if she spotted a questionable ballot and no one else did.

AP - Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney is standing steadfastly behind the forces opposing a $25 billion 'bridge loan' for struggling Detroit auto manufacturers.

Politico - The Interior Department could play an unprecedented role in shaping the new administration’s attempts to regulate greenhouse gas emissions.

AP - Top seed Russia bounced back after drawing Germany in the last round to beat England 3-1 Wednesday in round six of open division play at the Chess Olympiad.

AP - House Democrats are deciding a bruising intraparty battle on whether to topple veteran Rep. John Dingell as chairman of the committee with oversight of energy and global warming and replace him with liberal Rep. Henry Waxman.

AP - Somali pirates preying on international shipping are also damaging their homeland's battered economy, worsening the instability that opened the door to piracy and inroads by Islamic extremists, the U.N. chief warned Wednesday.

Bloomberg - Nov. 20 (Bloomberg) -- Representative Henry Waxman won the chairmanship of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, ousting John Dingell, the longest serving member of the U.S. House.

Politico - The Interior Department could play an unprecedented role in shaping the new administration’s attempts to regulate greenhouse gas emissions.

AP - It's taken two and a half centuries but Columbia College, one of the oldest in the nation, finally will have a president who will be the first Columbia graduate to occupy the Oval Office.

AP - China has accelerated computer espionage attacks on the U.S. government, defense contractors and American businesses, a congressional advisory panel said Thursday.

Politico - Ted Stevens — the longest-serving Republican senator in history — bid farewell to the Senate on Thursday. Although he leaves under criminal conviction, the 85-year-old Alaskan said the future is still bright.

AP - President-elect Barack Obama's likely pick for Homeland Security secretary, Janet Napolitano, is no stranger to headline-making Washington scandals and controversies.

Politico - Chicago businesswoman Penny Pritzker, national campaign finance chairwoman for the Obama campaign, has taken herself out of the running to be secretary of Commerce because of vetting issues, a Democratic official said.

AP - The senior Republican on the House Intelligence Committee Thursday called for a criminal investigation into whether the CIA lied to Congress and withheld information from the Justice Department during its inquiry into the 2001 shoot-down of an American missionary plane by the Peruvian air force with help from a CIA spotter plane.

AP - A former legislative aide to Missouri Sen. Kit Bond and Rep. Roy Blunt pleaded guilty in federal court on Thursday to hiding thousands of dollars of gifts from lobbyists, the latest political figure to go down in the Jack Abramoff corruption scandal.

AP - Georgian officials said Russian and separatist forces attacked a Georgian police checkpoint Thursday near the breakaway province of Abkhazia.

AP - No matter how careful he is, sooner or later President-elect Barack Obama is likely to make a bum nomination or two.

AP - Alaska's incoming senator is bullish on gun rights, wants to open the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to oil and gas drilling and believes less government is better. And he's a Democrat.

AP - Congress has passed legislation extending jobless benefits through the December holidays, keeping checks flowing to laid-off workers who would otherwise lose them.

AP - Global warming could help Russia's economy, an Eastern or Central European country could be overrun by organized crime and the U.S. dollar could further decline in importance during the next two decades, says a new report from U.S. intelligence analysts with predictions for the world in 2025.

AP - The Welsh language, which dates back to the 6th century, got a major boost Thursday when the European Union formally recognized it as a minority tongue.

AP - Jarred by new jobless alarms, Congress raced to approve legislation Thursday to keep unemployment checks flowing through the December holidays and into the new year for a million or more laid-off Americans whose benefits are running out.

AP - What Robert Gates once called 'inconceivable to me' — his remaining as defense secretary beyond Inauguration Day — is looking a bit more conceivable to the rest of Washington.

AP - A former legislative aide to two Missouri Republicans, Sen. Kit Bond and Rep. Roy Blunt, pleaded guilty Thursday to hiding thousands of dollars of gifts from lobbyists, the latest political figure to go down in the Jack Abramoff corruption scandal.

Reuters - The International Criminal Court prosecutor requested arrest warrants on Thursday for Darfur rebels for the first time, accusing them of storming an African Union camp and killing 12 peacekeepers.

Politico - Uncertainty over Hillary Rodham Clinton’s potential appointment as Secretary of State is rekindling interest in the creation of a new position for her in the Senate Democratic leadership, according to Democratic aides.

AP - A judge says disputed provisional ballots must be counted in a tight congressional race in central Ohio.

AP - Buckingham Palace says Queen Elizabeth II has given Israeli President Shimon Peres an honorary knighthood.

Politico - President-elect Barack Obama is 'on track' to name Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-N.Y.) as his secretary of state shortly after Thanksgiving, two senior Obama aides said. 

AP - More Floridians voted for John McCain than Barack Obama on Election Day, but the Democrat sealed his victory in the state by winning more early and absentee votes.

AP - In a 2008 Super Bowl ad, NFL golden boy Tom Brady asked nearly 100 million viewers to text 'FIT' to donate $5 to the United Way. About 25,000 people responded, raising $10,000.

AP - President-elect Barack Obama has waded into Georgia's U.S. Senate runoff, recording a radio ad supporting Democrat Jim Martin, but there's still no word on whether the president-elect will make a personal appearance.

AP - Amsterdam faces an ingrained problem of violence against gay men, despite its reputation as a haven of tolerance, according to a study released Thursday.