AP - The self-described mastermind of the Sept. 11 attacks goes on trial in absentia in France on Monday for allegedly ordering a deadly Tunisian synagogue bombing less than a year after the assault on New York and Washington.

AP - Washington bureaucrats have a reputation for being able to spend taxpayer money real fast. But, believe it or not, spending it fast enough is one of the biggest tasks President-elect Barack Obama's economic team faces in putting together an economic recovery measure.

Politico - Barack Obama will lay out his vision for a massive economic stimulus plan in meetings with congressional leaders Monday. Perhaps more important, he'll be taking a major step toward rebuilding the broken relationship between the executive branch and the legislative branch.

AP - The state Canvassing Board was posed to certify the results of the recount in Minnesota's grueling Senate election in Al Franken's favor — but that doesn't mean the race is definitely over.

AP - When he ran for president, Bill Richardson touted more than an adventurous style and impressive resume. He was the guy who embraced flaws as a strength, the one who said the American people 'don't want blow-dried candidates with perfection.'

Politico - Barack Obama will lay out his vision for a massive economic stimulus plan in meetings with congressional leaders Monday. Perhaps more important, he'll be taking a major step toward rebuilding the broken relationship between the executive branch and the legislative branch.

AP - First lady Laura Bush has sealed a deal with Scribner to publish a memoir that will encompass her recollections of personal and historical moments, including her eight years in the White House.

AP - First things first: President-elect Barack Obama's two daughters have checked into their new school in Washington.

AP - President-elect Barack Obama is adding a 'Neighborhood Ball' to the list of inaugural parties planned just over two weeks from now.

The Christian Science Monitor - ? French President Nicolas Sarkozy is no longer head of the European Union. But that has not stopped the peripatetic dynamo from a ceaseless search for a Middle East cease-fire.

AP - President George W. Bush, in his first public reaction to Israel's ground invasion of Gaza, said Monday that the Jewish state was justified in protecting itself against Hamas militants.

Politico - Capitol Fax reports on the ongoing Springfield sideshow: ' The [House impeachment committee] has also issued a subpoena that was served Saturday on Roland Burris, the governor’s controversial choice to fill Illinois’ vacant U.S. Senate seat. The order compels Burris to testify Wednesday.'

AP - President-elect Barack Obama wants the dean at his alma mater, Harvard Law School, to represent the United States before the Supreme Court.

AFP - Former US ambassador to the United Nations John Bolton said Monday settling the Arab-Israeli conflict on the basis of a two-state solution was no longer workable and suggested giving the Palestinian territories to Egypt and Jordan.

Politico - The Minnesota Supreme Court rejected a lawsuit from Sen. Norm Coleman's campaign requesting that over 600 rejected absentee ballots get included in the final count in the Minnesota Senate race.  The Court ruled that Coleman will have to deal with his dispute in a post-election contest.

AP - President George W. Bush plans to designate three remote Pacific island chains as national monuments in what will be the largest marine conservation effort in history.

AFP - The new US Senate was set to convene Tuesday in a swirl of allegations of personal corruption, voter fraud and dynastic nepotism that threatens to dog the early days of Barack Obama's presidency.

Reuters - President-elect Barack Obama filled top Justice Department posts on Monday with four former Clinton administration lawyers, including naming the Harvard Law School dean to argue the government's position in U.S. Supreme Court cases.

AP - The internal watchdog at the Securities and Exchange Commission said Monday an investigation of the agency's failure to uncover the alleged $50 billion fraud involving Wall Street figure Bernard Madoff will extend broadly to the agency's enforcement operations.

AP - President-elect Barack Obama's two daughters were whisked quietly past waiting photographers into their new schools Monday. If custom is any guide, the news media will keep their distance now that they have captured 10-year-old Malia in her puffy pink jacket and 7-year-old Sasha with her pigtails, pink camouflage backpack and turquoise Uglydoll.

AP - The Bush administration stuck to its defense of Israel's expanding offensive in the Gaza Strip on Monday and pushed for a cease-fire including a lasting halt to Hamas' rocket attacks on Israel and a reopening of border crossings that are Gaza's economic lifeline.

Politico - President-elect Barack Obama is naming Leon Panetta, a former congressman from California and chief of staff to President Bill Clinton, to be CIA director. Obama also has picked retired Navy Admiral Dennis Blair to be director of national intelligence, overseeing all the nation's spy agencies, a Democratic official said.

AP - Republican and Democratic House members said Monday that the alleged $50 billion fraud involving Wall Street figure Bernard Madoff reflects deep, systemic problems at the Securities and Exchange Commission.

AP - Every vote counts equally in the Senate, but first you have to get in.

Politico - The executive director of President-elect Barack Obama's transition, Chris Lu, told supporters on a conference call this afternoon that the transition will 'really only scratch the surface as of January 20,' and will still be filling administration jobs this spring and summer -- although 'there are not that many jobs' for the thousands of hopefuls.

AP - House Democrats are changing internal rules to make their committee chairmen more powerful and marginalize Republicans who want to propose alternative legislation, GOP leaders complained Monday.

AP - President-elect Barack Obama on Monday chose the dean at his alma mater, Harvard Law School, to represent the United States before the Supreme Court.

Reuters - Russia reduced gas flows to Europe via Ukraine on Monday, a measure it said was to stop its neighbor siphoning off fuel but which Kiev said could jeopardize supplies to European countries including Germany.

Politico - Former eBay CEO Meg Whitman is signaling she may soon be joining an already crowded field of candidates vying to replace term-limited California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger in 2010.

Reuters - The U.S. Senate, dubbed 'the world's most exclusive club,' seemed certain to begin its new year on Tuesday with potentially ugly battles over two would-be members.

AP - Gov. Tim Kaine said Monday he will manage a Virginia budget crisis $3 billion and growing and head the Democratic National Committee in his spare time, largely as 'an electronic gig.'

Politico - Barack Obama’s transition fundraising has fallen off its earlier pace and may just squeak by in reaching its target before he’s sworn in as president Jan. 20.

Politico - With the Blagojevich scandal breaking around them last month, aides to Barack Obama said there had been “no contact” between Obama and embattled Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich.

AP - Joe Biden is heading to Southwest Asia just days before becoming vice president, a visit that signals the new administration's plans to make the troubled region an immediate priority.