AP - At the end of a nearly seamless transition, President-elect Barack Obama has been buffeted by a string of embarrassing jolts within the space of two weeks.

AP - Patients at Veterans Affairs health centers around the country were given incorrect doses of drugs, had needed treatments delayed and may have been exposed to other medical errors due to software glitches that showed faulty displays of their electronic health records.

AP - Pregnant immigrants and the children of legal immigrants would get health coverage under legislation the House is considering as part of an expansion of a children's health insurance program.

AP - A friend of Prince Charles insisted Tuesday that the prince is not racist, after a newspaper reported that the heir to the throne refers to him as 'Sooty.'

AP - Sen. John Kerry says Secretary of State designee Hillary Rodham Clinton has done a 'terrific' job fielding questions from senators.

AP - A Pentagon official acknowledged in an interview published Wednesday that the United States tortured Mohammed al-Qahtani, a Saudi man who allegedly had hoped to become the '20th hijacker' in the Sept. 11 attacks.

Politico - Second Time’s the Charm?

AP - House Speaker Nancy Pelosi says she's confident that the remaining $350 billion in federal bailout funds will be better spent under Barack Obama.

AP - Left-wing opposition parties said Tuesday they will go ahead with a protest at a Greek port despite the U.S. decision not to use the facility for an arms shipment to Israel.

AP - The White House said Wednesday that the recent audiotape believed to carry a message from Osama bin Laden reflects the 'isolation' of the al-Qaida leader.

AP - President-elect Barack Obama has broken bread with some of his critics in the news media.

AP - Iraq deposited its ratification of a chemical weapons ban treaty at the U.N. Tuesday, a move welcomed by U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon as a demonstration of the country's commitment to disarmament.

AP - The House was poised to increase spending on children's health insurance Wednesday as Democrats try to give President-elect Barack Obama an early win on health care.

AP - President-elect Barack Obama's nominee for secretary of agriculture said Wednesday that if he is confirmed he will work to boost the economies of farm communities, promote nutritious foods and help poor families put meals on the table.

AP - A top Senate Republican is blocking a quick hearing for Timothy Geithner, President-elect Barack Obama's pick to head the Treasury Department, after learning that Geithner had failed to pay $34,000 in taxes.

AP - A new poll shows New Yorkers now prefer Attorney General Andrew Cuomo over Caroline Kennedy for the U.S. Senate seat expected to be vacated by Hillary Rodham Clinton.

AP - U.S. intelligence officials have found no credible threat of terrorist attacks at the Super Bowl scheduled Feb. 1 in Tampa, Fla., but they are still raising security concerns.

AP - The Supreme Court ruled Wednesday that evidence found after an arrest based on incorrect information from police files may be used against a criminal suspect.

AP - Revelations about Timothy Geithner's tax problems derailed Senate Democrats' plans Wednesday to speed him to confirmation as treasury secretary, but senators in both parties said the disclosures were unlikely to torpedo his chances to take a key post on President-elect Barack Obama's economic team.

AP - President-elect Barack Obama eventually will gain access to the second half of the $700 billion financial bailout fund — politics notwithstanding and more likely sooner than later.

AP - Six years after President-elect Barack Obama's choice for homeland security chief created a detailed security plan for her own state, key provisions remain incomplete. Firefighters, paramedics and other first responders at disaster scenes still can't always communicate by radio without calling in special equipment, and criminal records still aren't fully available electronically.

AP - Forget all those inaugural concerts. The most pressing musical issue in the nation's capital is whether a stone-face senator from Oklahoma will hit the high notes in 'Rocket Man' to pay off a college football bet.

AP - A new study says that improvements in energy efficiency can be achieved to slow the growth of electricity demand over the next two decades by up to 22 percent.

AP - President-elect Barack Obama's Democratic allies on Capitol Hill want to use his jobs creation bill to extend a middle class tax cut despite concerns from Obama's transition team that it won't boost the economy.

AP - The Bush administration has been hit with a last-minute court order to preserve electronic messages, the result of long-standing problems with the White House's e-mail system.

AP - A federal judge has ordered the military to release a Guantanamo Bay detainee who was arrested in Pakistan when he was 14.

AP - The Supreme Court said Wednesday that evidence obtained after illegal searches or arrests based on simple police mistakes may be used to prosecute criminal defendants.

AP - Coal ash spilled onto Barack Obama's agenda Wednesday when his pick to run the Environmental Protection Agency spoke of possibly regulating the waste from coal-fired power plants.

AP - Making a down payment on President-elect Barack Obama's promise of universal health coverage, the House voted overwhelmingly Wednesday to expand government-sponsored insurance to 4 million more children in working families with income too high to qualify for Medicaid.

AP - The Senate warmly received several of President-elect Barack Obama's choices for Cabinet positions Wednesday, continuing an aggressive push to confirm them by Inauguration Day.

AP - A top Democrat says President-elect Barack Obama's economic team supports spending between $40 billion and $100 billion from the remaining financial sector bailout specifically to reduce the number of foreclosures.

AP - A group of adventurers set out from London for Timbuktu on Wednesday, planning to travel by flying car.

AP - President-elect Barack Obama labeled the tax problems of his choice for Treasury chief an embarrassment Wednesday, but said Timothy Geithner's 'innocent mistake' shouldn't bar him from the post leading urgent efforts to revive the economy. Despite the controversy, Geithner's confirmation seemed all but sure — though not by Inauguration Day.

AP - Barack Obama's economic recovery bill has grown to $850 billion after negotiations with his Democratic allies in Congress, who have rewritten some of the president-elect's tax proposals and may drive the price tag even higher.

Politico - Barack Obama is bringing back the night-owl presidency.

AP - Want a quick tax refund? File your federal tax returns electronically.

AP - Forget all those inaugural concerts. The most pressing musical issue in the nation's capital Wednesday was whether a stone-faced senator from Oklahoma could hit the high notes in 'Rocket Man' to pay off a college football bet.

AP - President-elect Barack Obama wants to conclude his inaugural oath with the words 'so help me God,' but a group of atheists is asking a federal judge to stop him.

CQPolitics.com - When Eric H. Holder Jr.'s confirmation hearing to be attorney general begins Thursday in the Senate Judiciary Committee, he can expect the toughest questions to come from ranking Republican Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania.