AP - President-elect Barack Obama's allies in the House are poised to reveal his $850 billion economic recovery bill, the opening round in a debate that will last into mid-February or beyond.

AP - Efforts to increase federal spending on children's health insurance moved to the Senate after the House overwhelming approved an additional $32.3 billion for the State Children's Health Insurance Program.

AP - Roland Burris is getting a warmer reception in the Senate than he received last week when he was turned out in the chilly rain. But the honeymoon in his new place of work could be short, and not all that sweet.

AP - President George W. Bush is wrapping up his time at the White House, returning final calls from world leaders and preparing for his own farewell address.

Politico - Barack Obama is likely to spend the next four years with one big advantage over his recent predecessors—a first term in the White House with his party in uninterrupted control of both the House and the Senate.

AP - A French court acquitted six doctors and pharmacists Wednesday in the deaths of at least 114 people who contracted a brain-destroying disease after being treated with tainted human growth hormones.

AP - Eric Holder is bracing for a Republican grilling in what is shaping up to be a contentious confirmation hearing on his way to becoming the nation's first African-American attorney general.

Politico - Barack Obama is likely to spend the next four years with one big advantage over his recent predecessors—a first term in the White House with his party in uninterrupted control of both the House and the Senate.

AP - House Democrats are circulating an $825 billion economic stimulus measure that emphasizes health care, education and highway construction as well as tax cuts for individuals and businesses.

AP - The Security Council on Wednesday authorized 5,200 U.N. peacekeepers to replace a 3,300-strong European Union force in Chad and Central African Republic, which have been seriously affected by fighting in neighboring Sudan's Darfur region.

AP - Eric Holder Jr. has told his confirmation hearing that the U.S. prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba will be closed. But he says it won't be easy.

AP - Attorney General-designate Eric Holder Jr. has promised to vigorously prosecute cases of financial fraud and market manipulation.

AP - President-elect Barack Obama's pick to oversee Homeland Security is telling senators she will improve the department's operations and relationships with other agencies.

AP - Making his final visit to the State Department, President George W. Bush said the U.S. should engage the world with what he calls the 'transformative power of freedom and liberty.'

AP - Highlights of the $825 billion economic recovery plan drafted by House Democrats and President-elect Barack Obama's economic team. Most provisions are temporary.

AP - The slaying of a 21-year-old British woman allegedly while fighting off a sexual attack shocked Italy and cast a dark cloud over the privileged world of young people studying abroad.

AP - The Senate has approved a bill setting aside more than 2 million acres in nine states as protected wilderness.

AP - Personnel embarrassments are inevitable for presidents. With skill and luck, disasters are not.

Politico - Signaling sharp breaks from the Bush administration, Barack Obama’s attorney general nominee declared Thursday that waterboarding is torture and that the U.S. detention facility at Guantanamo Bay will be closed as quickly as possible.

AP - Pentagon officials said Thursday they are readying a range of plans for a pullout of U.S. combat troops from Iraq, including a possible drawdown within the 16-month time frame promised by President-elect Obama.

AP - President George W. Bush, making his final visit to the State Department, said Thursday that the U.S. should confidently engage the world with the 'transformative power of freedom and liberty.'

AP - A top item on the Democratic agenda, legislation making it easier to challenge pay discrimination in the workplace, progressed in the Senate Thursday.

AP - Barack Obama's wax doppelganger took office in several European capitals Thursday — five days before the real-life Obama takes over in Washington.

AP - President-elect Barack Obama's top economic adviser has sent a letter to the Senate's Democratic leader promising to spend between $50 billion and $100 billion of the financial bailout fund to reduce the number of foreclosures.

Bloomberg - Jan. 15 (Bloomberg) -- House Democrats unveiled a $825 billion stimulus plan aimed at helping lift the economy out of recession through a combination of tax cuts for families and businesses and a half-trillion dollars in new federal spending.

AP - A divided Senate has approved President-elect Barack Obama's request for $350 billion in unspent financial bailout funds.

Politico - Striking a reflective and gracious tone, President George W. Bush plans to say in his prime-time farewell address tonight that he has experienced 'setbacks' but has 'always acted with the best interests of our country in mind.'

AP - This year's inauguration is expected to set many records: the largest crowds, most bridges closed and highest security of any presidential swearing-in.

AP - Text of the Senate resolution to disapprove using the unspent $350 billion from last fall's $700 billion rescue package for banks and other financial institutions. The resolution needed a simple Senate majority of yes votes to pass. It was rejected by a 52-42 vote, thus clearing the way for a new infusion of bailout cash for the financial industry.

AP - Homeland Security and FBI officials say there's no indication that a plane crash in New York City was terrorism.

AP - Award-winning Czech architect Jan Kaplicky has died at age 71 after collapsing in a Prague street.

AP - President-elect Barack Obama has arrived at Blair House, where he and his family will be staying until they move into 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue.

AP - The Bush administration signed a nuclear cooperation agreement on Thursday with the United Arab Emirates — a last-minute deal saddling the incoming Obama administration with a decision on helping a Persian Gulf ally develop nuclear power despite concerns in Congress.

AP - They're not going far, but that didn't stop the senators who are joining the Obama administration from saying 'so long' the Senate way: At length. The people's business, namely the biggest economic rescue package in history, would just have to wait.

Reuters - The outgoing Bush administration on Thursday cranked up pressure on the European Union to drop its ban on beef from U.S. cattle treated with growth hormones by changing the list of $116.8 million worth of European food products hit with sanctions in the dispute.

AFP - Five days before becoming president, Barack Obama won a major boost when the US Senate released financial bailout funds and Democratic lawmakers unveiled an 825-billion-dollar recovery plan.

AP - In his final speech to the nation, President George W. Bush took pride in his record at home and abroad, describing hopeful events and accomplishments. But what he left unsaid was significant too.

AP - President-elect Barack Obama's choice for treasury secretary is becoming a national punchline for late-night comics, a clear sign that not paying your taxes is a growing problem in the public's eyes if you're the guy tapped to oversee the IRS.

AP - The man picked to fill Joe Biden's U.S. Senate seat doesn't want his new colleagues to write him off as an irrelevant placeholder, even though he only plans to be in office for two years.