AP - Eric Holder appears headed for confirmation as attorney general after declaring a new course in U.S. counterterrorism policy, but a Senate panel still wants to hear more about his decisions as a Clinton administration Justice Department official.

AP - The European Union has received no formal request from the U.S. to accept detainees if it closes the Guantanamo Bay prison for suspected terrorists, officials said Thursday, making it hard for EU countries to decide what to do.

Politico - Just hours after admitting he was intimidated by Abraham Lincoln’s second inaugural address, Barack Obama went to stare it down.

AP - Franklin Roosevelt swept into Washington in the threadbare depths of the Depression, told the nation it would revive, and got to work.

AFP - European Union nations set Thursday a deadline to upgrade the massive security database for Europe's border-free zone, failing which the multi-million euro modifications could be abandoned.

AP - Barack Obama enters the White House with public expectations of his success far higher than for any president in a generation, according to an Associated Press-GfK poll.

AP - The Israeli military took about a dozen foreign reporters on a rare foray into the Gaza Strip Thursday, a day when a bombardment killed the Hamas security chief and an Israel shell landed on the United Nations headquarters there.

AP - The United States is working with Israel on an agreement on the final working day of the Bush administration that would have the Jewish state agree to a cease-fire with Hamas militants in Gaza.

AP - A chance discovery of a medieval clay oven has revealed that Moorish architects used powdered animal bones to protect the walls of fortresses close to the Alhambra Palace in southern Spain.

AP - The Interior Department has issued a detailed proposal for widespread oil and gas drilling off both the Pacific and Atlantic coasts.

AP - Former FBI Director Louis Freeh urged the Senate Friday to confirm Eric Holder as the next attorney general, saying he has great integrity despite some mistakes.

AP - The United States and Israel signed an agreement Friday intended to assure that Hamas militants will not be able to rearm if the Jewish state agrees to a Gaza cease-fire.

AP - Plans to build the nation's first offshore wind farm in the waters off Cape Cod cleared a major hurdle Friday, winning environmental approval from a key federal agency.

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 - Former Bush adviser Frances Townsend has urged the Senate to confirm Eric Holder as the next attorney general.

AP - Ted Kaufman, a Delaware Democrat who for decades has been a political adviser to Sen. Joe Biden, D-Del., was sworn in Friday to fill the Senate seat Biden relinquished to become vice president.

AFP - The European Commission warned on Friday that it would be forced to review relations with Russia and Ukraine if they did not renew the flow of gas to Europe over the weekend.

AP - President George W. Bush called the pilot of the ill-fated US Airways jetliner to thank him for saving the lives of the passengers.

AP - Taking his economic pitch on the road Friday, President-elect Barack Obama promoted his plans to create long-lasting, well-paying jobs in cutting-edge industries like alternative energy as part of his mammoth plan to pull the country out of recession.

AP - Former FBI Director Louis Freeh urged the Senate Judiciary Committee on Friday to confirm Eric Holder as the next attorney general as Barack Obama's pick won key support from another GOP senator.

AP - Hawaii wants to send favorite son Barack Obama to the White House aloha style.

CQPolitics.com - The Senate Judiciary Committee will vote Jan. 21 on the nomination of Eric H. Holder Jr. as attorney general, Chairman Patrick J. Leahy, D-Vt., said Friday.

AFP - The United States filed a WTO complaint Friday challenging the European Union's restrictions on US poultry treated to prevent contamination, officials said.

AP - Consumer groups say the government is expanding its investigation of peanut products in a salmonella outbreak that has sickened hundreds and killed at least five.

AP - The US Airways pilot who ditched in the Hudson River considered emergency landings at two airports but twice told air controllers he was unable to make them, then said he'd go into the river instead.

AP - House Democrats' version of the $825 billion recession rescue package would end billions of dollars in tax breaks the Bush administration quietly gave to banks last fall.

AP - The Treasury Department slapped financial sanctions on three alleged al-Qaida terrorist operatives thought to be in Iran, plus another — a son of al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden — that the top U.S. intelligence officer said Friday has left Iran and is probably now in Pakistan.

AP - U.S. senators are paying tribute to the US Airways pilot who guided a hobbled jetliner safely into the Hudson River and then helped safely evacuate the passengers.

Reuters - The U.S. Supreme Court agreed on Friday to decide whether a public school violated the constitutional rights of a 13-year-old student by conducting a strip search of her for ibuprofen.

AP - Prime Minister Vladimir Putin accused the European Union on Friday of siding with Ukraine in the highly charged dispute that has kept Russian natural gas from reaching Europe for a full ten days.

AP - A hearing has been scheduled in Minnesota next week on Al Franken's request to have a lawsuit dismissed in his bid for the Senate.

AP - The Supreme Court agreed Friday to decide whether a 13-year-old girl's constitutional rights were violated when school officials strip-searched her for a prescription-strength pain reliever.

AP - Violent political protests sweeping parts of Eastern Europe spread Friday to Lithuania, where police fired rubber bullets and tear gas at a rock-throwing mob attacking Parliament.

AP - Five 8-foot-square monitors and four flat-panel televisions hang on beige walls in the windowless room. A few flicker with images from news programs and street maps of downtown Washington.

AP - President-elect Barack Obama is preparing to prohibit the use of waterboarding and other harsh interrogation techniques by ordering the CIA to follow military rules for questioning prisoners, according to two U.S. officials familiar with drafts of the plans. Still under debate is whether to allow exceptions in extraordinary cases.

AP - Americans believe Barack Obama is on track to succeed and are optimistic he can help revive the struggling economy, according to an Associated Press-GfK poll.

AP - Iran producing a nuclear weapon and a cyber attack on critical government or private computer networks top the list of concerns nagging at National Intelligence Director Michael McConnell as he prepares to leave office.

AP - President-elect Barack Obama is joining those heaping praise on the pilot of US Airways Flight 1549, the craft that landed in New York City's Hudson River yet didn't lose a single passenger.

Politico - Blog: Madam Tussaud's packs W's bags and welcomes a smiling wax Obama. Rep. John Conyers calls for a congressional investigation of the Bus

AP - The Vatican says Jewish complaints about Pope Benedict XVI's commitment to dialogue with Jews are 'excessive.'