Politico - Blog: Michael Kazin points out that Pete Seeger's and Bruce Springsteen's performance of Woody Guthrie's 'This Land Is Your Land,' closing out t

AP - President-elect Barack Obama has gone out of his way to consult Congress on his economic stimulus package that could total $1 trillion, a strategy that's aimed at building a collegial relationship with lawmakers from the outset of his presidency.

AP - Barack Obama's controversial former pastor, the Rev. Jeremiah Wright, said Sunday that the lesson in Obama's rise to the White House is that black people shouldn't limit themselves — or allow others to.

AP - At least two civilians were killed during an attack on African Union peacekeepers by an extremist Islamic group in the Somali capital, witnesses said on Sunday.

AP - Amid heavy anticipation of Barack Obama's swearing-in as president, crowds are forming on streets and near the National Mall to watch network and local television anchors talk up the story of the young new year.

AP - With just hours left in his presidency, President George W. Bush on Monday made a round of phone calls to leaders around the globe.

AP - When Peter Sachs was only a year old in 1938, the Nazis seized his father's collection of 12,500 rare posters on the orders of Propaganda Minister Joseph Goebbels.

AP - President-elect Barack Obama is appealing to the nation that he will soon lead to honor slain civil rights leader Martin Luther King by making a commitment to serve others.

AP - President-elect Barack Obama is pushing for commitments to public service, visiting an emergency homeless shelter for teenagers in the nation's capital.

Politico - Blog: The gay Episcopal bishop's invocation yesterday did not, in the end, appear quite to counterbalance Rick Warren's star turn Tuesday.

Politico - Barack Obama will have a rival for the spotlight at Tuesday’s Inauguration: the nation’s First Black President.

AP - Michelle Obama is pitching in to help create thousands of care packages for U.S. troops.

AP - The crew of the US Airways plane that landed in New York's Hudson River has asked the media to back off while the accident is being investigated.

Reuters - Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva urged U.S. President-elect Barack Obama on Monday to make completing the Doha round of world trade talks a priority, saying a lack of political will in Washington had undermined efforts to reach a deal.

Politico - Blog: You have to wonder how Obama feels about Israel's decision to change the facts on the ground just in time for his inauguration, and with timing that

AP - President-elect Barack Obama is continuing his appeal for Americans to get involved in public service projects, telling a community service group that government 'can't do it alone.'

AP - They brought hopeful dreams and financial fears, memories and memorabilia, children and aged parents as the passengers, most African-American, boarded buses in the dark.

AP - A prosecutor on Monday accused three British Muslims of scouting out potential targets on behalf of suicide bombers who killed 52 commuters on London's transit system in 2005.

AP - Emily Miller made a beeline for a rack of gowns, grabbing a fuschia dress and a stole for an inaugural ball Tuesday. Combing through the display tables, she added silver pumps, a beaded choker and earrings. Then, she enjoyed a manicure as live jazz played in the background.

Politico - Blog: Citizens turned out on the Mall to watch the event on giant screens tomorrow will have a second chance to see the invocation by Gene Robinson, the g

Politico - Inaugural euphoria joined with the somber commemoration of the legacy of Martin Luther King Jr. Monday as the nation’s capital embarked on a day of reflection and service less than 24 hours before Barack Obama will become the 44th president. 

Reuters - Republican Sen. John Cornyn may hold up the nomination of Hillary Clinton to become secretary of state if his concerns about foreign donations to her husband's foundation are not resolved, a spokesman for the Texas senator said on Monday.

AP - Forget the sold-out balls and A-list soirees: Ordinary Americans transformed Washington's streets into one giant pre-party Monday stretching from the overflowing inbound trains at Union Station to the banks of the iced-over Potomac.

Politico - Blog: Keep of LBJ flame hammers Obama for not paying proper homage

AP - If Barack Obama felt nervous about becoming president in a few hours, he didn't show it Monday, as he cracked jokes and breezed through a series of volunteerism events and bipartisan dinners. 'I don't sweat,' said the 47-year-old man about to inherit responsibility for two wars, an economy in crisis and the helm of the world's lone superpower. 'You ever see me sweat?'

AFP - On the eve of leaving office, US President George W. Bush spoke Monday to allies, friends, and rivals on the world stage, telling them he enjoyed working with them, a White House spokesman said.

Politico - Blog: Obama does community service. Gates will be backup president tomorrow. Afghans are mad at Hillary already.

AP - Two alleged orchestrators of the 2001 attacks on America casually declared their guilt on Monday in a messy and perhaps final session of the Guantanamo war crimes court.

AP - President-elect Barack Obama is calling his former rival John McCain an American hero who set a standard of patriotism and bipartisanship for all to follow. Obama praised McCain at a Monday night dinner in Washington honoring the Republican senator from Arizona whom Obama defeated in the November election.

AP - Spectacles resting on his nose, his gold-headed cane holding down the speech in front of him, Abraham Lincoln appealed to 'the better angels of our nature' in an inaugural speech history would remember.

AFP - President-elect Barack Obama heaped praise on his former electoral rival John McCain, toasting the Republican senator as 'a rare and courageous public servant.'

AP - Usher helped build a school library. Superman and Spider-Man rolled up their sleeves. And thousands of volunteers around the country marked the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday on Monday by heeding President-elect Barack Obama's call to service.