AP - In a solemn rendezvous with history, President Barack Obama will visit a scene of the 20th century's great European horror to make an urgent point about the fear that still stalks its survivors.

AFP - International leaders hailed President Barack Obama's speech on ties with the Muslim world as opening a 'new page' but arch foes called for Washington to deliver action rather than words.

AP - There he was, in the heart of the Muslim world, explaining the American mindset to Muslims and the world of Islam to Americans, with the bearing of a college professor.

AP - She likes to eat pig intestines and watch 'Law & Order.' She felt like an alien in the Ivy League. She reads fictional courtroom dramas and hands down imaginary rulings on the lawyers' objections therein.

AP - The Obama administration's pick for a top intelligence post at the Homeland Security Department is expected to face questions from senators about his ties to the CIA's harsh interrogations of terror suspects.

AP - As the Kremlin presses a campaign to recast Russia's 20th century history in a more favorable light, a research paper published Thursday on the Defense Ministry's Web site blamed Poland for starting World War II.

AP - A German zoo says a pair of gay male penguins are raising a chick from an egg abandoned by its parents.

Politico - POLITICO examination reveals that Obama officials all but avoided Southern states that Obama lost.

AP - European leaders on Thursday hailed Poland's first semi-free vote as an inspiration for movements that brought down regimes across the Soviet bloc, saying on the election's 20th anniversary that it helped pave the way for a reunited Europe.

Politico - In an Ideas piece, authors assert that�the political and global ground has shifted in the Age of Obama.

Politico - Roy Blunt's Republican opponents criticize his prolific earmarking.

AP - Canada has refused a request from the Obama administration to take men cleared for release from the U.S. military prison in Guantanamo Bay.

Bloomberg - June 5 (Bloomberg) -- Arabs welcomed President Barack Obama’s call for a “new beginning” in relations with the Muslim world and urged the U.S. to match words with actions, while in Israel analysts said the speech would intensify pressure on their government to halt West Bank settlements.

Politico - The president takes credit for improving the climate for Middle East peace negotiations.

Politico - The week of high drama featured a showdown of sorts between the two.

AP - Pope Benedict XVI meets Friday with Ireland's top churchmen following the publication of a damning report detailing decades of rapes, humiliation and beatings at church-run reform schools in Ireland for castaway children.

AP - British Prime Minister Gordon Brown is finalizing changes to his Cabinet to recover from the scandal over lawmakers' excessive expense claims. These are the key lawmakers likely to be involved:

AP - The Obama administration's envoy for Mideast peace is leaving Sunday on a trip to the region, following President Barack Obama's call in Cairo for renewed efforts to restart peace talks.

AP - Rep. John Murtha, D-Pa., steered millions of dollars in defense work to a campaign donor and the Pentagon went along with it, despite the fact that two convicted drug dealers had been deeply involved with the company.

AP - Vice President Joe Biden said Friday the White House plans to 'ramp up' the pace of its economic recovery efforts as the government reported the unemployment rate jumped to it highest level in over a quarter-century.

AP - The Obama administration plans to use a combination of new technology and old-fashioned police work to crack down on the extensive drug trade along the U.S.-Mexican border.

AP - President Barack Obama says the Buchenwald concentration camp 'is the ultimate rebuke' to those who deny the Holocaust.

AP - The family of a British student killed in Italy in 2007 arrived Friday to testify at the trial of an American student and her ex-boyfriend who are charged with murder and sexual violence.

Reuters - The Obama administration believes there is enough money left in the Treasury-run $700 billion financial rescue fund and does not plan to ask Congress for more, the nominee to be Treasury general counsel said on Friday.

AP - Justice Clarence Thomas took in more than $300,000 in royalties for his autobiography last year, far more than he earned as a member of the Supreme Court. Justice Antonin Scalia received nearly $100,000 for his new book.

Politico - Dems eyeing Va. governor seat highly suspicious of any polling thrown their way.

Politico - Obama lays a rose at Buchenwald concentration camp Friday with Angela Merkel in tow.

AP - The United States said Friday it is considering slapping its own financial sanctions on North Korea in addition to whatever punishment the United Nations imposes for the North's recent nuclear test.

AP - Lawyers for Guantanamo detainees who continue to be held, though they have been cleared for release, urged the Supreme Court on Friday to put teeth into a year-old ruling that allowed the prisoners to challenge their confinement.

AP - Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor hit the jackpot for more than $8,000 last year.

AP - President Barack Obama says the international community has an obligation to stop genocide, even when it's inconvenient.

AP - The Paris prosecutor's office says it has opened a manslaughter probe in the crash of Air France flight 447, a routine step by authorities in the deaths of French citizens overseas.

CQPolitics.com - Congress is about to hit the accelerator on efforts to spur lagging U.S. auto sales, with action likely next week on a 'cash for clunkers' proposal that President Obama has endorsed in concept.

AP - The Justice Department on Friday launched an investigation into the killing of Kansas abortion provider George Tiller to see whether the accused gunman had accomplices.

AP - Can't afford your mortgage payment? If the bank won't take your call, your member of Congress just might.

Politico - In an Ideas piece, Ambassador Vimont says Obama's France visit is�full of symbolism.

AP - Toy maker Mattel Inc. and its Fisher-Price subsidiary have agreed to pay a $2.3 million civil penalty for importing and selling toys with excessive levels of lead.

AP - Two high-stakes speeches exactly a year apart, both delivered by Barack Obama, both focused on the Middle East. Same message, same tone? Not really.

AP - President Barack Obama's pick to be the top intelligence chief at the Homeland Security Department withdrew from consideration Friday after questions were raised about his role in the CIA's interrogations of terrorism suspects.

AP - President Barack Obama said Friday he didn't ask Germany to take specific detainees from Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, and that Chancellor Angela Merkel did not agree to any 'hard commitments.'

AP - British Prime Minister Gordon Brown announced changes to his Cabinet on Friday. The members are:

AP - A black Southern Baptist pastor is asking his denomination to acknowledge the historic first of President Barack Obama's election, despite their policy differences.

McClatchy Newspapers - WASHINGTON � Forget the first 100 days.

Politico - In an Ideas piece, Zogby says the speech helps to bridge the divide between the U.S. and the Arab world.

Politico - The Alaska governor quietly�spends day�on a private tour of landmarks of early feminism in N.Y.

AP - Trying to defy decades of disappointment in the Middle East, President Barack Obama raised hopes Friday for 'serious progress this year' in the elusive search for peace between Israelis and Palestinians.

AP - The Senate's top Republican said Friday that it's 'way too early to know' whether his party will try to block a vote on Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor's confirmation.

AP - A Manhattan man who threatened to kill U.S. Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor and said he wanted to kill President Barack Obama has been arraigned on charges of making a terroristic threat.

AP - The Obama administration's envoy for Mideast peace is leaving Sunday on a trip to the region, following President Barack Obama's call in Cairo for renewed efforts to restart peace talks.

AFP - The United States confirmed Friday that Secretary of State Hillary Clinton will attend a meeting of Group of Eight foreign ministers in Italy at the end of June alongside Iran's diplomatic mission.

AP - The United Nations' top racism investigator says Washington needs to step up the fight against racial profiling.

AP - Steering clear of a messy labor dispute, the White House on Friday said Vice President Joe Biden and other members of President Barack Obama's Cabinet have scrapped plans to attend a national mayors' conference in Rhode Island rather than cross a picket line of local firefighters.

AP - The Senate's top Republican said Friday it's 'way too early to know' whether his party will try to block a vote on Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor's confirmation, leaving open a possibility that a so-far mild debate on her confirmation could turn bitter.

AP - Employers would be required to offer health care to employees or pay a penalty, and all Americans would be guaranteed health insurance, under a draft bill being circulated Friday by Sen. Edward M. Kennedy's health committee.

AP - Passengers on the plane that ditched into the Hudson River in January have told a federal safety panel that it was a flight attendant � not a panicked passenger � who opened a rear door on the aircraft, sending water rushing into the cabin.

AP - Some Hispanics and advocates for women are criticizing an editorial cartoon that depicts Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor as a strung-up pinata that President Barack Obama is inviting Republicans to whack.

AP - Pope Benedict XVI has met with Ireland's top churchmen following the publication of a damning report detailing decades of rapes, humiliation and beatings at church-run reform schools in Ireland.

McClatchy Newspapers - WASHINGTON � A former State Department official, with a security clearance above top secret, and his wife have been arrested on charges of spying for the Cuban government for nearly 30 years, the Justice Department said Friday.

Politico - The�lifelong Cheney confidante thinks that Cheney's dogs would best other White House tail waggers.

Politico - The contours of the legislation match up with the outline of a bill that first leaked last week.

AP - The Senate's top Republican said Friday it's 'way too early to know' whether his party will try to block a vote on Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor's confirmation, leaving open a possibility that a so-far mild debate on her confirmation could turn bitter.

Reuters - The U.S. government under President Barack Obama plans to step up prosecutions of employers who abuse illegal immigrants on the job, a senior U.S. immigration official said in Mexico on Friday.

AP - Behind the massive English gates that herald the luxury co-op complex have lived senators, Cabinet members, judges.

Reuters - The Obama administration is considering seeking a change in the special U.S. military trials for Guantanamo Bay terrorism suspects to allow those who face the death penalty to plead guilty without getting a full trial, The New York Times reported on Friday.