AP - Portugal will take in two or three Guantanamo detainees once they are released by the U.S. detention center, the foreign minister said.

AP - A land mine explosion killed the driver of a Georgian medical aid vehicle that was accompanying European Union monitors patrolling a tense area Sunday near breakaway Abkhazia, police and EU officials said.

AP - Don't have health insurance? Don't want to pay for it? Too bad.

AP - President Barack Obama sent an e-mail endorsing Democratic gubernatorial candidate Creigh Deeds to hundreds of thousands of Obama supporters in Virginia last week, the latest indication that the lessons of Obama's 2008 presidential campaign are playing out in key state races in 2009.

AP - With North Korea reportedly getting ready for a long-range missile test, President Barack Obama says the U.S. is prepared for any threat the secretive and unpredictable regime might pose.

AP - President Barack Obama is set to sign into law an anti-smoking bill that will give the Food and Drug Administration unprecedented authority to regulate tobacco.

AP - Pope Benedict XVI said Sunday that countries must continue receiving refugees despite the difficulties they create while also addressing the causes that drive so many people from their homes.

AP - Two bodies handed over to British authorities in Iraq have been identified as bodyguards kidnapped in Baghdad two years ago, the government said Sunday.

Politico - For months at the White House, when President Barack Obama took questions during photo ops with a foreign leader, it was only while sitting in the Oval Office.

AP - Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius says the country has no choice but to revamp its health care program because current costs are 'crushing families and businesses.'

AP - A businessman who recruited young women to attend parties at Premier Silvio Berlusconi's homes has apologized to the premier for having contributed to a new scandal.

Reuters - President Barack Obama in an interview aired on Monday defended his administration's plan to give the Federal Reserve new powers to oversee systemic risks in the economy.

AP - The Supreme Court will decide the constitutionality of a federal law that permits sex offenders to be kept behind bars after they complete their prison terms.

AP - President Barack Obama will make a formal announcement Monday welcoming the weekend agreement by the pharmaceutical industry to help close a gap in prescription drug coverage under Medicare.

AFP - Irish Prime Minister Brian Cowen said Sunday he was confident Ireland would not deliver a second rejection of the EU's reform Lisbon treaty in a referendum later this year.

AP - Zimbabwean Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai on Sunday defended his decision to enter a power-sharing government with President Robert Mugabe, a day after being heckled offstage by protesters in London.

AFP - President Barack Obama in an interview broadcast Monday acknowledged a 'deep disagreement' with the previous administration on national security matters, following recent sharp criticism from ex-vice president Dick Cheney.

AP - President Barack Obama's national security adviser is traveling to Afghanistan and Pakistan.

AP - The Supreme Court has ruled that parents of special education students who opt for private school instead of trying the public system cannot be barred from seeking public reimbursement for their tuition costs.

AP - The Supreme Court will not revive a lawsuit that former CIA operative Valerie Plame brought against former members of the Bush administration.

AP - The Supreme Court has refused to hear arguments from a Wal-Mart cashier who said the fake money she agreed to take from counterfeiters was so poorly made that she shouldn't have been convicted of working with them.

AP - The African Union said Monday it supports Somalia's plea for neighboring countries to send troops to help fight Islamist insurgents, but there was no indication the reinforcements would be forthcoming.

AP - France's President Nicolas Sarkozy will lay out his vision for the nation Monday in a speech marking the first time a French president has addressed the parliament in 136 years.

AFP - President Barack Obama's top security adviser James Jones will visit Afghanistan and Pakistan to monitor implementation of the new US war plan, a US official said Monday.

AP - Federal prosecutors want to drop all U.S. charges against a Chinese-Mexican businessman accused of importing large amounts of methamphetamines to the United States.

AP - Britain's Foreign Office said Monday it was evacuating the families of staff based in Iran amid continued violence in the wake of the country's disputed election.

AFP - US President Barack Obama will hold a press conference on Tuesday, as Iran's political crisis deepens, North Korea threatens, and a key moment looms for his ambitious domestic reform drive.

AP - President Barack Obama has scheduled his first Rose Garden news conference.

AP - The White House says President Barack Obama has been 'moved' by the television images of people in Iran taking to the street in protest.

AP - Drinking during pregnancy can seriously harm a baby's brain, yet thousands of mothers-to-be still do. Now scientists have begun testing whether a prenatal nutrient might offer those babies a little protection, part of a growing quest for ways to reverse the damage.

AP - Labor unions and Catholic leaders have reached an agreement designed to end years of bitter hostilities that often surrounded union efforts to organize workers at Catholic hospitals.

AP - Democrats are becoming bolder about their idea that middle-class familes get the option of joining a government insurance plan in any overhaul of the health care system. Their fervor carries a risk.

AP - Government investigators say that several hundred background checks for gun purchases over the past five years matched names on the terrorist watch list.

AFP - The US Supreme Court on Monday declined to take up the case of a former CIA agent who sought compensation after she was publicly revealed to be a secret operative.

AP - Ten British lawmakers were vying Monday to become the new speaker of the House of Commons, after the incumbent was ousted amid a scandal over lawmakers' excessive expense claims.

AP - The International Whaling Commission on Monday began discussing a possible compromise deal that would reduce the number of whales killed each year.

McClatchy Newspapers - WASHINGTON — The Food and Drug Administration now has the authority to regulate tobacco products, under a law that President Barack Obama signed Monday at a Rose Garden ceremony.

McClatchy Newspapers - WASHINGTON — There's a burning question in California's 2010 Senate race: Is it OK for a military general to call a senator 'ma'am'?

AP - Stricter new rules for combat and bombing raids in Afghanistan may well complicate the battlefield for American forces, but officials say the changes are crucial to reducing civilian deaths that have been undermining the war effort.

AP - A law enforcement official says indicted billionaire R. Allen Stanford is en route to Texas to face charges that he ran a $7 billion swindle.

AP - A mining company was given the go-ahead by the Supreme Court on Monday to dump waste from an Alaskan gold mine into a nearby 23-acre lake, although the material will kill all of the lake's fish.

AP - The World Health Organization says the global tally of deaths from swine flu has increased by 51 to 231.

U.S. News & World Report - This was supposed to be the time when Barack Obama put America on the road to reform of the healthcare system and the financial-services industry. He has tried to stay on that course, but the new president also finds himself focused increasingly on something he didn't expect: the violent turmoil in Iran that is raising questions about his strategy of conciliation and outreach to bring peace to the Mideast. [See photos of the turmoil in Iran]

McClatchy Newspapers - WASHINGTON — The emergency war funding bill that President Barack Obama is expected to sign soon has mushroomed into a catch-all for many lawmakers' favorite projects.

AP - One Metro transit train smashed into the rear of another at the height of the capital city's Monday evening rush hour, killing at least four people and injuring scores of others as cars of the trailing train jackknifed violently into the air and fell atop the first.

AP - As the Obama administration pushes for more charter schools, a teachers' union is pushing for a bigger role in them.

AP - Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano plans to kill a program begun by the Bush administration that would use U.S. spy satellites for domestic security and law enforcement, a government official said.

AP - A watchdog group says it will file a complaint with the Senate Ethics Committee asking lawmakers to investigate the circumstances surrounding an affair that Sen. John Ensign had with a campaign aide.

AP - A Palestinian man who helped plan the 1985 hijacking of the Achille Lauro cruise ship during which an American passenger was killed has died in an Italian jail.

Time.com - The leaders of France, Germany and Britain have all spoke out more strongly against Tehran than President Obama has. There's a good reason for that

AP - For the third time in nine months, a major subway or commuter rail crash occurred in a big city.

AP - President Barack Obama says the thoughts and prayers of the first family go out to the victims of the commuter train crash in Washington, D.C., that killed six people and injured scores of others.

CQPolitics.com - Three watchdog groups called Monday on the Senate Ethics Committee to investigate John Ensign's conduct with regard to an adulterous relationship he had with a woman who was treasurer of his political committees and married to a former Ensign staffer.

AP - First lady Michelle Obama kicked off a summer of community service Monday by helping fix up a school playground, part of a national effort that saw administration officials traveling all over the country to promote the value of volunteering.