AP - A suicide bomber badly wounded a provincial president in Russia's North Caucasus on Monday, an assassination attempt that undermined the Kremlin's claim that it has brought stability to the predominantly Muslim region.

AP - Another window is opening on Richard Nixon's presidency with the release of hundreds of tape recordings and thousands of documents from that time.

AP - House Democrats are pushing forward with a partisan health care bill even as a key Senate Democrat labors to achieve an elusive bipartisan compromise on President Barack Obama's top legislative priority.

AP - Italy considers its G-8 meeting invitation to Iran rejected since Tehran has not yet responded, the foreign minister said Monday in a sign of Rome's growing impatience.

AFP - US national security adviser James Jones has arrived in Afghanistan, a US official said Tuesday, on a visit aimed at monitoring implementation of a new US strategy against the Taliban.

AP - President Barack Obama is creating a White House council to handle issues that affect American communities and workers tied to the automotive industry.

AP - President Barack Obama will hold his first Rose Garden news conference Tuesday.

AFP - The US military in Afghanistan briefed national security adviser James Jones Tuesday on the boosted effort against Taliban insurgents as Afghan authorities reported new attacks that left 17 people dead.

AP - Past accidents on the Washington-area subway system raised concerns about the safety commuter trains that were not addressed, said a federal official investigating the cause of a deadly rush-hour crash that killed seven people Monday.

AP - District of Columbia officials have lowered the number of fatalities in Monday's subway system accident to seven, instead of the nine reported earlier.

AP - A federal commission on prison rape has concluded that the risk of being attacked depends greatly on the type of prisoner, and where the inmate is locked up.

Bloomberg - June 23 (Bloomberg) -- Consensus is back at the U.S. Supreme Court under Chief Justice John Roberts -- at least for a day.

AP - Europe has stepped up pressure on Iran to end its bloody crackdown on street protests, feeling less constrained to speak out than President Barack Obama — who has made engagement with the Islamic Republic a keystone of U.S. foreign policy.

Reuters - U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton will not attend international meetings in Italy and Greece this week because of an injury to her arm, the U.S. State Department said on Monday.

Bloomberg - June 23 (Bloomberg) -- President Barack Obama signed a law yesterday settling a decade-long battle between health groups and tobacco companies. Left unresolved was the question of his own fight with nicotine.

AP - British lawmakers elected a new speaker of the House of Commons on Monday, part of a bid to put the political storm over their lavish taxpayer-funded expenses behind them.

AP - The Obama administration is reviving efforts to have the United States sign onto a global children's rights treaty ratified by every U.N. member except the U.S. and Somalia, the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, Susan Rice, said Monday.

AP - The Obama administration has filed its first trade case against China with the World Trade Organization, accusing the Asian power of restricting exports of certain raw materials to give Chinese manufacturers 'unfair advantages.'

CQPolitics.com - A Republican effort Tuesday to cut off U.S. loans to some companies doing business with Iran will bring Congress deeper into the fray over the U.S. response to the Iranian elections.

AP - U.S. intelligence officials say an impending missile test threatened by North Korea is expected to launch short and medium-range missiles rather than a long-range missile similar to one tested in April.

AP - The world's 65-and-older population will triple by mid-century to make up 1 in 6 people.

AP - When the Watergate scandal grew into a full-bore crisis unraveling Richard Nixon's presidency, aides hatched a 'game plan' to save him. The idea: Convince lawmakers that the Watergate prosecutor was a zealot holding a 'pistol to the head' of the president.

AP - Metro transit officials are confirming an earlier report that nine people were killed in a train collision.

Bloomberg - June 23 (Bloomberg) -- Consensus is back at the U.S. Supreme Court under Chief Justice John Roberts -- at least for a day.

AP - A witness at the trial of a U.S student accused of killing her British roommate testified Tuesday he didn't hear anyone scream or anything unusual the night of the murder despite being parked near the crime scene, news reports said.

Reuters - Ford Motor Co will receive nearly $5.9 billion in U.S. government loans to spur development of more fuel-efficient vehicles, the Obama administration said on Tuesday.

AP - So much for studied neutrality. Even as he said he wasn't doing it, President Barack Obama stepped firmly and loudly into the political tumult in Tehran, a risky step he hopes will force the hardline Iranian regime to deal peacefully with protesters.

AP - President Barack Obama is answering Republican critics of his cautious response to the violence following the disputed election in Iran.

AP - President Barack Obama is questioning the legitimacy of the disputed Iranian election that has triggered days of street protests.

AP - President Barack Obama is calling on members of the House to pass legislation that he says will 'spark a clean energy transformation' and reduce the nation's dependence on foreign oil.

CQPolitics.com - House Democrats have revised their energy legislation to help win over constituents and incorporate input from several committees, as the chamber's leaders prepare for a vote as early as Friday.

AP - Senate Republicans are questioning whether Judge Sonia Sotomayor could be counted upon to uphold the Constitution on the Supreme Court.

AP - Iran is big business for Europe, whose companies sell it everything from rail equipment to turbines and even cell phone technology that has been used to block communications between protesters seeking to overturn disputed election results.

AFP - The European Union and the United States on Tuesday launched WTO action against China, accusing it of restricting raw materials exports to feed its domestic market.

AFP - US President Barack Obama said Tuesday that he was 95 percent cured from smoking and never lights up in front of his daughters, but called quitting a constant struggle and admitted: 'There are times where I mess up.'

McClatchy Newspapers - WASHINGTON — In his strongest words yet against Iran, President Barack Obama condemned the country's violent suppression of its own people Tuesday, directly criticizing the Iranian government and lauding Iranians who've braved brutality to protest what they believe was a rigged election.

CQPolitics.com - Senate Republicans turned up the rhetorical heat Tuesday on Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor, raising concerns about her work for a Latino advocacy group.

AP - When the Watergate scandal grew into a full-bore crisis, Richard Nixon's aides hatched a plan to save his presidency: Convince lawmakers and the public that the Watergate prosecutor was a zealot holding a 'pistol to the head' of the president.

AP - President Barack Obama described himself on Tuesday as being 'entirely consistent' in his expressions of concern about the disputed Iranian election and the government crackdown that followed street protests. But his language clearly has gotten tougher since his first statement that the suppression of dissent was 'of concern to me.'

AP - A top New York anti-terror official said Tuesday that trials of Guantanamo Bay detainees could weaken the ability of the FBI and other agencies to chase new cases.

Reuters - President Barack Obama on Tuesday urged Congress to pass 'historic legislation' to fight global warming, prompting his fellow Democrats in the House of Representatives to aim for a vote on Friday on the bill to reduce industrial emissions of carbon dioxide.

AP - Prosecutors say the man accused of opening fire inside the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum still hasn't recovered enough to appear in court, but has been turned over to the District of Columbia's corrections department.

AP - States receiving federal money for prisons could see their funding cut if they fail to adopt new measures to reduce sexual violence in correctional and detention facilities nationwide, according to a report released Tuesday.

AP - A meeting between Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and President Barack Obama's special Middle East peace envoy, former Sen. George Mitchell, has been postponed.

AP - Long-simmering economic tensions between the U.S. and China boiled over Tuesday as the Obama administration filed its first unfair-trade case against Beijing, accusing it of restricting exports of materials needed to produce steel, aluminum and other products.

McClatchy Newspapers - WASHINGTON — He probably won't show it, but Sen. Pat Roberts might be feeling a bit smug lately. He's resisted the urge to weigh in with his trademark, dry-as-a-prairie-in-a-drought sense of humor, though the situation is certainly ripe for it. Even something as simple as, 'So there!'

AP - Federal safety officials are investigating a passenger's statement that the Washington Metrorail train that struck another in a deadly accident stopped briefly then started again before the crash.

AP - Millions of passengers in cities across the U.S. ride old subway cars like the ones that crumpled in the deadly crash in the nation's capital. The largest transit systems depend on such cars for more than one-third of their fleets, despite safety concerns expressed by federal investigators more than three years ago.

AP - So much for studied neutrality. Even as he said he wasn't doing it, President Barack Obama threw his rhetorical might behind the protesters in Iran, a risky move he hopes will force the hardline regime to deal peacefully with its post-election tumult.

AP - Amid rising public impatience with an economy now under his watch, President Barack Obama on Tuesday said his administration needs to push money out faster to initiate a recovery and conceded that unemployment would rise above 10 percent.

AP - Federal safety officials say the emergency brake was pushed down on a Washington Metrorail train that smashed into a second subway train, killing nine people.

AP - An impending missile test threatened by North Korea is expected to launch short- to medium-range missiles rather than a long-range missile similar to one tested in April, according to U.S. intelligence reports.

AP - Officials on Tuesday unveiled a replica of a 1530 parchment sent by members of England's House of Lords to Pope Clement VII to support the divorce of King Henry VIII.

Reuters - Rich and poor nations on Tuesday edged closer to a deal on proposals for reforming the global financial system, but diplomats said there must be changes if a U.N. conference this week is to adopt them.

AP - White House officials phoned a blogger from a popular left-leaning Web site on Monday evening to tell him that President Barack Obama had been impressed with his online reporting about Iran. Could the writer pass along a question from an Iranian during the president's news conference on Tuesday?

AP - Key Democrats reached a deal Tuesday that its supporters hope will lead to House passage of the biggest environmental bill in decades, one aimed at slowing the gradual, destructive heating of the planet.

Reuters - Democrats in the House of Representatives on Tuesday said they had reached a deal on difficult agriculture issues in a climate change bill, clearing the way for a vote and probable passage in the chamber this week.

AP - Senate Republicans on Tuesday unveiled a new narrative ahead of Sonia Sotomayor's confirmation hearings, questioning her commitment to constitutional guarantees on the right to keep and bear arms and equal treatment under the law regardless of race or gender.

McClatchy Newspapers - WASHINGTON — In the fall, the first squadron of Marines finally will fly V-22 Ospreys into the mountains of Afghanistan, months behind schedule and despite shortcomings that make some in Congress worry whether the hybrid aircraft can do the job for which it was intended.

AP - Defense Secretary Robert Gates urged military leaders from the Persian Gulf region to help with security and development of Afghanistan, saying there is only a 'fleeting opportunity' now to turn the stalemated war around.

AP - French police say 24 children in primary school and pre-kindergarten at two southwest Paris schools have swine flu.

AP - Prime Minister Gordon Brown criticized Iran on Tuesday for expelling two U.K. diplomats from Tehran for alleged spying, and announced that two Iranian diplomats were being sent home in retaliation.

Reuters - General Motors Corp will do the 'heavy lifting' to help meet the ambitious goal set by President Barack Obama of having one million plug-in hybrid and electric vehicles on U.S. roads by 2015, a GM executive said on Tuesday.

AP - Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano killed a program begun by the Bush administration that would use U.S. spy satellites for domestic security and law enforcement.

AFP - Dwelling on tragedy in Iran and poking fun at his 'Spock-like' ears, President Barack Obama flashed with impatience and compensating wit in a joust with White House reporters.