Politico - Former president says change could last for decades if Dems can pass ambitious measures.

Politico - Former Newhouse News Service correspondent and Marine Sgt. Bill Cahir dies in Afghanistan.

AP - Perhaps no region of the country better illustrates Barack Obama's political vulnerabilities than the mountain West, a region traditionally wary of the federal government.

AP - They followed her every step of the way. From Kenya to Cape Verde, the personalities and policies of the last three American presidents � Bill Clinton, George W. Bush and Barack Obama � dogged Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton through an 11-day tour of Africa.

AP - U.S. Senator Jim Webb, the first member of Congress to visit Myanmar in more than a decade, arrived in the military-ruled country's remote capital Friday to meet junta leaders, officials said.

AP - When Washington learned 47 people were stuck overnight aboard a small plane at a Minnesota airport, Capitol Hill reverberated with demands to protect the public from a recurrence, and the Obama administration launched an investigation.

AP - A personal phone call during last week's collision over New York's Hudson River has led to two air traffic controllers being removed from duty, although officials said the conversation probably had no impact on the tragedy.

AFP - US President Barack Obama takes his drive for healthcare reform on the road Friday as fury mounts among opponents whose angry outbursts have roiled recent town hall meetings on the proposed changes.

Bloomberg - Aug. 14 (Bloomberg) -- If there is any doubt that President Barack Obama’s plan to overhaul U.S. health care is the hottest topic in Congress, just ask the 3,300 lobbyists who have lined up to work on the issue.

Politico - Newt Gingrich offers�advice�on�what Sarah Palin needs to do to keep her presidential options open.

AP - Gunmen shot and killed four police officers and seven civilians in a restive Russian province near Chechnya on Thursday, officials said.

AP - A defense contractor with longtime ties to Rep. John Murtha will now be able to get new government work following a favorable ruling from the U.S. Navy.

AP - U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton is wrapping up an 11-day tour of Africa in Cape Verde, praising the island nation for democratic reforms and sound financial policy.

Politico - Several factors contributed to the cooler temperature at the N.H. town hall. Will the trend continue?

Reuters - The European Union on Thursday said it was extending its sanctions on Myanmar to cover members of the judiciary responsible for the verdict in the trial of opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi.

Bloomberg - Aug. 14 (Bloomberg) -- The United Nations Security Council called on Myanmar’s military rulers to open “genuine” talks with detained opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi and begin national reconciliation in the country.

AP - Winding up an 11-day African tour, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said Friday she's optimistic about its future and voiced no regrets about 'tough love' messages she gave to government leaders there.

AP - Rep. Joe Barton had a plane to catch, but he wanted to give college football officials a warning before leaving the highly publicized hearing.

AFP - A US senate delegation said on Friday that it had told Libyan leaders of Washington's strong opposition to any early release by the Scottish authorities of convicted Lockerbie bomber Abdelbaset Ali Mohmet al-Megrahi.

AP - Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack is urging more attentive management of forests, calling them valuable environmental and economic attributes that are in need of restoration and conservation.

Politico - FEC lawyers draft two conflicting responses to the Club for Growth’s plan to target now-Dem senator.

AP - The U.S. Army said Friday it had reduced the sentences of three soldiers convicted of murder in the execution-style slayings of four bound and blindfolded Iraqi detainees.

Reuters - U.S. high-technology exporters on Friday welcomed President Barack Obama's decision to undertake a comprehensive review of U.S. export controls rooted in Cold War fears of the former Soviet Union.

CQPolitics.com - Republican Sen. Charles E. Grassley said Thursday that the Senate Finance Committee dropped consideration of end-of-life provisions similar to those that have prompted claims by opponents that the House health overhaul bill authorizes so-called 'death panels.'

Bloomberg - Aug. 14 (Bloomberg) -- The U.S. Senate should abandon efforts to pass legislation curbing greenhouse-gas emissions this year and concentrate on a narrower bill to require use of renewable energy, four Democratic lawmakers say.

AP - Until last week, Republican Sen. Johnny Isakson was among the most enthusiastic backers of end-of-life counseling in government health care programs like Medicare.

AP - They wish he'd done more in his first eight months, but the liberal bloggers who helped propel Barack Obama to the White House are far from giving up on him.

AP - Barack Obama's new Afghanistan war plan is facing its first major test, and it's not on the battlefield.

Politico - The student journalist calls Obama his 'homeboy.'

AFP - At least 25 Tibetan exiles were detained Friday as they staged an anti-China demonstration in front of a United Nations office in the Nepalese capital Kathmandu, police said.

AP - Poles and Germans set aside old rancor Friday and united in grief as they reburied the bones of 2,116 people believed to be German civilians killed in the final, vicious months of World War II.

AFP - US President Barack Obama launched a swing through fiercely independent western states Friday, seeking to quell an ugly backlash fanned by critics of his top priority healthcare reform drive.

Bloomberg - Aug. 14 (Bloomberg) -- President Barack Obama must be more forceful in confronting health-care critics and take a clear position soon on crucial elements of the proposed legislation, said John Podesta, President Bill Clinton’s former chief of staff.

AP - At a town hall style meeting, a Montana man bluntly challenged President Barack Obama's contention that he can overhaul health care without raising Americans' taxes to pay for it.

Politico - Dick Armey�to resign from DLA Piper after a wave of�negative press for his grass-roots organization.

Politico - The student journalist calls Obama his 'homeboy.'

AP - A Pennsylvania lawmaker who is a close ally of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi says it's looking unlikely that Congress will pass health care overhaul legislation this year.

AP - At least four policemen and two militants died in a gun battle Friday during a security sweep near the Chechen capital, Grozny, amid surging violence in Russia's North Caucasus that has claimed more than 20 lives in two days.

AP - Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. Chairman Sheila Bair is pushing back against key pillars of the Obama administration's financial overhaul plan, saying they wouldn't survive in Congress and calling her own alternatives more viable.

McClatchy Newspapers - WASHINGTON � Much of the money and strategy behind the so-called grassroots groups organizing opposition to the Democrats' health care plans comes from conservative political consultants, professional organizers and millionaires, some of whom hold financial stakes in the outcome.

CQPolitics.com - It's never too early to start planning for the next presidential election, and the Republican party has begun the process of selecting a host city for its 2012 convention.

Politico - Obama decries the media's focus on contentious town halls and says it is not representative of most.

AP - A group of U.S. Marines will arrive in Georgia to help train its troops for a mission alongside coalition forces in Afghanistan, the U.S. Embassy said Friday.

AP - A man suspected of committing 15 racially motivated killings was arrested in Moscow on Friday, according to officials.

CQPolitics.com - Political action committees representing unions and health care interests led the way in contributions to congressional campaigns and congressional leadership PACs during the first six months of this year, according to a CQ MoneyLine analysis.

Politico - “I'm glad to report that the New York Times has formally called to apologize,” Solomon wrote.

Politico - Despite efforts to move past scandal, Sanford is increasingly viewed as the lamest of lame ducks.

AP - Despite the growing number of imports, the government's product safety agency has no access to certain customs information that could help prevent the sale of unsafe products, congressional investigators say.

Time.com - As angry exchanges take place outside, the President engages in a polite town hall meeting, albeit with heartfelt worries from the audience

Bloomberg - Aug. 15 (Bloomberg) -- The Obama administration’s decision to focus on the insurance industry in its bid to revamp the U.S. health-care system misses the point, said Mark McClellan, former head of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.