Politico - As signs point to reconciliation, other issues emerge.

AFP - The US Senate has passed a 10-billion-dollar emergency measure extending unemployment benefits, ending a procedural block by a Republican senator that prevented payments to thousands since Sunday.

CQPolitics.com - Texas Gov. Rick Perry won renomination in Tuesday's Republican primary. He outran U.S. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison, his main rival, by such a wide margin that she issued a concession early in the vote count -- even before it was clear whether Perry would end up the majority vote he normally would need to avoid an April 13 runoff.

AP - No-drama Obama was bound to get fireworks when he chose the expletive-spewing, hotheaded, never-at-rest Rahm Emanuel to be his White House chief of staff. The only questions were when — and how big.

Politico - Incumbent wins decisive victory over senator in the Republican gubernatorial primary.

AP - U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton faces an uphill battle as she tries to win support from a skeptical Brazil for new United Nations sanctions against Iran.

AP - Rep. Charles Rangel is struggling to hold on to his powerful tax-writing committee chairmanship, with the House speaker declining to endorse him and other Democrats clearly nervous about retaining a leader who has been accused of ethical misconduct.

AP - A Roman Catholic diocese at the center of Ireland's child-abuse scandals appealed Tuesday to its parishioners to cover some of its more than euro10 million ($14 million) in bills to victims and lawyers.

Politico - McConnell urges GOP to defeat Obama's proposals by forcing the president to defend his agenda.

AP - French authorities on Tuesday briefly detained the widow of Rwandan President Juvenal Habyarimana, who is being sought by Rwanda on charges related to the nation's 1994 genocide, officials said.

AFP - Days after President Barack Obama was warned during a check-up to avoid high-fat foods because of his elevated cholesterol, he asked onlookers to let him get away with a small indulgence.

AP - Democratic Party chairman Tim Kaine says he expects the health care overhaul will be passed and he's not worried about Republican threats to make it a premier issue in this year's midterm elections.

Politico - In an Ideas piece, Rep. Ryan explains the benefits of the Roadmap for America’s Future.

AP - Police are questioning a 30-year-old British Airways employee arrested on suspicion of fundraising for terrorism.

AFP - US President Barack Obama is to send Prime Minister Stephen Harper a case of Canadian beer after losing a friendly bet on who would win Olympic men's ice hockey final.

Politico - Her colleagues intend to encourage her to disregard her earlier plans to resign.

Politico - Ways and Means Chairman Charles Rangel is expected to announce he will temporarily give up his gavel this morning, according to a Democratic aide.

Reuters - The embattled chairman of the tax-writing House of Representatives Ways and Means Committee, Charles Rangel, said on Tuesday he will step aside temporarily as chairman after being admonished by a House ethic panel.

AP - A smoker who died after battling emphysema has had his dying wish granted with the placement of a 'Smoking killed me' sign on his hearse and his grave.

CQPolitics.com - Pivotal special elections in Pennsylvania and Hawaii will occur just four days apart in May, setting up a conundrum for Republicans eager to claim momentum heading into the 2010 midterm elections.

AP - Putting a lone senator's cantankerous challenge behind it, the Senate is back to work on a $100 billion-plus bill reviving popular tax breaks and extending longer and more generous jobless benefits through the end of the year.

Politico - The Ways and Means Committee chairman announces he will temporarily give up his gavel.

CQPolitics.com - With dozens of House Democrats looking vulnerable in November, lobbyists are prepping for narrower Democratic majorities on Capitol Hill next year -- or a possible Republican takeover.

AP - A man, who as a 10-year-old boy abducted and killed a toddler in northern England in 1993, was back behind bars Wednesday for violating the terms of his contentious release.

Reuters - Florida Governor Charlie Crist, citing a tough economy, has defended his support for federal stimulus and a push to expand gambling in the state against conservative critics within his own Republican party.

CQPolitics.com - It's been almost a year since the PMA Group shut its doors amid a federal probe, but things are still not back to normal for many former clients of the now-defunct lobbying firm. A recent analysis shows most of the corporations that had engaged the defense lobbying shop spent significantly less on K Street last year.

Politico - Democrats push 'buy American' amendment to 2009 law.

Politico - California Dem is a controversial lawmaker with a history of volatile comments about Republicans.

McClatchy Newspapers - WASHINGTON — House of Representatives Ways and Means Committee Chairman Charles Rangel, under pressure from an ethics investigation and under fire from Republicans, requested a leave of absence from his chairmanship Wednesday.

AP - Women's rights advanced in 15 of the 18 countries in the Middle East and North Africa over the past five years, the democracy watchdog group Freedom House reported Wednesday.

AFP - Scores of gay and lesbian couples packed a courthouse here Wednesday to apply for marriage licences hours after the US Supreme Court threw out a last-minute petition to block a law allowing same-sex marriage in the US capital.

AP - The high attrition rate that has hampered efforts to enlarge the Afghan army and police will start dropping soon, the U.S. general in charge of training the government forces predicted Wednesday.

AP - A British airport says two women who refused to go through a full-body scanner have been barred from boarding a flight.

AP - Putting a lone senator's cantankerous challenge behind it, the Senate is back to work on a $100 billion-plus bill reviving popular tax breaks and extending longer and more generous jobless benefits through the end of the year.

AP - Brazil vowed Wednesday not to 'bow down' to gathering international pressure to impose new economic penalties on Iran over its nuclear program if further negotiations might be fruitful.

Politico - The N.Y. Dem, who recently had non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, says no one has brought allegations to him.

Politico - Obama makes it clear he's prepared to pass reform on party-line vote, but only if necessary.

AP - THE SHORTCUT: President Barack Obama wants Congress to use the so-called reconciliation process, which would let lawmakers push a companion health care bill of fixes through the Senate with a simple majority. Republicans — who hold 41 of the Senate's 100 seats — have been using filibuster rules to force Democrats to garner 60 votes.

AP - Supreme Court justices on Wednesday questioned whether a former prime minister of Somalia can be sued in U.S. courts over claims that he oversaw killings and torture in his home country.

AP - Greek and Cypriot officials say 26-foot waves have crashed into a cruise ship with nearly 2,000 people on board off France, smashing glass windshields and killing two passengers.

Politico - RNC plans to raise money this election cycle through an aggressive campaign capitalizing on “fear.”

AP - The investigation of Rep. Charles Rangel, D-N.Y., is looking into whether he:

AP - The U.S. will deliver this month to Pakistan 1,000 sophisticated laser-guided bomb kits that would enable the government there to strike insurgent targets with more precision.

AP - The U.S. and Europe say they share U.N. fears that Tehran may be secretly working on developing nuclear missiles, expressing support Wednesday for new sanctions if Tehran continues to defy Security Council demands.

AP - An international prosecutor probing the deadly violence that rocked Kenya after the 2007 elections said Wednesday he believes top officials from both major parties were responsible for crimes against humanity, and he has a list of 20 suspects.

AP - President Barack Obama is going to help TV's 'America's Most Wanted' mark the milestone broadcast of its 1,000th episode.

McClatchy Newspapers - WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama on Wednesday endorsed congressional Democrats' plans to use a controversial process known as 'budget reconciliation' to pass a national health care overhaul with simple majority votes, saying that he's willing to stake Democrats' fortunes on it.

AP - The Senate on Wednesday rejected a proposal by President Barack Obama to give people on Social Security a $250 bonus check.

AP - Rep. Pete Stark is the California Democrat captured on YouTube in a steamy argument about body fluids, politics and lying. He challenged one colleague to a fist fight and called others an assortment of names through the years.

McClatchy Newspapers - WASHINGTON — Torn between international diplomacy and domestic politics, the Obama administration is speaking softly and not using any stick as a House of Representatives committee moves toward approving a controversial Armenian genocide resolution Thursday.

AP - A former MI6 spy has been accused of stealing top-secret files on intelligence-gathering techniques and offering them to a foreign government for 2 million pounds ($2.9 million), a prosecutor said Wednesday.

AP - The Senate has rejected President Barack Obama's proposal to give a $250 bonus payment to people on Social Security.

McClatchy Newspapers - WASHINGTON — Rep. Charles Rangel's decision to step aside as the chairman of the tax-writing House Ways and Means Committee not only could be the beginning of the end of his storied career, but also gives Republicans fresh ammunition to use against Democrats in November's elections.

Reuters - Lawmakers in the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives on Wednesday questioned the Army's continued use of KBR Inc for logistics work in Iraq in the face of confirmed reports of poor past performance.

AP - Turkey's foreign minister said Wednesday he hopes the Obama administration will try to prevent a U.S. congressional panel from recognizing the World War I-era killings of Armenians by Ottoman Turks as genocide.

McClatchy Newspapers - WASHINGTON — Eighteen months after the near-collapse of the U.S. financial system, lawmakers in the nation's capital still can't agree on how to fix what went wrong, despite the abundant evidence of the economic devastation the crisis has caused.

CQPolitics.com - Freshman Rep. Eric Massa has had a recurrence of cancer and will not run for a second term in November.

AP - California needs an elder statesman who can broker deals to lead it out of its current fiscal morass, not an autocratic CEO who is used to giving orders, Democratic gubernatorial candidate Jerry Brown said Wednesday.

Politico - Publisher announces Palin will write another book focusing on 'national and spiritual' values.