Politics News

WASHINGTON - The Bush administration is not yielding to international calls for a prompt cease-fire to end Israel's devastating campaign against Hezbollah militia in Lebanon.

WASHINGTON - President Bush plans to speak to the NAACP for the first time since he was a candidate, with the White House announcing the appearance days after the chairman of the civil rights group publicly urged him to attend.

WASHINGTON - The Bush administration is trying to hold off international pressure for an immediate halt to the Israeli assault in southern Lebanon, apparently to allow Israel a short window to do as much damage as possible to the Hezbollah guerrillas.

When Congress passes a bill and sends it to the president, he can sign it, not sign it, or block its enactment with a veto. If a president doesn't veto or sign a bill within 10 days, it becomes law without his signature.

DES MOINES, Iowa - Vice President Dick Cheney on Monday rejected a call from some Democrats for a timetable for withdrawing U.S. troops from Iraq, arguing that it would run counter to American interests.

ATLANTA - Democratic Rep. Cynthia McKinney couldn't avoid a runoff in her first election following a scuffle with a Capitol Hill police officer, and now faces a second contest against her main challenger, Hank Johnson.

WASHINGTON - With votes this week on gay marriage, stem cell research and the Pledge of Allegiance, the Republican-controlled Congress is systematically working through an agenda of conservative causes, eager to mobilize hard-core voters in the months before the midterm elections.

ATLANTA (Reuters) - Ralph Reed, a poster boy for the U.S. Christian right who helped promote the rise of Republican political power in the 1990s, conceded defeat in Georgia on Tuesday in a primary race for Lieutenant Governor.

CHICAGO - Cook County's chief executive, whose health has been a mystery since he suffered a stroke shortly before winning the Democratic primary more than three months ago, will be replaced on the November ballot by his son, party leaders decided Tuesday.

LINCOLN, Neb. - The Nebraska Supreme Court has rejected an attempt by supporters of U.S. Rep. Tom Osborne to mount a write-in campaign aimed at getting the former Nebraska coach elected governor.

WASHINGTON - Pleadings from celebrities, a former first lady and fellow Republicans did not move President Bush from his determination to reject, with the first veto of his presidency, a bill expanding federally funded embryonic stem cell research.

WASHINGTON (AFP) - The US Senate approved a measure increasing stem cell research funding in the face of the first and almost certain veto by US President George W. Bush.

A majority of Americans support research involving stem cells from human embryos, including providing federal funding for such research. Stem cell research gets less support from Republicans than from independents and Democrats, polling suggests.

WASHINGTON - Sen. Rick Santorum, a conservative struggling to win reelection, suffered a political setback late Tuesday when the House rejected his bill to encourage adult stem cell research.

WASHINGTON - The House rejected a proposed constitutional amendment to ban gay marriage on Tuesday, a setback that conservatives hope to turn to their advantage in the fall elections.

WASHINGTON - The Homeland Security Department wasted hundreds of thousands of dollars last year on iPods, dog booties, beer-making equipment and designer jackets, congressional investigators have concluded.

The following recall has been announced:

WASHINGTON - A former senior NASA manager pleaded guilty to distributing child pornography from his government and home computers, federal prosecutors said Tuesday.

WASHINGTON - Security problems at Haiti's Port-au-Prince airport have been resolved, the U.S. government said Tuesday.

WASHINGTON - An old mobster once gave Joseph Paonessa some advice that, if a bit chilling, has served him well during his many years working in the federal witness protection program.

UNITED NATIONS - Nearly 6,000 civilians were slain across Iraq in May and June, a spike in deaths that coincided with rising sectarian attacks across the country, the United Nations said Tuesday.

KATHMANDU (AFP) - Nepal's government plans to hold elections to a body to redraft the constitution before the end of next April, the country's premier said in a letter to the United Nations.

BEIRUT (AFP) - At least 54 civilians were killed as Israeli jets and gunboats pummelled towns and villages across Lebanon and tens of thousands fled an increasingly bloody conflict both sides defiantly warned would have no limit.

BOGOTA, Colombia - Fighting between the army and leftist guerrillas in western Colombia has forced hundreds of civilians from their homes and trapped others in their villages, the United Nations said Tuesday.

BRUSSELS (AFP) - United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan has urged donor countries to help shore up a cash-strapped African peacekeeping mission in Sudan's western Darfur region, as aid agencies warned that each day's delay will cost lives.

WASHINGTON - Congressional Republicans on Tuesday proposed a $100 million plan to let poor children leave struggling schools and attend private schools at public expense.

JACKSON, Miss. - The death penalty appeal of Bobby Glen Wilcher will be among the first cases the U.S. Supreme Court will discuss when justices return from vacation this fall.

WASHINGTON - Dorothy Clark Blackmun, whose late husband wrote the Supreme Court decision that legalized abortion nationwide, has died. She was 95.

WASHINGTON (AFP) - President George W. Bush has nominated an army general who currently oversees "war on terror" detention operations at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, to the post of Supreme Allied Commander Europe, the Pentagon said.

BOSTON (AFP) - The Massachusetts Supreme Court dealt a blow to same-sex marriages in the only US state where they are authorized by allowing the possible introduction of a constitutional amendment banning the unions.

WASHINGTON - Pleadings from celebrities, a former first lady and fellow Republicans did not move President Bush from his determination to reject, with the first veto of his presidency, a bill expanding federally funded embryonic stem cell research.

WASHINGTON - An old mobster once gave Joseph Paonessa some advice that, if a bit chilling, has served him well during his many years working in the federal witness protection program.

ATLANTA (Reuters) - Ralph Reed, a poster boy for the U.S. Christian right who helped promote the rise of Republican political power in the 1990s, conceded defeat in Georgia on Tuesday in a primary race for Lieutenant Governor.

ATLANTA - Former Christian Coalition leader Ralph Reed struggled to overcome his ties to disgraced lobbyist Jack Abramoff in his bid Tuesday for the Republican nomination for lieutenant governor of Georgia, while Democratic firebrand Rep. Cynthia McKinney faced the voters for the first time since her scuffle with a Capitol Hill police officer.

CINCINNATI (Reuters) - Debi Martin is a Christian, a Republican and opposes abortion but she is ready to vote against the party in November if President George W. Bush and congressional Republicans limit stem cell research.