Politics News

EMPORIA, Va. - Barack Obama said Thursday he's chosen his running mate, but coyly kept all the details to himself as he campaigned with one leading contender and planned a major rally to present the Democratic ticket Saturday in Illinois.

WASHINGTON - John McCain may have created his own housing crisis.

CENTENNIAL, Colo. - A threatening letter containing an unidentified white powder was sent to a John McCain campaign office in this south Denver suburb Thursday, authorities said. No injuries were immediately reported. Authorities later said the substance was not hazardous.

Social conservatives are growing more wary of church involvement in politics, joining moderates and liberals in their unease about blurring the lines between pulpit and ballot box, a new study found.

CHESTER, Va. — Both campaigns hit close to home today, as they battled over which candidate appeared more out of touch with voters based on the properties that each owns.

CRAWFORD, Texas - President Bush has expressed solidarity with Pakistan, which has been wracked by political turmoil and suicide bombings that killed dozens of people.

NEW ORLEANS - President Bush said Wednesday that "hope is coming back" to New Orleans with the help of $126 billion in disaster aid poured into the Gulf Coast region over three years after Hurricane Katrina.

WASHINGTON - The White House is missing as many as 225 days of e-mail dating back to 2003 and there is little if any likelihood a recovery effort will be completed by the time the Bush administration leaves office, according to an internal White House draft document obtained by The Associated Press.

ORLANDO, Fla. - President Bush, nearing the end of two terms dominated by war, said Wednesday his decision to increase U.S. troop levels in Iraq early last year brought security to a now resurgent nation and he criticized those who said his plan was flawed.

ORLANDO, Fla. - President Bush, pushing back against claims by Russia, said Wednesday the breakaway regions of South Ossetia and Abkhazia are part of pro-Western Georgia and that Washington will work with allies to insure Georgia's independence and territorial integrity.

WASHINGTON - A congressional committee on Thursday asked for an investigation into a counterterrorism database software upgrade that it says is months behind schedule, millions over budget and would actually be less capable than the U.S. government terrorist tracking system it is meant to replace.

CHESTER, Virginia (AFP) - Democrat Barack Obama ripped into John McCain Thursday saying he was out of touch with economic reality after the Republican confessed to being in the dark about how many properties he owns.

EAST CLEVELAND, Ohio - Tributes from political allies and even one-time enemies came pouring in for Democratic U.S. Rep. Stephanie Tubbs Jones, a trailblazer whose energy and outspokenness made her one of Congress' most dynamic leaders.

Obama says he's chosen his running mate, but won't say who ... Obama pounces on McCain for not knowing how many houses he and multimillionaire wife own ... Election panel rules McCain not bound by spending limits in primaries, doesn't rule on loan ... Conservative group places ad questioning Obama relationship to 60s radical ... Obama spends $55 million to McCain's $32 million in July ... McCain, Obama agree to three presidential debates

WASHINGTON - Republican presidential candidate John McCain chided his Democratic rival on Wednesday for getting "a little testy" as Barack Obama sharpened his tone amid a tightening White House race that gets nastier by the day.

WASHINGTON - Sen. David Vitter, R-La., can use his campaign funds to pay for some of his legal fees stemming from an escort service scandal, the Federal Election Commission decided Thursday.

GAITHERSBURG, Md. - Federal investigators said Thursday they have solved a mystery of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks: the collapse of World Trade Center building 7, a source of long-running conspiracy theories.

WASHINGTON - Federal drug safety regulators said Thursday they are investigating whether the cholesterol-lowering drug Vytorin can increase patients' risk of developing cancer.

WASHINGTON - The Federal Communications Commission is proposing a ban on certain types of wireless microphones and has begun an investigation into how the industry markets its products.

WASHINGTON - Many people in Medicare with diabetes, high blood pressure and other chronic conditions stop taking their medicine when faced with picking up the entire cost of their prescriptions, researchers say.

WASHINGTON (AFP) - World Trade Organization chief Pascal Lamy and top US trade negotiator Susan Schwab were to meet in Washington in an effort to restart the Doha Round of negotiations, a US official said.

UNITED NATIONS - Russia and key Western nations remained at odds Thursday over a U.N. resolution aimed at bringing peace to Georgia, with the U.S., France and Britain insisting on immediate withdrawal of Russian troops and a commitment to Georgia's territorial integrity, according to U.N. diplomats.

GAITHERSBURG, Md. - Federal investigators said Thursday they have solved a mystery of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks: the collapse of World Trade Center building 7, a source of long-running conspiracy theories.

NEW YORK (AFP) - A raging, long-burning fire caused the collapse of World Trade Center building number 7, which tumbled hours after hijacked jets hit the twin towers on September 11, 2001, investigators said Thursday.

WARSAW, Poland - Russia should be temporarily kicked out of the Group of Eight and denied entry into the World Trade Organization as punishment for its actions in Georgia, Sen. Joe Lieberman said Thursday.

WASHINGTON - Top doctors at the helm of one of the nation's most influential medical journals are giving the Supreme Court some unsolicited legal advice about a major case.

ANCHORAGE, Alaska - The U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday declined to decide whether Exxon Mobil Corp. must pay interest on punitive damages awarded in the nation's worst oil spill.

WASHINGTON (AFP) - Texas Thursday put to death a Honduran national after the US Supreme Court rejected a final attempt to halt his execution on grounds it violated a bilateral treaty.

Texas carried out the execution of Mexican national Jos?? Medellin Tuesday in Huntsville over the objections of the World Court and Mexico. The US Supreme Court delayed the lethal injection four hours while it weighed his appeal, which focused on whether the convicted murderer-rapist was denied treaty-guaranteed help from the Mexican consulate when arrested in 1993.

WASHINGTON (AFP) - Texas put to death a Mexican convicted murderer late Tuesday, defying a ruling from the International Court of Justice and ignoring a last-minute appeal from UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon.

Social conservatives are growing more wary of church involvement in politics, joining moderates and liberals in their unease about blurring the lines between pulpit and ballot box, a new study found.

WASHINGTON - John McCain may have created his own housing crisis.

WASHINGTON - A conservative nonprofit group with a past link to Sen. John McCain's presidential campaign wants to spend $2.8 million on an ad questioning Democrat Barack Obama's relationship to a founder of the 1960s radical group Weather Underground.

EMPORIA, Va - Barack Obama said Thursday he's chosen his running mate, but coyly kept all the details to himself as he campaigned with one leading contender and planned a major rally to present the Democratic ticket Saturday in Illinois.

CENTENNIAL, Colo. - Threatening letters containing an unidentified white powder were sent to John McCain campaign offices in Colorado and New Hampshire on Thursday, officials said.