The Associated Press
ST. PAUL, Minn. – Al Franken ascended Tuesday from the hallowed ranks of former “Saturday Night Live” comedians to an even more exclusive club, outlasting Republican Norm Coleman in an eight-month recount and courtroom saga to win a seat in the U.S. Senate.
AP News
Wal-Mart is the latest in a line of traditionally Republican-leaning businesses to embrace key portions of President Barack Obama’s bid to overhaul health care, a trend that could complicate opponents’ efforts to build a united front when Congress ramps up its work on the issue this summer.
BY GLENN GARVIN
The greatest tourist attraction in Central America has always been politics. Diplomats stop by every few years, take a couple of snapshots of what’s going on at the presidential palace, and then profoundly declare their opinions, devoid of context or history. This week’s favorite diplotourism destination is Honduras, where the army Sunday arrested President Manuel Zelaya and booted him across the border to Costa Rica. In the Polaroid analysis, it’s pretty clear what happened: ”A return to barbarism in our hemisphere,” as Argentina’s president Cristina Fernández put it.
By DRUDGE REPORT
As the summer begins, White House watchers have spotted a new look by President Obama: The Evil Eye!
AP News
Two Republican senators asked Monday for a congressional hearing to look at whether President Barack Obama acted appropriately when he fired the national service agency’s inspector general earlier this month.
Senior White House adviser David Axelrod told NBC’s Meet the Press programme that Mr Obama thought the pop star was an “important and magnificent” performer.
AP News
EDITOR’S NOTE: Iranian authorities have barred journalists for international news organizations from reporting on the streets and ordered them to stay in their offices. This report is based on the accounts of witnesses reached in Iran and official statements carried on Iranian media.
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AP News
Four U.S. soldiers were killed in combat shortly before the American military completed a withdrawal from Iraq’s cities, and the prime minister assured Iraqis that government forces taking control of urban areas on Tuesday were more than capable of protecting the country.
By JESS BRAVIN
WASHINGTON — The Justice Department has determined that detainees tried by military commissions in the U.S. can claim at least some constitutional rights, particularly protection against the use of statements taken through coercive interrogations, officials said.
By John P. Hannah
On Tuesday, U.S. troops will leave Iraqi cities in accordance with an agreement negotiated under President Bush. Although President Obama has largely endorsed the Bush timeline for reducing the U.S. military presence in Iraq, far less clear is the extent to which he has also adopted his predecessor’s appreciation for the importance of achieving America’s strategic goals there.
