AP - Breathtaking in its scope and ambition, President Barack Obama's agenda for the economy, health care and energy now goes to a Congress unaccustomed to resolving knotty issues and buffeted by powerful interests that oppose parts of his plan.
AP - The U.S. military map in Iraq in early 2010: Marines are leaving the western desert, Army units are in the former British zone in the south and the overall mission is coalescing around air and logistics hubs in central and northern Iraq.
AP - In his address to a joint session of Congress on Tuesday, President Barack Obama called for every American to pursue some form of education beyond high school.
Sun Yan, Bian Jin and Xue Bing traveled from northeast China to attend graduate programs at Urbana University in Ohio. They had promising futures until an uninsured driver with a previous vehicular homicide conviction caused their deaths. Their grieving mothers now struggle with American language and laws as they plead with officials to help them repay the tens of thousands of dollars they borrowed to educate, and bury, their children.
Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe is celebrating his 85th birthday with a lavish all-day party today despite his country being gripped by an economic and health crisis. Mugabe's ZANU-PF party said it raised at least $250,000 to hold the party. Critics say the money would be better spent on its citizens, who are suffering from a cholera outbreak, food shortages, and spiraling hyperinflation.
Those lazy days of summer may become a thing of the past if the new secretary of education has his way. Arne Duncan, the Cabinet secretary charged with overhauling America's educational system, is studying programs that keep kids in school longer to boost their academic achievements.