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White House braces for tough sell on Afghan policy

In this image released by the White House, President Barack Obama holds meeting on Afghanistan in the Situation Room of the White House, Monday, Nov. 23, 2009. (AP Photo/The White House, Pete Souza)
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AP
AP - 57 minutes ago

WASHINGTON - The White House braced for a tough sell of President Barack Obama's long-awaited decision on whether to commit tens of thousands of new U.S. forces to the stalemated war in Afghanistan, even as the president met Monday with top advisers for possibly the last major deliberations before an announcement.

  • U.S. Rep. Patrick Murphy (D-Pa), the first veteran of the Iraq War to serve in Congress, speaks after receiving the six annual John F. Kennedy New Frontier Award, at the John F. Kennedy Jr. Forum at Harvard University’s Institute of Politics at the John F. Kennedy School of Government, Monday, Nov 23, 2009, in Cambridge, Mass.. The awards are presented annually to two exceptional individuals whose contributions in elective office, community service, or advocacy demonstrate the impact and the value of public service in the spirit of John F. Kennedy. (AP Photo/Bizuayehu Tesfaye)
    Lawmaker defends RI Rep Kennedy in Communion flap AP - Mon Nov 23, 9:58 PM ET

    PROVIDENCE, R.I. - A Pennsylvania lawmaker defended Rep. Patrick Kennedy on Monday against a bishop who has acknowledged asking the Rhode Island congressman not to receive Holy Communion because of his support for abortion rights.

  • Healthcare workers at a hospital. A Belgian man thought to have been in a coma for 23 years has told of his "second birth" after doctors realised he was in fact conscious, a German weekly reported Monday.(AFP/File/Simon Maina)
    Belgian says he was alert but mute for 23 years AP - Mon Nov 23, 9:31 PM ET

    BRUSSELS - For 23 torturous years, Rom Houben says he lay trapped in his paralyzed body, aware of what was going on around him but unable to tell anyone or even cry out.

  • Adam Lambert, left, gets ready to kiss one of the dancers as he performs during the closing act of the 37th Annual American Music Awards on Sunday, Nov. 22, 2009, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Matt Sayles)
    ABC: Lambert's performance draws 1,500 complaints AP - Mon Nov 23, 9:31 PM ET

    NEW YORK - Complaints poured in Monday about Adam Lambert's sexually charged performance at the American Music Awards, including criticism of his kiss with a male keyboard player that was left out of rehearsals for the show.

  • Houston Texans tight end Joel Dreessen (85) is upended by Tennessee Titans' Roderick Hood (37) during the third quarter of an NFL football game Monday, Nov. 23, 2009, in Houston. (AP Photo/Dave Einsel)
    Late field goal gives Titans 20-17 win over Texas AP - 1 hour, 17 minutes ago

    HOUSTON - Rob Bironas kicked a 53-yard field goal with less than a minute remaining and the Tennessee Titans beat the Houston Texans 20-17 Monday night for their fourth straight victory after an 0-6 start.

  • FILE - This is an Aug. 13, 2009, file photo showing Minnesota Twins' Joe Mauer hitting a three-run homer against the Kansas City Royals in the fifth inning of a baseball game in Minneapolis. Mauer has become only the second catcher in 33 years to win the American League Most Valuable Player Award, Monday, Nov. 23, 2009.(AP Photo/Hannah Foslien, File)
    Mauer near-unanimous pick as American League MVP AP - Mon Nov 23, 9:31 PM ET

    NEW YORK - Joe Mauer sat behind a table on a podium in a conference room at the Metrodome when Justin Morneau shouted out the last question of the day. "Are you finally going to buy dinner now?" Morneau said to his teammate from the audience, one MVP to another.

  • U.S. Army Sergeant Salei Sale (L) of A-BTRY 2/377 PFAR Task Force Steel looks on as other soldiers fire their weapons during a training session at Forward Operating Base (FOB) Tillman, November 23, 2009. REUTERS/Bruno Domingos
    Obama meets with top advisers on Afghan policy Reuters - 2 hours, 50 minutes ago

    WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama met with top advisers on Afghanistan for almost two hours on Monday night as he nears a decision on whether to send thousands of additional U.S. troops to confront a growing insurgency.

  • Fed asks U.S. banks to submit TARP repayment plans: report Reuters - 1 hour, 38 minutes ago

    (Reuters) - The U.S. Federal Reserve this month asked nine banks that were part of "stress tests" conducted earlier this year to submit plans to repay money injected under the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP), Bloomberg said, citing a person familiar with the situation.

  • South Carolina governor faces ethics allegations Reuters - Mon Nov 23, 4:53 PM ET

    MIAMI (Reuters) - Republican South Carolina Governor Mark Sanford, a conservative seen as a presidential contender before a sex scandal wrecked his reputation, faces 37 possible ethics violations, the state ethics commission said on Monday.

  • US President Barack Obama, seen here on November 14, will decide "in the coming days" whether to attend a United Nations climate change summit in Copenhagen in December, a senior administration official said Monday.(AFP/File/Kazuhiro Nogi)
    U.S. to bring emissions cut target to Copenhagen talks Reuters - Mon Nov 23, 3:42 PM ET

    WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States will propose an emissions reduction target at U.N. climate change talks in Copenhagen in December with an eye toward winning support from U.S. lawmakers who must agree to put it into law.

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    WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Stork Craft Manufacturing Inc is voluntarily recalling more than 2.1 million baby cribs in the United States and Canada due to a potential suffocation hazard, U.S. safety officials said on Monday.

  • Home sales at 2-1/2 year high Reuters - Mon Nov 23, 5:02 PM ET

    WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Sales of previously owned U.S. homes jumped last month to their highest level in more than 2-1/2 years, but a fall in an economic gauge was a reminder that recovery from recession would be patchy.

  • FBI Special Agent in Charge Ralph Boelter answers questions during a news conference, Monday, Nov. 23, 2009, in Minneapolis, about newly unsealed charges against eight defendant related to involvement with extremist groups in Somalia. U.S. Attorney for Minnesota B. Todd Jones looks on at right. (AP Photo/Star Tribune, David Denney) ST. PAUL PIONEER PRESS OUT. MINNEAPOLIS-AREA TV NOT TV. MAGS OUT.
    Eight charged in U.S. for Somali war recruiting Reuters - Mon Nov 23, 5:44 PM ET

    MINNEAPOLIS (Reuters) - Authorities unsealed terrorism-related charges Monday against eight defendants they said recruited young Somali-American men to return to their homeland to fight for an Islamist militant group.

  • U.S. Secretary of Defense Robert Gates (2nd L) another other cabinet members look on as President Barack Obama speaks at the end of a meeting with members of his administration in the Cabinet Room of the White House in Washington, November 23, 2009. REUTERS/Jason Reed
    Obama says boosting jobs is a top priority Reuters - Mon Nov 23, 6:14 PM ET

    WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama assured Americans on Monday that boosting jobs was a top priority, but gave no specifics about how to meet this goal that some economists say warrants more government spending.

  • A US soldier on patrol in the Korengal Valley in eastern Afghanistan. US President, Barack Obama, has been gathering his war cabinet for what officials indicated could be the final time before he decides whether to dispatch tens of thousands more US troops to the war-torn country.(AFP/File/Simon Lim)
    Obama meets war cabinet on Afghanistan AFP - 24 minutes ago

    WASHINGTON (AFP) - President Barack Obama has huddled with his war cabinet for what officials indicated could be the final time before he decides whether to dispatch tens of thousands more US troops to Afghanistan.

  • Philippine Army armoured personnel carriers and trucks move down a highway of the town of Datu Piang in Maguindanao on military actions against separatist rebels in May 2009. At least 21 people were murdered in the lawless southern Philippines on Monday in a massacre that the military and relatives of the victims said was likely linked to a political rivalry.(AFP/File)
    Bodies in shallow graves following Philippine massacre AFP - 1 hour, 14 minutes ago

    MANILA (AFP) - Police pulled bullet-ridden bodies from shallow graves on Tuesday as troops hunted down the gunmen who massacred at least 22 people in one of the Philippines' most brutal explosions of political violence.

  • Kaing Guek Eav (Duch) reads a document in the courtroom at the Extraodinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia in Phnom Penh. Duch went from a diligent maths teacher to a staunch revolutionary who oversaw the deaths of more than 15,000 people under the blood-soaked Khmer Rouge regime, before finding Jesus Christ and remorse.(AFP/HO/Extraordinary Chamber in the Courts of Cambodia/AFP)
    KRouge trial prosecutors want Duch jailed AFP - 1 hour, 31 minutes ago

    PHNOM PENH (AFP) - Prosecutors called Tuesday for the former Khmer Rouge prison chief to receive a long jail term for his role in the "Killing Fields" atrocities as they delivered final arguments in his trial.

  • VIDEO: Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva has urged his visiting Iranian counterpart Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to find a "just solution" with the West to Tehran's contested nuclear program. Duration: 00:49(AFPTV)
    Iran needs 'just solution' to nuclear row: Brazil AFP - Mon Nov 23, 11:03 PM ET

    BRASILIA (AFP) - Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva has urged his visiting Iranian counterpart Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to find a "just solution" with the West to Tehran's contested nuclear program.

  • A NASA image shows Planet Earth in one of the most up-to-date images of the world to date. Humanity would need five Earths to produce the resources needed if everyone lived as profligately as Americans, according to a report issued Tuesday.(AFP/HO/NASA/File)
    Mankind using Earth's resources at alarming rate AFP - 1 hour, 15 minutes ago

    WASHINGTON (AFP) - Humanity would need five Earths to produce the resources needed if everyone lived as profligately as Americans, according to a report issued Tuesday.

  • An employee of state-linked Temasek Holdings at the state-linked firm's central offices in Singapore. The investment group has said it plans to raise 600 million Singapore dollars (433 million US) from new bond offerings.(AFP/File/Roslan Rahman)
    Temasek announces major bond offer plan AFP - 1 hour, 21 minutes ago

    SINGAPORE (AFP) - State-linked Singapore investment firm Temasek Holdings on Tuesday said it plans to raise 600 million Singapore dollars (433 million US) from new bond offerings.

  • A sold sign is posted in front of a home for sale in August 2009 in San Francisco, California. A rush to cash in on tax incentives helped to push up sales of existing US homes by 10.1 percent in October giving momentum to the ailing sector, industry data showed Monday.(AFP/Getty Images/File/Justin Sullivan)
    Tax credits fuel 10 percent surge in US home sales AFP - Mon Nov 23, 3:37 PM ET

    WASHINGTON (AFP) - A rush to cash in tax incentives helped boost sales of existing US homes 10.1 percent in October, according to data Monday showing fresh momentum for the sector at the heart of the economic crisis.

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