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Bowing to President Bush, the Democratic-controlled Congress grudgingly approved fresh billions for the Iraq war Thursday night, minus the troop withdrawal timeline that drew his earlier veto.

Torture, Al-Qaeda StyleDrawings, tools seized from Iraq safe house in U.S. military raid MAY 24--In a recent raid on an al-Qaeda safe house in Iraq, U.S. military officials recovered an assortment of crude drawings depicting torture methods like "blowtorch to the skin" and "eye removal." Along with the images, which you'll find on the following pages, soldiers seized various torture implements, like meat cleavers, whips, and wire cutters. Photos of those items can be seen here. The images, which were just declassified by the Department of Defense, also include a picture of a ramshackle Baghdad safe house described as an...

NEW YORK After a surge of support earlier in the year after the Democrats took control, public approval of the job Congress is doing has slid again, and now stands even lower than President Bush's weak 33%. A Gallup poll released today pegged the approval rating for Congress at 29%. This is down from last month's 33% and well below the year's high of 37%. Of course, more Democrats than Republican give a thumb's up but even there only 37% of Democrats approve of the job Congress is doing right now. That's down 6% since last month. This may reflect...

Republican presidential candidate John McCain (news, bio, voting record) said Thursday he believes President Bush's low approval ratings are hurting the GOP yet won't affect the party's 2008 nominee.

FAIRBANKS, Alaska – The number of cases heard by the U.S. Supreme Court is declining in part because of the lack of significant legislation coming out of Congress, Chief Justice John Roberts said Thursday night at the Alaska Bar Association's annual convention. “No one actually knows why the number of cases we are taking is declining,” said Roberts, who was the keynote speaker at the association's banquet. “I think there really are three significant reasons. The first is the lack of any major legislation coming out of Congress in the last couple of decades.” Roberts also suggested the lower courts...

A senior Iranian official, Mr. Nabi Rudaki, has voiced interest in holding talks with US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, and Republican Tom Lantos. Tehran's top MP Mohammad Nabi Rudaki, deputy head of the national security commission, has shown interest after Pelosi's controversial visit to Syria. "Parliamentary talks can discuss bilateral problems and bring US, European and Iranian nations closer. They could also consider Iran's peaceful nuclear issues," Mr. Rudaki noted.

The CIA and Pentagon would for the first time be required to assess the national security implications of climate change under proposed legislation intended to elevate global warming to a national defense issue. The bipartisan proposal, which its sponsors expect to pass the Congress with wide support, calls for the director of national intelligence to conduct the first-ever "national intelligence estimate" on global warming. The effort would include pinpointing the regions at highest risk of humanitarian suffering and assessing the likelihood of wars erupting over diminishing water and other resources.

The U.S. Senate on Tuesday endorsed a March 31, 2008, target date for withdrawing American combat troops from Iraq, moving Congress a step closer to a showdown with President George W. Bush over the war. By a vote of 50-48, the Senate defeated an amendment that would have stricken the withdrawal language from a $121.6 billion bill that mostly would fund the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. A final vote on the bill is expected later this week. ~ snip ~

WASHINGTON - Republican Leader Mitch McConnell (news, bio, voting record) said Monday he won't block Senate passage of an Iraq war spending bill even if the GOP fails to kill its troop withdrawal deadline because he knows President Bush will veto it. Facing a cliffhanging vote this week, McConnell promised to fight the provision, which calls for combat troops to be brought home within a year. Even if he fails, McConnell said he won't stand in the way of the bill's final passage because the sooner it is sent to the president, the sooner Bush can veto it. Unable to...

<p>Live now, President Bush is making a strong response.</p> <p>THE PRESIDENT: Today I'm joined here at the White House by veterans, family members of people serving in combat, family members of those who have sacrificed. I am honored that they have joined me here today.</p>

Breaking a parliamentary roadblock, the Senate votes to begin debate on a resolution that calls for combat troops to leave Iraq by the end of March 2008.

At one press conference, Rep. Maxine Waters, now serving her 9th term in the House of Representatives, declared that under the Out of Iraq Caucus's plan, the United States could remove U.S. troops from Iraq "by August of 1980 [sic."] Then, Rep. Jan Schakowsky of Illinois, reasoning that 1980 had already taken place, said the actual date was August 2008. Rep. Lloyd Doggett suggested that Mr. Bush, "the misleader," was to blame for his colleagues' confusion. Rep. Lynn Woolsey, California Democrat, tried to explain the caucus plan, but stumbled over the chronology of the withdrawal, saying at one point that...

U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein says Pakistan should let U.S. troops into areas dominated by a resurging al-Qaida or send its own troops in to pursue terrorists. Appearing on "Fox News Sunday," the California Democrat said she agrees with the Bush administration about the growing danger. A rebuilt al-Qaida "can easily extend the terrorist arm into the European community and Great Britain. That's a deep concern, because then it's just (across) the ocean for us." Pakistan says it will not allow U.S. or NATO troops into tribal areas where al-Qaida is believed to be recruiting and revamping its operations. Feinstein said...

As of 2PM CST, C-Span 2 is running the following caption on TV: "SENATE REJECTS MOTION TO DEBATE IRAQ RESOLUTION, 56-34".

Just four days before the House took up the issue, the journal Nature Biotechnology published a study showing that cells from amniotic fluid, collected in the course of routine amniocentesis during pregnancy, could have many of the appealing properties of embryonic stem cells, without requiring the destruction of embryos.

WASHINGTON — President Bush, on a collision course with Congress over Iraq, said Friday "I'm the decision-maker" about sending more troops to the war. He challenged skeptical lawmakers not to prematurely condemn his plan. "I've picked the plan that I think is most likely to succeed," Bush said in an Oval Office meeting with senior military advisers. The president had strong words for lawmakers on both sides of the aisle who are lining up to support resolutions opposing his decision to send 21,500 troops to Iraq. He challenged them to put up their own ideas. "Some are condeming a plan...

Clinton, other lawmakers, head to Iraq By DEVLIN BARRETT, Associated Press Writer 20 minutes ago Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton and two other lawmakers are headed to Iraq this weekend as Congress engages in fierce debate over President Bush's plan to send 21,500 more troops to salvage the U.S. effort there. Clinton, a Democrat from New York who is considering running for president, is traveling with Sen. Evan Bayh (news, bio, voting record), D-Ind., who had also eyed the 2008 race but opted out, and Rep. John McHugh (news, bio, voting record), a Republican from upstate New York. The three, all...

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Democratic and Republican senators voiced strong concern on Thursday that the Iraq war could spread to neighboring Iran and Syria if the U.S. military were to chase militants across the border. President Bush, who accuses Iran and Syria of fomenting the violence in Iraq, on Wednesday proposed sending 21,500 more U.S. troops to try to restore security nearly four years after the U.S.-led invasion. Bush sparked worries that the conflict may widen by his comment that "we'll interrupt the flow of support from Iran and Syria. And we will seek out and destroy the networks providing...

BEIJING — China and the United States on Saturday signed an agreement that paves the way for Westinghouse Electric Co. to build four civilian nuclear reactors in China, a multibillion dollar coup for U.S. business over French and Russian competitors. A memorandum of understanding supporting the transfer of nuclear technology to China was signed by China's Minister for the National Development and Reform Commission Ma Kai and U.S. Energy Secretary Samuel Bodman. "This is an exciting day for the U.S. nuclear industry," Bodman said at the ceremony. "It is an example that if we work together we can advance not...

Rep. Thomas Reynolds, head of the House Republican election effort, said he told Speaker Dennis Hastert after learning a fellow GOP lawmaker sent inappropriate messages to a teenage boy. Reynolds, R-N.Y., was told months ago about e-mails sent by Rep. Mark Foley and is now defending himself from Democratic accusations that he did too little. Foley, R-Fla., resigned Friday after ABC News questioned him about the e-mails to a former congressional page and about sexually suggestive instant messages to other pages. The boy who received the e-mails was 16 in summer 2005 when he worked in Congress as a page....