AP - The Supreme Court was devoting an unusual two-hour session to the intricacies of political boundary drawing, in a case that could have a major impact on elections and even the balance of power in Congress.

AP - An independent ethics office is included in a lobbying reform package a Senate committee is taking up, putting on the table the sensitive issue of whether lawmakers are capable of policing themselves.

BEIJING (Reuters) - China can expect its trading partners to lodge more complaints with the World Trade Organization aimed at getting Beijing to enforce global trade rules, a senior U.S. official said on Friday.

AP - Former Sen. Arthur Brown of Utah is a footnote to history — more interesting than most, though, because a woman claiming he had fathered two of her children gunned him down in a hotel room in 1906. Brown's entry is among the 12,000 or so — from Aandahl to Zwach — in the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress, 1774-2005, the definitive reference book about federal lawmakers, now online for the first time.

AP - A member of the CIA's first post-9/11 class is alleging in a federal lawsuit that the agency violated his First Amendment rights by ordering dozens of deletions in his book about spy training after initially approving it.

AP - A year after being bounced as chairman of the House ethics committee, Rep. Joel Hefley, R-Colo., seems relaxed and upbeat.

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - California's Democratic party filed a complaint on Monday alleging that California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and Sen. John McCain, also a Republican, had violated election rules for an upcoming fundraiser.

Reuters - Embattled U.S. Rep. Tom DeLay won handily in the Republican primary for his congressional seat on Tuesday, taking 61 percent of the votes against three opponents.

AP - Former President Jimmy Carter criticized the war in Iraq on Wednesday, urging a troop drawdown as the United States enters its fourth year of conflict in Iraq.

AFP - Serbia-Montenegro, which is accused by Bosnia of committing genocide during the Balkan wars, questioned the competence of the International Court of Justice (ICJ) to hear the case.

MEMPHIS, Tennessee (Reuters) - Sen. John McCain of Arizona, a potential White House contender in 2008, warned Republican activists on Friday to stay focused on winning November's midterm elections and not look ahead to the presidential race.

AP - An independent candidate for Texas governor rode in a St. Patrick's Day parade car Saturday with his trademark black hat and burning cigar — plus a beer in his hand, an apparent violation of the state's open container law.

AP - In January, within days of the breaking of the worst lobbying scandal in decades, congressional leaders pledged swift and bold reform. That hasn't happened, and Congress may be months away from coming together on the issue.

SACRAMENTO (Reuters) - California legislators extended talks late on Monday over a plan to put a roughly $50 billion bond offering before voters in June, part of Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's multi-year public works proposal.

AP - Workers who lose their jobs and collect unemployment insurance stay out of work for 21 weeks on average, more than twice as long as those who don't collect the benefit.

AP - President Bush said Thursday Iran may pose the greatest challenge to the United States and diplomacy to thwart the Islamic nation's nuclear program must prevail to avoid confrontation.

AP - The Senate probably will give President Bush most of the money he wants for the Iraq war and Gulf Coast hurricane reconstruction while setting aside bipartisan worries about the enormous costs of both.

AP - Possible negotiations between the United States and Iran and the convening of the first session of a new Iraqi parliament could give the Bush administration a long-needed lift.

CARACAS, Venezuela (Reuters) - Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez on Sunday lobbed a litany of insults at U.S. President George W. Bush ranging from 'donkey' to 'drunkard' in response to a White House report branding the left-wing leader a demagogue.

AP - B vitamin deficiencies can cause a range of serious health effects, including spinal defects in children born to women with below-normal levels of folic acid and anemia in people not getting enough B12.

TOKYO (Reuters) - Japan's defense minister and prime minister agreed on Tuesday that small changes may be possible in a plan to relocate a U.S. Marine base on the southern Japanese island of Okinawa that has sparked local anger.

AP - Illinois Treasurer Judy Baar Topinka narrowly edged out a GOP rival to clinch the Republican nomination for governor late Tuesday, earning a chance to challenge Democratic Gov. Rod Blagojevich in November.

AP - One group of welfare recipients worked at least 20 hours a week and agreed to take classes at the local community college.

TOKYO (Reuters) - Japan and the United States are divided over how much Tokyo should pay to move U.S. Marines to Guam from the Japanese island of Okinawa, Japan's foreign minister said on Friday, as the two allies struggled to wrap up a plan on relocating U.S. troops by an end-March deadline.

CARACAS, Venezuela (Reuters) - Venezuela said on Friday it could suspend a threat to curtail U.S. airline flights depending on the 'atmosphere' at talks on Monday with U.S. aviation authorities in Caracas.

AP - While only two Democrats in the Senate have embraced Sen. Russ Feingold's call for censuring President Bush, the idea is increasing his standing among many Democratic voters as he ponders a bid for the party's presidential nomination in 2008.

AP - The United Nations refugee agency said Friday it was concerned about the safety of Palestinians in Iraq, citing death threats against families in one Baghdad neighborhood.

AP - The lure of money is shaping the nation's 155 national forests: more advertising, more fees, more roads to draw timber sales and lumber mill jobs.

The Christian Science Monitor - Senate majority leader Bill Frist and GOP Sen. Sam Brownback stood together on trade, war, judges, guns, energy, abortion, and war, but they are bookends in this week's debate on 'earned' amnesty for illegal aliens - the toughest issue before the Senate this year.

BERLIN (Reuters) - Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said a U.N. demand for curbs on Iran's nuclear work showed Tehran's isolation and said Thursday's big-power talks should also cover 'broader concerns' over its behavior.

AFP - Thailand goes to the polls on Sunday for what Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra says will be a referendum on his leadership, but the election is unlikely to end protests calling on him to resign.