Preliminary results from Iraq's national election began to trickle in on Thursday, showing Shi'ite Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki ahead in the country's largely Shi'ite south.

AP - President Barack Obama speaks at a banking conference Thursday, holds more meetings on health care and gets a look at a new TV series about World War II.

A year ago, President Barack Obama boldly, unequivocally demanded that Israel stop building settlements on the West Bank and east Jerusalem. Today he's left with little choice but to swallow a stinging and very public rebuke from America's closest Mideast ally.

Reuters - President Barack Obama, anxious to spur growth and tackle unemployment, will name two top executives from Boeing and Xerox on Thursday to spearhead his drive to boost U.S. exports, the White House said.

Politico - Members of the Congressional Black Caucus are headed to the White House for a meeting on jobs Thursday, and they’ll have a few words to say about how President Barack Obama is doing his.

Iran has freed for the new year holidays a prominent opposition figure rounded up during protests against the disputed June re-election of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, news reports said Thursday.

CQPolitics.com - Although North Carolina was a top battleground in the 2008 presidential race, the swing state appears to be far from the front lines in the battle for the House in 2010.

AP - The House Democratic campaign chief said Wednesday the ethics committee has ended an investigation of former Rep. Eric Massa, but the freshman's alleged harassment of his staff members — with possible sexual overtones — could spell continuing trouble for the party.

They flew planes during World War II but weren't considered real military pilots. No flags were draped over their coffins when they died on duty. And when their service ended, they had to pay their own bus fare home.

President Barack Obama declared on Wednesday the time for talk is over and urged the U.S. Congress to vote on healthcare as his health secretary directly challenged insurers to forgo profits to make coverage more affordable.