Anchorage Daily News

Obama admin: No grounds to probe Afghan war crimes

Obama administration officials said Friday they had no grounds to investigate the 2001 deaths of Taliban prisoners of war who human rights groups allege were killed by U.S.-backed forces.

Report: Effectiveness of Bush wiretap program in dispute

Despite the Bush administration's insistence that its warrantless eavesdropping program was necessary to protect the country from another terrorist attack, FBI agents, CIA analysts and other officials had difficulty evaluating its effectiveness, according to an unclassified government report made public Friday.

Under attack by China, Uighur activist denounces violence

Uighur emigre leader Rebiya Kadeer, accused by China of organizing violent protests in western China, disputed the charge Friday and said she was against all violence, including that by members of the Chinese Muslim community.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124701252209109027.html

Obama parks pick enmeshed in Calif. oyster flap

President Barack Obama on Friday tapped Jon Jarvis to head the National Park Service, turning to a 30-year-veteran who oversees the national parks across the Western states, and who also has angered a powerful U.S. senator and backers of a Northern California oyster farm.

Obama parks pick enmeshed in Calif. oyster flap

President Barack Obama on Friday tapped Jon Jarvis to head the National Park Service, turning to a 30-year-veteran who oversees the national parks across the Western states, and who also has angered a powerful U.S. senator and backers of a Northern California oyster farm.

Obama picks SD senator's son as US attorney

President Barack Obama nominated Brendan Johnson, the 34-year-old son of Sen. Tim Johnson, D-S.D., on Friday to serve as U.S. attorney for South Dakota.

Sotomayor's supporters make case against New Haven firefighter

Supporters of Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor are quietly targeting the Connecticut firefighter who's at the center of Sotomayor's most controversial ruling.

House Dems want to tax the rich for health care

Key House Democrats decided Friday to raise taxes on the wealthy to help pay for health care legislation, capping an up-and-down week for President Barack Obama's top domestic priority. At the same time, Democratic leaders tried to quell concerns among moderate and conservative lawmakers about other elements of the bill.

Text of Obama's news conference on Friday

Text of President Barack Obama's news conference on Friday in L'Aquila, Italy, as provided by the White House:

Women's groups quiet on Sotomayor

Women's groups, euphoric when President Barack Obama chose Sonia Sotomayor for the Supreme Court, have been remarkably quiet in the weeks since on the judge who would be the court's third woman ever.

Climate plan's backers have tougher audience in Senate

Senate supporters of a bill that for the first time would put limits on U.S. greenhouse gas emissions have launched an intense one-on-one effort to sound out their colleagues' views in hopes of winning their support.

US moving away from Afghan drug eradication

The 4,000 U.S. Marines now pushing deep into Taliban-controlled tracts as part of an expanded war in southern Afghanistan are setting up fire bases amid some of the most productive poppy fields in the world's opium-producing capital.

Analysis: Obama suggests sanctions for Iran

After a half-year of extending patient feelers to Iran, President Barack Obama has set a timeline - warning Tehran it must show willingness to negotiate an end to its nuclear program by September or face consequences.

WHITE HOUSE NOTEBOOK: Obama staffers meet pope

If one career highlight was getting Barack Obama elected president, another might be meeting the pope.

Homeland unveils immigration enforcement plan

An overhauled federal program allowing local and state law enforcement officials to arrest and deport immigrants will focus on the most serious criminals and limit officers' police powers, the Homeland Security Department said Friday.

http://www.dhs.gov

Congress asked to probe troops extremist fringe

One of the country's main monitors of hate groups asked Congress Friday to investigate possible racial extremism in the military, after finding U.S. service members participating on a social networking site advertised as being for white people only.

FACT CHECK: GOP joins murky math on stimulus jobs

House Republicans on Friday declared the nation's economic stimulus efforts a "dismal failure." But the convoluted math they used to disparage the recovery is as murky and meaningless as the White House formula championing the stimulus.

Obama delivers letter to pope from Sen. Kennedy

President Barack Obama has given Pope Benedict XVI a personal letter from ailing Sen. Edward Kennedy.

Report: Bush surveillance program was massive

The Bush administration built an unprecedented surveillance operation to pull in mountains of information far beyond the warrantless wiretapping previously acknowledged, a team of federal inspectors general reported Friday, questioning the legal basis for the effort but shielding almost all details on grounds they're still too secret to reveal.

Former Sen. Dole undergoes leg surgery

Former GOP presidential candidate Bob Dole remained hospitalized Friday following leg surgery performed after he initially sought medical treatment for heart problems.

http://www.doleinstitute.org/

US embassies plan events for Obama speech in Ghana

U.S. embassies in Africa are inviting residents to ambassadors' residences and movie theaters on Saturday to watch President Barack Obama's speech in Ghana.