Meetings

Wal-Mart Stores Inc. said it didn't advise managers to vote against Democrats in elections this November when it required them to attend meetings about the company's opposition to labor legislation. In those meetings, Wal-Mart expressed opposition to the Employee Free Choice Act, spokesman David Tovar said. It didn't tell managers how to vote, he said. The retailer has been mobilizing managers to warn that Democratic leadership in Washington would probably favor the legislation, making it easier for workers to unionize employers, the Wall Street Journal reported.

The state's proposal to acquire 300 square miles of Everglades land from U.S. Sugar Corp. was illegally brokered in closed-door meetings, an attorney contended in a lawsuit filed in Miami. Dexter Lehtinen, who has led efforts to restore the Everglades, is challenging a historic $1.75-billion deal in which U.S. Sugar would go out of business and sell its land to the state for restoration. He contends the meetings violated the state's Sunshine Law.

His new campaign ad mocks Barack Obama for being a celebrity, but John McCain spent his weekend meeting with an unusual range of celebs himself. On Friday night he stopped by a free concert in Panama City, Fla., given by country singer John Rich, who unveiled his new song, "Raising McCain," as the Republican presidential candidate's Straight Talk Express pulled up. Today the Arizona senator is expected to meet with Frederick W. and Kimberly Kagan, inside-the-Beltway neoconservative luminaries.

Many questions arise when people hear that Armando Cervantes recently had lunch with Pope Benedict XVI. The answer to the most obvious question -- Did this really happen? -- is yes. Cervantes and 11 other young adults from across the globe met with the pontiff and Cardinal George Pell of Sydney during Benedict's visit last month to Australia. This wasn't a quick photo opportunity. They had a leisurely lunch and discussed their lives and their faith.

The meeting between John McCain and Barack Obama today at Saddleback Church in Orange County will be brief -- a handshake and perhaps an exchange of pleasantries in between back-to-back interviews with the church's pastor, Rick Warren. But for the 3,000 people in the audience and viewers watching live on cable television, this first onstage matchup will offer a preview of the three critically important presidential debates, the first next month at the University of Mississippi.

Federal officials have set a Sept. 22 hearing date in Del Mar to take public testimony regarding a proposed 16-mile extension of the 241 toll road through an ecological preserve and a popular state beach in northern San Diego County. In February, the California Coastal Commission overwhelmingly rejected the plan, finding it violated the law designed to protect the coast. The decision seemed a death blow to the toll road, but supporters appealed the ruling to the U.S.

Sarah Palin, John McCain's running mate, has been getting a crash course in diplomacy and international affairs this week, meeting her first foreign heads of state courtesy of the U.N. General Assembly's annual gathering of international bigwigs.

Pakistan's incoming spy chief on Wednesday showed lawmakers images of people being slaughtered by militants, in a rare, private briefing on the battle against Taliban and Al Qaeda fighters along the border with Afghanistan, attendees said. The government convened the special session of parliament, which was to continue today, as part of its push for political unity as it seeks to stabilize Pakistan in the fight against terrorism.

Amid continued signs of economic trouble, Barack Obama will travel to the White House today for what his aides have said will be substantive discussions with President Bush about the economy and other issues. But on Sunday, there were new signs of obstacles to more federal action on the economy in the waning days of the Bush administration despite the rosy talk of bipartisanship that followed Obama's historic election last week.

A fierce campaign less than two weeks behind them, President-elect Barack Obama and Sen. John McCain met Monday in Chicago to talk about ways to work together on government reform, fiscal responsibility and boosting the economy. It was one of the earliest post-election meetings to take place between presidential rivals in recent history and reflected a desire on the part of both men to show bipartisanship, aides said.