United States

Looking for new ways to help plug the leaky job market, President Obama pressed Congress to provide money to homeowners to improve energy efficiency -- and the economy -- by replacing doors, caulking windows and padding their attics with more insulation. Obama admitted that the "idea may not be very glamorous" but declared Tuesday that he found insulation "sexy." Lawmakers also are getting excited by the concept, which they said could help create badly needed jobs for the beleaguered building trades.

Ushering in a new era in medicine, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration said Friday that it had cleared the way for the world's first clinical trial of a therapy derived from human embryonic stem cells. By early summer, a handful of patients with severe spinal cord injuries will be eligible for injections of specialized nerve cells designed to enable electrical signals to travel between the brain and the rest of the body.

Jen Lynch and her family live in the heart of the city but roll out of bed to the sound of clucking chickens. Their day starts with cleaning coops, scooping out feed and hunting for eggs for morning omelets. Eight families in a three-block radius and an estimated 150 families citywide do the same. "It's our slice of rural life, minus the barns," said Jen Lynch, 35, as Flicka the chicken pecked at her backyard lawn.

In a dispute that commingles foreign policy and a quest for political advantage, U.S.-Israel relations have taken an unexpectedly central role in the California race for Senate. Rivals in the race for the Republican nomination are questioning whether former Rep. Tom Campbell is sufficiently supportive of Israel. They base their criticisms on his voting record, statements about a Palestinian homeland and capital, and some of his past associates. Their allegations have raised enough concerns for Campbell that he plans to meet Monday with the influential American Israel Public Affairs Committee.

The housing plan unveiled by President Obama on Wednesday goes further than any previous effort to break the vicious cycle of declining home values, rising mortgage defaults and frozen credit that triggered the country's worst recession since the 1930s. And it embraces strategies that attack the complex problems on several fronts but without requiring a long struggle in Congress.

The Bush administration will announce increases in immigration application fees today that will double the cost of citizenship and almost triple the cost of becoming a permanent resident. The new fees, reflecting an average 66% increase, led immigrant advocates and some members of Congress to criticize them as a "wall" that could bar poorer immigrants from citizenship. U.S.

In the heart of the Ethiopian community here, a group of friends gathered after work in an office to chew on dried khat leaves before going home to their wives and children. Sweet tea and sodas stood on a circular wooden table between green mounds of the plant, a mild narcotic grown in the Horn of Africa. As the sky grew darker the conversation became increasingly heated, flipping from religion to jobs to local politics. Suddenly, one of the men paused and turned in his chair.

The reputed head of Mexico's Sinaloa drug cartel is threatening a more aggressive stance against competitors and law enforcement north of the border, instructing associates to use deadly force, if needed, to protect increasingly contested trafficking operations, authorities said. Such a move by Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman, Mexico's most-wanted fugitive, would mark a turn from the cartel's previous position of largely avoiding violent confrontations in the U.S.

The Obama administration's plan to stave off foreclosures could fall flat in California, where nearly one-third of mortgage holders are underwater on their loans -- many of them by amounts that would disqualify them for government-sponsored refinancing. The problem is likely to be especially acute in areas like the Inland Empire, where homes have lost more than 40% of their value in the last year and nearly half the homeowners owe more on their loans than the properties are worth.

The Treasury had to pay a little more than expected Thursday to sell $14 billion in 30-year bonds, the final leg of a record three-part bond sale this week to fund Uncle Sam's soaring cash needs. At least investors showed up to buy -- as opposed to what happened in Mexico on Wednesday: The government of President Felipe Calderon had to pull a planned sale of 21-year bonds after investors balked.

Vice President Joe Biden was due to arrive Monday in Israel on a mission to mend relations after a rocky first year for new administrations in both countries. During the three-day visit, Biden is expected to consult with Israeli leaders about Iran and kick off peace negotiations -- albeit indirect ones -- between Israelis and Palestinians. The Palestine Liberation Organization led by Fatah formally endorsed U.S.-brokered talks on Sunday. But analysts and officials say the primary objective for Biden, the highest-ranking administration official to visit Israel since President Obama's election, is to give Israel's government a diplomatic nod and boost Israelis' confidence in the U.S. president.

The fate of healthcare legislation turns on the endgame skills of two Democrats who bring vastly different assets to the task: President Obama and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. Obama's signature ability to inspire fellow Democrats and Pelosi's well-honed ability to read their parochial needs will be tested as they tackle the job of finding the last stubborn votes for the healthcare bill. The final push is giving Obama a chance to redeem himself among Democrats who have complained that he has been too detached from the nitty-gritty of crafting the healthcare bill.

The Defense Department last week identified the following American military personnel killed in Afghanistan: Carlos A. Aragon, 19, of Orem, Utah; lance corporal, Marine Corps Reserve. Aragon was killed in combat Monday in southern Afghanistan's Helmand province, on the Pakistani border. He was assigned to the 4th Light Armored Reconnaissance Battalion, 4th Marine Division at Camp Pendleton. Josiah D. Crumpler, 27, of Hillsborough, N.C.; specialist, Army. Crumpler was one of two soldiers killed Monday when insurgents attacked their unit with rocket-propelled grenades and small-arms fire in the Bala Murghab district of western Afghanistan's Badghis province, which borders Turkmenistan.

Federal officials have removed the management team overseeing a national database of dangerous or incompetent caregivers after questions were raised about its accuracy. The reassignments of the division director and four managers came in response to a joint ProPublica-Los Angeles Times story last month that found the repository was probably missing thousands of serious disciplinary cases against health providers. Congress ordered up the database more than 20 years ago. It was supposed to provide an alert system for hospitals, flagging them to disciplinary actions taken in any state against nurses, therapists, pharmacists and other licensed health professionals.

FINAL MEDAL TABLE Nation G S B T United States 9 15 13 37 Germany 10 13 7 30 Canada 14 7 5 26 Norway 9 8 6 23 Austria 4 6 6 16 Russia 3 5 7 15 Korea 6 6 2 14 China 5 2 ...

Uncle Sam is getting an expensive megaphone to tell the world's tourists, "I want you." Aiming to reverse a steep drop in international visitors since the 2001 terrorist attacks, Congress last week passed legislation creating a nonprofit corporation to promote the United States as a travel destination. A $10 fee on many foreign visitors would help finance the new corporation and could raise as much as $200 million a year. Among the legislation's goals is to better explain the stricter U.S. entry requirements for foreign visitors since the attacks.

The Afghan troops who supported the U.S. Marines in the battle to end Taliban control of this town in Helmand province showed marked improvement over last summer's performance in a similar fight but still need much more training, Marine commanders say. Brig. Gen. Larry Nicholson, the top Marine here, said that overall the Afghan battalions exceeded his expectations. Nicholson said he would give some Afghan units an A-minus or B-plus but that others, particularly those with soldiers fresh from basic training, would get a C-minus or D. The lead Afghan commander, Brig.

The Defense Department last week identified the following American military personnel who died in Afghanistan and Iraq or from their injuries at a U.S. military hospital: Marcus R. Alford, 28, of Knoxville, Tenn.; captain, Army National Guard. Alford was one of two guardsmen killed Feb. 21 when their OH-58D Kiowa Warrior helicopter crashed near Qayyarah Airfield West south of Mosul, Iraq, north of Baghdad. He was assigned to the 1st Squadron, 230th Cavalry Regiment in Louisville, Tenn.

Two Super Bowls in three weeks? Thirty years in 60 minutes? As it is written on the Canadian red T-shirts that currently hang from the backs of thousands of folks who will soon be forgetting their manners and clenching their teeth: "Believe." On Sunday around noon here, the Olympics will end with a five-ring circus, a caldron of emotion, a ceremony of mettle, one flaming torch of a hockey game. You sort of wanted it, the Canadians really wanted it, now maybe you're thinking twice about it, too late, it's here, Canada versus the United States for the Olympic gold medal.

In a dispute that commingles foreign policy and a quest for political advantage, U.S.-Israel relations have taken an unexpectedly central role in the California race for Senate. Rivals in the race for the Republican nomination are questioning whether former Rep. Tom Campbell is sufficiently supportive of Israel. They base their criticisms on his voting record, statements about a Palestinian homeland and capital, and some of his past associates. Their allegations have raised enough concerns for Campbell that he plans to meet Monday with the influential American Israel Public Affairs Committee.