Israela s government approved a 10- month halt to the construction of new homes in West Bank settlements, a move immediately welcomed by the U.S. and rejected by Palestinians.

British Prime Minister Gordon Brown said Wednesday that NATO nations are ready to offer about 5,000 more troops for the war in Afghanistan.

President Barack Obama's top aides met frequently with lobbyists and health care industry heavyweights as his administration pieced together a national health care overhaul, according to White House visitor records obtained Wednesday by The Associated Press.

Two fledgling political action committees that support allowing some illegal immigrants to become citizens are raising more money than their immigration-control counterparts, signaling a possible fundraising shift ahead of next year's congressional races.

It's a crime so profitable that even dead people are in on the act. A Senate committee revealed last year that public health insurer Medicare had paid as much as $92 million from 2000 to 2007 for medical services or