WASHINGTON (AP) — Even the White House’s top spokesman is getting in on the act of mocking former Republican vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin for looking to talking points written on her palm during a speech to “tea party” activists.

Robert…

By James Oliphant and Noam N. Levey
Tribune Washington Bureau

WASHINGTON _ President Barack Obama’s call for a televised meeting with Republicans to discuss his stalled healthcare legislation comes as his party unfolds a strategy aimed at forcing the GOP to put…

By Harriet Ryan, Victoria Kim, Jack Leonard And Richard Winton
Los Angeles Times

LOS ANGELES _ Michael Jackson’s personal physician entered a plea of not guilty Monday afternoon at a standing-room-only arraignment attended by Jackson’s parents and several siblings.

Los Angeles County Superior…

LOS ANGELES — Missouri ranked No. 43 among states for animal protection laws, the Humane Society of the United States reported Monday.
California has the strongest animal protection laws in the country, with wide-ranging regulations shielding animals from harm in homes,…

BY GRETCHEN MORGENSON AND LOUISE STORY
New York Times

Billions of dollars were at stake when 21 executives of Goldman Sachs and the American International Group convened a conference call on Jan. 28, 2008, to try to resolve a rancorous dispute that…

By Kathleen Hennessey
Tribune Washington Bureau

NASHVILLE _ The burgeoning tea party movement should remain leaderless and decentralized, former Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin said Saturday, calling the effort “bigger than any king or queen of the tea party.”

“Put your faith…

BY LIZ SIDOTI
AP National Political Writer

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — The “tea party” activists all agree:

Government is too big. Spending is out of control. Individual freedom is at risk. And President Barack Obama’s policies are making it all worse.

But that’s where…

BY JANE PERLEZ
New York Times

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan — The deaths of three American soldiers in a Taliban suicide attack on Wednesday lifted the veil on U.S. military assistance to Pakistan that the authorities here would like to keep quiet and…

BY LINDSEY TANNER
AP Medical Writer

CHICAGO (AP) — An experimental abstinence-only program without a moralistic tone can delay teens from having sex, a provocative study found.

Billed as the first rigorous research to show long-term success with an abstinence-only approach, the study…

By Thomas H. Maugh II
Los Angeles Times

LOS ANGELES _ Didanosine, the second drug approved for the treatment of HIV infections and one of the oldest weapons in the AIDS armamentarium, has been found to produce rare cases of potentially fatal…