A massive spending bill that funds the U.S. government for the rest of the budget year passed the Senate on Tuesday despite complaints about nearly $8 billion in what critics called "pork-barrel" projects. Senators voted 62-35 to cut off debate on the $410 billion measure and passed it on a voice vote immediately afterward. The omnibus spending bill includes more than 8,000 congressional "earmarks," which total almost $8 billion. The earmarks have caused critics to question President Obama's pledge to ...

Accused enemy combatant Ali al-Marri was served with an arrest warrant Tuesday and transferred out of U.S. military custody for the first time since 2003, according to the U.S. Justice Department. Al-Marri's initial court appearance is scheduled for Tuesday. Defense Secretary Robert Gates released the Qatari man to the U.S. Marshals Service in preparation for the hearing. On Friday, the U.S. Supreme Court granted the Obama administration's request to dismiss al-Marri's challenge of the president's unilateral authority to detain him ...

The U.S. Supreme Court has granted the Obama administration's request to dismiss the appeal of an accused enemy combatant held on U.S. soil. The decision "to dismiss the appeal as moot" came in a brief order from the nine justices Friday. Ali Saleh Kahlah al-Marri has been in military custody since 2003, and was challenging the president's unilateral authority to detain him indefinitely and without charges. The court's order is a defeat for him on the larger constitutional issue. But ...

Democrats plan to launch a Web site Wednesday that mocks GOP leaders for apologizing to radio host Rush Limbaugh for criticizing or publicly disagreeing with him. The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee is hosting the Web site, which allows visitors to create an apology to Limbaugh on behalf of Rep. Phil Gingrey, R-Georgia; South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford; or Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Steele. "You and I both know that in reality, you simply want President Obama to fail in ...

A chairlift cable broke at a ski resort in southern Spain on Monday, injuring 17 skiers, CNN partner station CNN+ reported. Monday's commuters in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; New York; and Boston, Massachusetts, could face a nightmare with blowing and drifting snow, freezing temperatures, gusty winds and periods of sleet and freezing rain. The Northeast is expected to receive 5 to 15 inches of snow, forecasters said. In Boston, two women, one of whom was pregnant, died after their car smashed ...

A Qatari man held for years in military custody in the United States was charged Friday in federal court with conspiracy "to provide material support and resources" to al Qaeda, prosecutors announced. The Supreme Court was to hear arguments in April on a challenge by the suspect, Ali Saleh Kahlah al-Marri, to the principle that the president has the authority to detain suspected terrorists indefinitely and without charges. The Justice Department on Friday asked the high court to ...

Her school has become a symbol of the kind of crumbling infrastructure that President Obama hopes his stimulus bill will improve. But on Tuesday, Ty'Sheoma Bethea became the face of the issue, when she joined first lady Michelle Obama as her guest for the president's first speech to a joint session of Congress. The White House invited Ty'Sheoma, a student at the J.V. Martin Junior High School in Dillon, South Carolina, after a letter she sent lawmakers appealing for help ...

William Jackson was a slave in the home of Confederate president Jefferson Davis during the Civil War. It turns out he was also a spy for the Union Army, providing key secrets to the North about the Confederacy. Jackson was Davis' house servant and personal coachman. He learned high-level details about Confederate battle plans and movements because Davis saw him as a "piece of furniture" -- not a human, according to Ken Dagler, author of "Black Dispatches," which explores espionage ...

Declining Fruit and Vegetable Nutrient Composition: What Is the Evidence? By Donald R. Davis Journal of HortScience; February 2009, 5 pp. The Gist: If the economy isn't grim enough for you, just check out the February issue of the Journal of HortScience, which contains a report on the sorry state of American fruits and veggies. Apparently produce in the U.S. not only tastes worse than it did in your grandparents' days, it also contains fewer nutrients — at least according to Donald ...

Olympic swimming champion Michael Phelps will not face criminal charges in connection with a November party at which he was photographed using a bong, a South Carolina sheriff said Monday. "We do not believe we have enough evidence to prosecute anyone" who was at the party in Columbia, South Carolina, Richland County Sheriff Leon Lott told reporters, adding that authorities are ending their investigation into Phelps. "We had a photo, and we had him saying he was sorry for his ...