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David Carson/St. Louis Post-Dispatch/MCT
Obama plans to send about 34,000 more U.S. troops to Afghanistan.
President Barack Obama met Monday evening with his national security team to finalize a plan to dispatch some 34,000 additional U.S. troops over the next year to what he's called "a war of necessity" in Afghanistan, U.S. officials told McClatchy. Obama is expected to announce his long-awaited decision on Dec. 1. » read more
Olivier Douliery /Abaca Press/MCT
Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh
President Barack Obama rolls out the red carpet Tuesday for India in the first official state visit of his presidency, but the stresses of a key relationship in a tinderbox part of the world will lie just beneath the glitz and glamour of a state dinner. » read more
California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger Monday said he would appoint Republican state Sen. Abel Maldonado to fill the vacant lieutenant governor's job, perhaps setting off a partisan squabble over his confirmation. » read more
The South Carolina Ethics Commission has charged Gov. Mark Sanford with 37 counts of breaking state ethics laws. The commission filed its charges last week but only released them Monday. The charges largely surround Sanford's personal travels and involve either using state aircraft or booking business-class fare on commercial airlines at state expense. » read more
U.S. Rep. Dennis Moore, a Democrat who confounded the GOP by winning six consecutive elections in a heavily Republican district in suburban Kansas City, will not seek re-election next year, key Democrats said Sunday. Moore represented Johnson, Wynadotte and a portion of Douglas counties in Kansas. » read more
An estimated 1,500 people lined up at a PX at Fort Bragg this morning to see former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin and have her sign copies of her new memoir. Palin's tour bus, with large photos of her plastered on the sides, pulled up to the store around 11:15 a.m., and she walked in, sat down and started signing books, without any opening remarks. » read more