WASHINGTON — Sen. Ted Stevens' wife, Catherine Stevens, is tentatively scheduled to testify Tuesday or Wednesday in her husband's corruption trial, although the senator's lawyers haven't said whether she will.

Stevens himself is at the end of the list, as a potential final witness. It's not clear whether he'll testify, either. U.S. District Judge Emmet Sullivan reminded Stevens — out of the presence of the jury — that he was under no obligation to do so.

"It's your choice. You don't have to say anything," Sullivan said. » read more

WASHINGTON — President Bush unveiled Tuesday morning a comprehensive plan to resuce the nation's ailing financial system, confirming that the U.S. government will take ownership stake in nine U.S. banks and backstop virtually all lending in the country.

Speaking at 8:01 a.m. Bush said the Federal Deposit Inusrance Corp. will guarantee most new loans made by banks. He also said the FDIC would guarantee non-interest bearing bank accounts no matter their size — an important step for small businesses who worried that FDIC insurance limits weren't high enough to cover their business accounts.

Bush, acknowledging how unusual it was to meddle in business, said the new steps weren't intended to change the capitalist system but "to preserve it." » read more

WASHINGTON — Barring a dramatic change in the political landscape over the next three weeks, Democrats appear headed toward a decisive victory on Election Day that would give them broad power over the federal government.

The victory would send Barack Obama to the White House and give him larger Democratic majorities in both the House of Representatives and the Senate — and perhaps a filibuster-proof margin there.

That could mark a historic realignment of the country's politics on a scale with 1932 or 1980, when the out party was given power it held for a generation, and used it to transform government's role in American society. » read more