The political crisis in Honduras has cost the country nearly $20 million in U.S. aid - and the price tag could rise if the dueling governments aren't able to reach a solution.

The political crisis in Honduras has cost the country nearly $20 million in U.S. aid — and the price tag could rise if the dueling governments aren't able to reach a solution.

The U.S. military on Thursday reluctantly turned over to Iraq five Iranians it had accused of fomenting violence in Iraq. The Iraqi government promptly invited them to meet Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki and then released them to Iranian custody.

U.S. spokesmen in Baghdad and Washington said the United States had no choice but to free the five men under the terms of last year's Status of Forces Agreement, which requires the United States eventually to transfer the more than 10,000 Iraqi and third-country detainees it now holds. State Department spokesman Ian Kelly said the U.S. military turned the five over to Iraq after Iraq issued arrest warrants for all third-country nationals in U.S. custody.

As President Barack Obama and other world leaders meet in Italy, a global survey released Thursday reflects wide concern that governments won't meet their budgets in this economic climate — and a universal preference to respond by cutting services rather than raising taxes.

As President Barack Obama and other world leaders meet in Italy, a global survey released Thursday reflects wide concern that governments won't meet their budgets in this economic climate - and a universal preference to respond by cutting services rather than raising taxes.

House Democrats were working Thursday to avert a showdown with President Barack Obama and the CIA over who in Congress should receive sensitive information on the agency's covert activities.

House Democrats were working Thursday to avert a showdown with President Barack Obama and the CIA over whom in Congress should receive sensitive information on the agency's covert activities.

Amid the great debates of the day over health care, global warming and economic recovery, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said Thursday there will be no pause in the action to honor Michael Jackson.

The Illinois congressional seat that former House Speaker Dennis Hastert once held for 20 years may see a Hastert comeback.

The Senate wants to force the Homeland Security Department to stick with a proposed Bush administration policy requiring employers to fire immigrant workers whose names don't match their Social Security numbers.

The Drug Enforcement Administration has removed an agent from his pilot duties after he refused to be sent to Afghanistan on a 60-day detail.

Sen. Roland Burris, whose deep ties to former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich seemed to doom his Senate tenure from the start, will not run for a full Senate term in 2010. The move increases Democrats' chances of holding on to the former Senate seat of President Barack Obama.

Congressional aides said Thursday that Democratic leaders are prepared to soften a proposal that more lawmakers be briefed on secret CIA operations to make an intelligence bill more acceptable to the White House.

The Drug Enforcement Administration has removed an agent from his pilot duties after he refused to be sent to Afghanistan on a 60 day-detail.

A group is urging Congress to enact a federal homeowners' insurance program for natural disasters such as hurricanes, earthquakes and wildfires before the next one strikes, saying such events pose a serious threat to the economy.

A group is urging Congress to enact a federal homeowners' insurance program for natural disasters such as hurricanes, earthquakes and wildfires before the next one strikes, saying such events pose a serious threat to the economy.

Campaigning for president, Barack Obama said repeatedly that any overhaul of the health care system should be negotiated publicly and televised for all to see. Throughout this year's negotiations, however, the big deals have been struck in secret.

A U.S. government agency is demanding that Iran release seven Baha'i prisoners rather than submit them to trials on charges of spying for Israel and religious charges.

The drive to remake the nation's health care system suffered yet another setback in Congress on Thursday when a pivotal group of House Democrats demanded changes in legislation the leadership was drafting on a fast track.

A glance at President Barack Obama's itinerary for his overseas trip:

Joe Biden, the vice president who might have been secretary of state, is widening his role as globe-trotting diplomat, drawing praise on some fronts and puzzlement on others.

After years of funding shortfalls, legal aid societies across the country are being overwhelmed by growing numbers of poor and unemployed Americans who face eviction, foreclosure, bankruptcy and other legal problems tied to the recession.

Despite a request for a wives' boycott of this week's G-8 summit to protest the personal behavior of the Italian prime minister, first lady Michelle Obama and other spouses came as planned — and found themselves touring with a former topless model-turned-government minister filling in as the official hostess for the prime minister's soon-to-be ex-wife.