The ban, announced by House Democratic leaders, wipes out one of the most lucrative and controversial means of awarding no-bid contracts to private firms.

The question is whether the U.S. is prepared to lead or whether protectionist pressures will make it impossible to engage fully with trading partners.

Palestinian leaders meeting with Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. condemned a decision by Israel on new housing, but still spoke of participating in peace talks.

President Obama made the pledge after meeting with President René Préval of Haiti on Wednesday, even as the U.S. military begins withdrawing forces.

The physician became a major figure in the conservation movement, leading campaigns that preserved more than 100 million wild acres.

Mr. Kimche was involved in some of the country’s most delicate foreign escapades, including the Iran-contra affair.

President Obama’s health reform plan is a mixed bag for those who care about keeping down medical costs.

Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. said Tuesday that the scene at President Obama’s State of the Union address was “very troubling” and that the speech had “degenerated to a political pep rally.”

Senator Bob Corker wants a proposed bank agency to be more lenient, but critics say consumers would be hurt.

A Senate panel learned that more students in more countries graduate from high school and college and score higher on achievement tests than students in the United States.

In San Francisco, electoral activists proposed a ballot measure that would add a second day to cast ballots.

As Democrats considered potential maneuvers, business groups announced plans for a campaign to stop the legislation.

Some fear a proposed change to a film incentive program would discriminate against productions with gay characters.

Liz Cheney criticized lawyers who represented terrorism suspects. A group of right-leaning legal scholars objected.

Former Representative Eric J. Massa, under investigation by a Congressional ethics panel, said he “did nothing sexual.”

After months of delay and discord, negotiators are making a fresh effort to wrap up a long-delayed arms control treaty.

After scandal forced the nominee for lieutenant governor out, Democrats in Illinois are letting citizens apply online to run.

Steve Levy, the Suffolk County executive and a registered Democrat, met with New York Republican leaders about a potential run for governor on their ticket.

The Federal Reserve has ended nearly all of the lending programs it created in 2007 to combat the credit crisis, but in the coming months it must decide when and how to tighten monetary policy.

While “Top Secret: The Battle for the Pentagon Papers” offers a cogent, informative peek into a historic chapter in 20th-century journalism, as an evening of theater it is static.