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LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Single mother Mary White worked as a sales clerk until the bank foreclosed on the home she rented.

AP - Yet another town-hall meeting isn't doing the trick. Neither is dropping in on a former Republican president. So just what can John mccain do to draw attention away from his showy Democratic rival? Pick a running mate, perhaps.

Jordan, Israel and Germany aren't normally known as swing states in a presidential campaign. But Barack obama's off to a fast start in his attempt to change that with an election-season tour designed to show him as a potential commander in chief, equally comfortable sitting down - presidential style - with kings and other foreign leaders.

Political appointees at the Department of Labor are moving with unusual speed to push through in the final months of the Bush administration a rule making it tougher to regulate workers' on-the-job exposure to chemicals and toxins.

The U.S. Agency for International Development will begin conducting financial reviews of about a dozen Cuba democracy groups that receive federal money to answer concerns in Congress about possible fraud totaling at least $500,000.

Democratic presidential contender Barack obama breakfasted with Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak to begin his day of high-level meetings with officials on both sides of the sensitive Mideast divide.

Venezuelan president, on two-day trip to Russia, says a strategic alliance between Moscow and Caracas will guarantee sovereignty of Venezuela, which he claims is threatened by US

Some observers expressed skepticism the parties to the talks could address all the issues on the table in the fortnight allotted for the task

If elected, John mccain has said he would appoint Supreme Court justices who would overturn Roe v. Wade. Barack obama supports abortion rights but has said he's open to restrictions on late abortions.

US says it is ready to cut its trade-distorting farm subsides to $15 billion a year in bid to reach global trade deal that could help boost world economy