On spending, Congress can't agree on easy stuff (AP)

On spending, Congress can't agree on easy stuff (AP)
Obama defends push to raise taxes on rich (AP)
Libya orders state security courts abolished (AP)
Attack on Kabul CIA office kills agency contractor (AP)
Perry ups ante with twist on Romney's '4 aces' (AP)
New-home sales fell in August for 4th month (AP)
Living people to appear on US stamps (AP)
2,000-year-old Dead Sea Scrolls go online (AP)
Riot-hit London district slams Britney's gun video (AP)
Colts owner: QB Manning may come back in December (AP)
Euro zone damps talk of rapid debt crisis steps (Reuters)
Congress gets breathing room in budget dispute (Reuters)
Berkshire Hathaway in rare buyback; shares spike (Reuters)
Fed officials defend most recent policy (Reuters)
Lockerbie case shut, Libya says, after UK seeks help (Reuters)
Moody's: Obama budget a plus but adoption unlikely (Reuters)
Greeks feel drip-drip torture of austerity (Reuters)
Special Report: How a rogue trader crashed UBS (Reuters)
Rick Perry's 'heart' comment shows GOP's immigration problem (The Christian Science Monitor)
Can Herman Cain keep up the momentum after his Florida straw poll win? (The Christian Science Monitor)

Posted: 26 Sep 2011 11:35 AM PDT

AP - Congress is once again allowing shutdown politics to bring the federal government to the brink of closing.

Obama defends push to raise taxes on rich (AP)

Posted: 26 Sep 2011 12:02 PM PDT

AP - President Barack Obama on Monday defended his push to tax the rich more to help jolt the economy and rebuild it for the long term, saying the income of well-to-do people has soared while the middle has struggled with no room to spare.

Libya orders state security courts abolished (AP)

Posted: 26 Sep 2011 11:42 AM PDT

AP - Libya's transitional justice minister says he has approved a measure to abolish the country's state security prosecution and courts.

Attack on Kabul CIA office kills agency contractor (AP)

Posted: 26 Sep 2011 12:55 PM PDT

AP - An Afghan working for the U.S. government killed a CIA contractor and wounded another American in an attack on the intelligence agency's office in Kabul, officials said Monday, making it the latest in a series of high-profile attacks this month on U.S. targets.

Perry ups ante with twist on Romney's '4 aces' (AP)

Posted: 26 Sep 2011 12:15 PM PDT

AP - Call it a personal class war: Texas Gov. Rick Perry is trying to draw sharp class lines with his chief GOP presidential rival, the well-heeled former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney.

New-home sales fell in August for 4th month (AP)

Posted: 26 Sep 2011 08:30 AM PDT

AP - Sales of new homes fell to a six-month low in August. The fourth straight monthly decline during the peak buying season suggests the housing market is years away from a recovery.

Living people to appear on US stamps (AP)

Posted: 26 Sep 2011 05:43 AM PDT

AP - For the first time, living people will be eligible to be honored on U.S. postage stamps.

2,000-year-old Dead Sea Scrolls go online (AP)

Posted: 26 Sep 2011 12:00 PM PDT

AP - Two thousand years after they were written and decades after they were found in desert caves, some of the world-famous Dead Sea Scrolls went online for the first time on Monday in a project launched by Israel's national museum and the web giant Google.

Riot-hit London district slams Britney's gun video (AP)

Posted: 26 Sep 2011 12:24 PM PDT

AP - Britney Spears has raised some hackles in Hackney.

Colts owner: QB Manning may come back in December (AP)

Posted: 26 Sep 2011 11:05 AM PDT

AP - The Indianapolis Colts' position on Peyton Manning hasn't changed.

Euro zone damps talk of rapid debt crisis steps (Reuters)

Posted: 26 Sep 2011 10:00 AM PDT

Reuters - Euro zone officials are working on ways to magnify the financial firepower of the euro zone's rescue fund to fight a sovereign debt crisis more effectively, a senior European Central Bank policymaker said on Monday.

Congress gets breathing room in budget dispute (Reuters)

Posted: 26 Sep 2011 12:39 PM PDT

Reuters - The government probably will not run out of disaster aid until the end of the week, buying more time for Congress to resolve a budget dispute that has raised the specter of a government shutdown.

Berkshire Hathaway in rare buyback; shares spike (Reuters)

Posted: 26 Sep 2011 11:41 AM PDT

Reuters - Warren Buffett's conglomerate Berkshire Hathaway said it will launch a share buyback program, an unprecedented move from Buffett that comes after months of investor complaints that the stock is undervalued.

Fed officials defend most recent policy (Reuters)

Posted: 26 Sep 2011 11:02 AM PDT

Reuters - Two top Federal Reserve officials on Monday defended the central bank's most recent effort to boost growth, with one suggesting further steps may be justified.

Lockerbie case shut, Libya says, after UK seeks help (Reuters)

Posted: 26 Sep 2011 11:49 AM PDT

Reuters - The Lockerbie case is closed, Libya's interim justice minister said on Monday, apparently rebuffing a UK request for help which could lead to others, even deposed leader Muammar Gaddafi, being charged over the 1988 airliner bombing.

Moody's: Obama budget a plus but adoption unlikely (Reuters)

Posted: 26 Sep 2011 08:54 AM PDT

Reuters - President Barack Obama's deficit reduction plan would be positive for the United States's credit ratings but chances of its implementation are "extremely low," Moody's Investors Service said on Monday.

Greeks feel drip-drip torture of austerity (Reuters)

Posted: 26 Sep 2011 08:26 AM PDT

Reuters - Greeks expressed their misery on Monday at the erosion of their daily lives by austerity measures demanded by international lenders in exchange for bailout funds, ahead of a key parliamentary vote on extra property tax.

Special Report: How a rogue trader crashed UBS (Reuters)

Posted: 26 Sep 2011 10:55 AM PDT

Reuters - Late last Friday afternoon, as Formula One teams readied their cars for a practice session ahead of the Singapore Grand Prix, the entrance hall of the nearby Ritz-Carlton buzzed with activity.