yahoo politics

AP - The bodies of about 700 people killed in the wake of World War II have been discovered in a mass grave in Slovenia, 65 years after they were herded into the woods and slain by antifascists seeking revenge on Nazi collaborators, an official said Tuesday.

AP - The NATO-led coalition has overwhelming numerical superiority over the Taliban around the key southern Afghan city of Kandahar and expects to clear the area of insurgents by November's end, a top commander said Tuesday.

The Upshot - How's this sound for a slate of candidates? A homeless tarot card reader, "Grandpa" the pedicab driver and a 20-year-old street performer. Those are the Green Party political hopefuls whom Republican operative Steve May has recruited to run for office in Arizona, the New York Times reports. While the state's community of tarot enthusiasts is [...]

AP - Turns out politics, for all its focus on the gloomy economy, is a recession-proof industry.

AP - The Obama administration is trying to jump-start its sputtering attempts to tackle the foreclosure crisis with an effort to assist homeowners who owe more on their properties than their homes are worth.

The Atlantic Wire - Four years after Democrats trounced Republicans in the 2006 midterm elections over outrage against the Iraq War, a new Washington Post-ABC News poll finds the GOP making big gains and ready to retake much of Congress this November. Here's what the poll says and what it means for the political parties and their prospects.

AFP - European rivals are "wasting their time" trying to claw back the 'Thatcher rebate' that returns billions of euros annually to London in place of farm payments to France and Germany, a minister warned on Tuesday.

Reuters - China wants to quell tensions with the United States through quiet talk, not shouting matches, a top diplomat told White House advisers on Tuesday, aiming to pave the way for a visit by President Hu Jintao early next year.

Politico - Conservative corners of the Internet are buzzing over a Los Angeles school named after former Vice President Al Gore that was built on toxic soil and, some say, poses a health risk to students. (See, Obama: "They Talk About Me Like a Dog")

The Upshot - A small group associated with a fringe Christian church in Florida is planning to burn Qurans on Sept. 11 -- and is now the subject of outraged protests in Afghanistan. Meanwhile, the top U.S. military commander in Afghanistan warned that the anti-Islamic action could hurt troops in the volatile region. "It could endanger troops and [...]

The Upshot - Politicians are expected to give the official nod to their party nominees, but Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal is doing no such thing in his home-state Senate race. The Republican governor said over the weekend that he will not be endorsing Republican Sen. David Vitter for reelection this year. "Voters can make up their own minds," [...]

Time.com - The President is coming up with programs and plans that sound just like additional stimulus. Just don't call it stimulus!

Time.com - Nine weeks before the midterm elections, Barack Obama finds himself on the wrong side of the polls. Where did all that adoration go -- and is a Republican sweep next?

Politico - An L.A. Times report has some contending that the academy could pose health risks to students.

The Atlantic Wire - On Labor Day, president Obama rolled out a plan to save jobs that included $50 billion for infrastructure. The Wire already brought you the debate on the political savviness of the move, and whether such a stimulus would be likely to pass. But there's also the practical question: what effect would spending $50 billion on infrastructure actually have? Commentators seem to be divided into three camps: one group endorses the move, one backs the general idea of infrastructure spending but thinks this proposal is too little, too late. A third camp is against the proposal entirely, opposing the economic theory behind it and the cost.

AP - The U.S. government's financial commitment to Afghanistan is likely to linger and reach into the billions long after it pulls combat troops from the country, newly disclosed spending estimates show.

AFP - US President Barack Obama has pledged 50 billion dollars to create jobs in a massive transportation infrastructure campaign, targeting huge unemployment and ripping resurgent Republicans.

Politico - The latest surveys show a rising anti-incumbent tide that may mean trouble for Dems in November.

AP - Steel columns salvaged from the rubble of the World Trade Center are heading back to ground zero.

AP - A determined Republican stall campaign in the Senate has sidetracked so many of the men and women nominated by President Barack Obama for judgeships that he has put fewer people on the bench than any president since Richard Nixon at a similar point in his first term 40 years ago.