WASHINGTON -- The Obama administration has met with editors of three Washington lifestyle magazines to explore how they can connect with the community, an aide said. Editors of three upper-crust magazines -- Capitol File, DC magazine and Washington Life -- met with administration officials to discuss, among other things how first couple Barack and Michelle Obama can embrace Washington's social scene, The Washington Times reported Friday. The administration is "identifying taste makers in order to help ... [full story]

SACRAMENTO -- California's governor has begun a campaign for a series of ballot measures that he says will bring an end to the state's chronic financial troubles. The package sought by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger includes limits on government growth and calls for borrowing against the state lottery, the Los Angeles Times reported Friday. It asks Californians to prolong new but temporary tax increases while simultaneously limiting government spending. Schwarzenegger told the Commonwealth Club of California ... [full story]

WASHINGTON -- Democratic leaders say they're seeking support from the U.S. financial services industry for legislation that would allow bankruptcy judges to modify mortgages. The measure passed the U.S. House of Representatives last week but hasn't been scheduled for a vote in the Senate, where aides say consideration could be delayed until after Easter, The Washington Post reported Friday. Many Republicans oppose the measure that would allow bankruptcy judges to reduce the principal on a ... [full story]

OTTAWA -- Political squabbling came to an abrupt halt as the Liberal Party-dominated Canadian Senate passed the minority Conservatives' budget in Ottawa. By a 50-4 vote with five abstentions, the upper house cleared the bill Thursday, three weeks earlier than the Liberals said they would, The Globe and Mail reported. The newspaper said the Liberals had planned to study the package, which contains an economic package to deal with the global recession, until the end ... [full story]

STUTTGART, Germany -- German police said Friday there is no indication that the teenager who went on a killing rampage at a high school posted a warning before the attack. Police spokesman Nikolaus Brenner reversed an initial report that a purported warning of the incident posted to a chat room had originated on the personal computer of the shooter, Tim Kretschmer, The New York Times reports. Kretschmer, 17, killed 12 people at a high school ... [full story]

WASHINGTON -- The U.S. Navy has sent a guided missile destroyer to protect a U.S. surveillance ship operating in the South China Sea, a Pentagon official says. The USS Chung-Hoon was diverted to an escort mission after five Chinese vessels came within 25 feet of the unarmed USNS Impeccable, The Washington Post reported Friday. "Chung-Hoon is there, in the area, keeping an eye on Impeccable, which continues lawful operations," the official told the Post. He ... [full story]

WASHINGTON -- A second infusion of cash into the struggling U.S. economy won't happen anytime soon, U.S. House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi said. The California Democrat's pronouncement Thursday that a second stimulus package isn't "in the cards" came days after she suggested Congress should "keep the door open" to the possibility, The Washington Post reported Friday. Several prominent economists have suggested that a second stimulus measure might be needed to shake the economy out ... [full story]

WASHINGTON -- When U.S. President Barack Obama meets with Brazilian leader Luis Inacio Lula da Silva the custody of an 8-year-old boy may take center stage, observers say. One of the most closely watched issues between the two countries deals with Sean Goldman. The boy's Brazilian mother moved him to Rio de Janeiro from New Jersey four years ago without his American father's consent. An international custody dispute has grown into a delicate political problem, ... [full story]