CHICAGO - Presidential candidate Barack Obama became more generous to charities after he was elected to the U.S. Senate from Illinois in 2004, records show. Obama, a Democratic, and his wife, a hospital administrator, reported taxable income of $983,626 and claimed charitable deductions of $60,307 on their 2006 tax return filed this month. In 2005, together they earned $1.65 million and donated about $77,300 to charity, the Chicago Tribune reported Wednesday. In 2002, the year ... [full story]

WASHINGTON - East Asia security is the top shared concern for U.S. President George W. Bush and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, the White House said Wednesday. The issue will top the agenda when Bush and Abe meet Friday at Camp David, Md., said Dennis Wilder, senior director for East Asia at the National Security Council. Wilder told reporters at the White House the two leaders will discuss "our common approach to the North Korean ... [full story]

Unusually bad winter weather in February curtailed home shopping, slowing sales that closed in March, which may have been dampened further by a decrease in subprime lending volume, according to the National Association of Realtors. After rising for three consecutive months, total existing-home sales -- including single-family, townhomes, condominiums and co-ops -- fell 8.4 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate(1) of 6.12 million units in March from a pace of 6.68 million in February, ... [full story]

SAN DIEGO - Hundreds of thousands of service members nationwide could benefit from medical centers dedicated to treating war-spawned mental illness and brain injuries, two U.S. senators said Tuesday in introducing a bill to create such facilities. The Pentagon has no specialized centers to lead research on those conditions, develop treatment standards for them or train health professionals nationwide on how to administer the most up-to-date care. "Our troops are risking their lives for this ... [full story]

DHAKA, Bangladesh - Bangladesh's army-backed interim government no longer will curtail the movements of former Prime Ministers Sheikh Hasina and her archrival Khaleda Zia. The ban was lifted Wednesday, allowing Hasina, leader of the Awami League party and daughter of the country's founder, to return from London, and Bangladesh Nationalist Party leader Khaleda Zia, reportedly under virtual house arrest in Dhaka, to move around, the BBC reported. Local reports had said earlier that Zia had ... [full story]

SAN DIEGO - Lawyers for former Poway defense contractor Brent Wilkes on Monday asked a judge to dismiss indictments stemming from the Randy "Duke" Cunningham scandal because the government deliberately and illegally disclosed grand jury secrets to the media. Wilkes' attorney, Mark Geragos, also alleged in documents filed in federal court that the leaks were part of a campaign by former U.S. Attorney Carol Lam to use Wilkes and other defendants as "pawns" in a ... [full story]

Deschutes National Forest fuel specialists are planning to take advantage of weather conditions to conduct a series of controlled burns near Crescent this week. The burns will begin today, and are located about four miles south of the Highway 97-Highway 58 junction. Fuels specialists plan to underburn approximately 400 acres. The nearest subdivision, Two Rivers North, is located several miles away.Smoke may be visible from Highways 97 and 58, but is not expected to impact ... [full story]

WASHINGTON - The Teamsters Union and other opponents of a Bush administration plan to allow Mexican trucks to roam throughout the United States filed suit in federal court in California this week to stop it from going forward. The litigation marks the latest effort to block the one-year program, which opponents say would pose a danger to American motorists and a risk to national security. The lawsuit, filed late Monday in the San Francisco/Oakland division ... [full story]

JERUSALEM - A day after Palestinians shelled Israel and claimed a five-month cease-fire was over, Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert warned of a large-scale offensive. Olmert met for three hours Wednesday with security, defense and military officials in Jerusalem, and officials from his office issued the warning statement afterward, YNetNews reported. "Due to the sequence of events, Israel will not hesitate to take harsh steps against those attempting to harm its sovereignty by firing missiles ... [full story]

LOS ANGELES - One looks like a grown-up choirboy. The other resembles a retired boxer. But the two lawyers at center stage Wednesday for opening statements in the long-delayed Phil Spector murder trial are considered equally pugnacious. Jury selection in the acclaimed rock 'n' roll producer's murder trial wrapped up Tuesday as lawyers agreed on six alternate panelists. A jury of nine men and three women was sworn in last week. The jurors, and anyone ... [full story]