AP - The White House says President Barack Obama urged decisive action to resolve Europe's financial crisis during calls Monday with the leaders of Britain and France.

AP - Congress is embarking on a flurry of votes to show it is trying to do something about creating jobs. The prospects for legislative success, however, are spotty.

AP - The Rev. Joseph Lowery was one of the first believers that a black senator from Illinois could become president, and Barack Obama was among those adding his thanks to the civil rights icon Sunday night during a tribute to the 90-year-old's legacy.

ContributorNetwork - Republican Sen. Jeff Sessions and several other Republican Congress members joined with Democrats in supporting Senate bill S 1619, which could ignite a trade war with China. After avoiding contact on the issue, President Barack Obama last week acknowledged the squeaky wheel of America's trade deficit and blamed the Chinese for currency manipulation.

ContributorNetwork - COMMENTARY | President Barack Obama, the idealist, has now become the populist. In an apparent shift in election strategy, the president has adopted a populist tone forcefully going after big banks and Wall Street millionaires. In a recent interview with Yahoo!/ABC News, President Obama even declared himself "an underdog" in the 2012 presidential race. Is the president's assessment accurate?

ContributorNetwork - Flooding in Southeast Asia has killed and endangered hundreds of residents in Thailand, Cambodia, and Vietnam since mid-July. The flooding is considered the worst to impact the region in 50 years according to the United Nations.

AP - Two leading Republican contenders for mayor of America's eighth-largest city are openly gay, and voters have barely noticed. It doesn't come up at campaign appearances or in local news coverage.

ContributorNetwork - It appears another noncandidate has stolen the attention away from the presidential contenders at yet another conservative convention. Like the comedian that was yanked from the stage at the Republican Leadership Conference in June when he switched from telling jokes about President Obama to telling jokes about Republicans, a Dallas preacher has taken much of the media's attention at the Values Voter Summit conference for remarks he made after introducing Texas governor Rick Perry. Robert Jeffress, pastor of the First Baptist Church of Dallas and an avid Perry supporter, told reporters that Republicans could make a better choice for president than a "non-Christian" like Romney.

AP - The state that has seen pitched battles at the ballot box over property tax reforms, gay marriage, illegal immigration and recalling a governor was not always the standard-bearer for direct democracy.

AP - Ten Arizona sheriffs slammed the Obama administration on Friday over a botched federal operation that that lost track of up to 1,400 weapons sold to suspected straw purchasers for Mexican drug gangs.

AP - Ten Arizona sheriffs slammed the Obama administration on Friday over a botched federal operation that that lost track of up to 1,400 high-powered rifles sold to suspected straw purchasers for Mexican drug gangs.

AP - A top White House economic adviser says failure to pass President Barack Obama's jobs bill would raise the risk of a recession

ContributorNetwork - COMMENTARY | The Occupy Wall Street movement saw its 21st day of occupations, demonstrations, and protests on Friday, October 7. With it and its spread to other major U. S. cities came more news coverage and the question: What exactly is Occupy Wall Street?

ContributorNetwork - ANALYSIS | Sarah Palin decided not to run for president, ending months of speculation as to her political future. ABC News posted a letter Palin wrote Oct. 5 in which she said that she will not seek the GOP nomination. The former governor of Alaska also stated she will help the cause of conservatives and independents who are running for office.

AP - Security Council experts have begun examining the Palestinian application for United Nations membership.

AP - Although their main concern is Wall Street practices and economic inequality, some demonstrators in New York and across the U.S. say politicians from both major parties are to blame for policies they say protect corporate America at the expense of the country's middle class.

AP - President Barack Obama has created a special board to help resolve a dispute between major U.S. freight railroads and their unions, averting a costly strike for at least 60 days.

ContributorNetwork - COMMENTARY | Sarah Palin will not, after all, run for president in 2012. This is in keeping with what the conventional wisdom has been saying for months. Her admirers, including this writer, are naturally keenly disappointed.

ContributorNetwork - COMMENTARY | Sarah Palin announced on Oct. 5 that she would not be seeking the 2012 GOP nomination or running for president in the next election. Her statement indicated that the final decision was "based upon a review," yet she will continue to support other candidates. I believe Palin made the right decision because she was not likely to earn the GOP nomination.

AP - Concerns over Wall Street practices and economic inequality that have led to sit-ins and rallies in New York and elsewhere reverberated up to the White House on Thursday, with President Barack Obama saying the protesters are expressing the frustrations of the American public.

ContributorNetwork - It seems that every morning, one of the anchors on CNN's " American Morning ," wonders aloud why anyone would want to run for president. The candidates are scrutinized, criticized, booed, vilified, martyred, hated, loved and accused. Chris Christie knew better than to wade into the deep end of the candidate pool, and Sarah Palin does too.

AP - President Barack Obama is remembering Apple co-founder Steve Jobs as one of America's greatest innovators and says the world has lost a visionary.

AP - Republicans in Pennsylvania and Nebraska want to change the way their states award Electoral College votes, moves that could hinder President Barack Obama's re-election chances.

ContributorNetwork - COMMENTARY | Alaska governor Sarah Palin finally announced her intentions with respect to the GOP presidential primary Wednesday, saying she will not run. In a letter to supporters, Palin described her priorities as God first, then family, then her country. She said common sense conservatives and independents have made achievements over the past year, and she can be more effective in a supporting role than as a leader.