AFP - Hoping to spoil this week's political embrace of erstwhile foes Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton, Republicans are picking at festering wounds from the Democratic White House primary battle.

AP - Republican presidential candidate John McCain said Monday that the search for alternatives to the country's dependence on foreign oil is so urgent that he's willing to throw money at it.

AP - McCain choice to help with veep known for discretion ... As Obama courts evangelicals, key leader Dobson criticizes him for 'distorting' Bible ... Obama campaign says altered presidential seal was for one-time use, will not be seen again

AP - Like two rival filling-station owners across the highway in long-bygone price wars, Democratic Sen. Barack Obama and Republican Sen. John McCain keep putting up flashy signs and offering new incentives in hopes of attracting customers battered by $4 gas prices.

AP - A top adviser to John McCain said another terrorist attack on U.S. soil would be a "big advantage" for the Republican presidential candidate, drawing a sharp rebuke Monday from both the presumed GOP nominee and Democrat Barack Obama.

AP - As Barack Obama broadens his outreach to evangelical voters, one of the movement's biggest names, James Dobson, accuses the likely Democratic presidential nominee of distorting the Bible and pushing a "fruitcake interpretation" of the Constitution.

AP - The choice for John McCain's running mate is such a mystery that few people even know who is helping in that search. The Republican is leaning on a consummate behind-the-scenes player in Washington — attorney Arthur B. Culvahouse Jr. — for this maximum-discretion, minimal-disclosure assignment.

Reuters - Somali gunmen shot dead a peace activist and kidnapped a senior United Nations official, while a roadside bomb killed three policemen in the anarchic Horn of Africa country, witnesses said on Sunday.

AFP - The US Supreme Court agreed Monday to examine President George W. Bush's right to exempt the navy from environmental laws against the use of sonars considered potentially harmful to whales.

AP - A federal appeals court announced Monday that it has overturned the Pentagon's classification of a Guantanamo Bay detainee as an enemy combatant.

AP - Obama braces for race-based ads as GOP vows fair but tough campaign ... Sen. McCain offers $300 million prize for new auto battery that can reduce dependence on oil

AP - A presidential candidate who's named Hussein and wears a turban? A building that's called the White House but run by a black guy?

AP - Former rivals Barack Obama and Hillary Rodham Clinton plan to campaign together Friday in the small New Hampshire town of Unity, their first joint appearance meant to ease tensions over the closely fought Democratic primary.