U.S. News & World Report - Despite media raves about Barack Obama's weeklong trip to the Mideast and Europe, Republican strategists say his nation-hopping exposed major vulnerabilities that they hope to exploit in the fall.

AP - Obama rejects criticism of trip, says McCain moving his way on wars in Iraq and Afghanistan ... To clap or not to clap: When Obama speaks to minority journalists, that is the question ... Analysis: From Mideast to Europe, foreign leaders gave Obama a welcome fit for a president

AP - Republicans on Saturday blocked the Senate from considering a bill next week that would nearly double federal aid to help the poor pay heating and air-conditioning bills.

AP - Obama campaign cites Pentagon concerns in scrapping candidate's visit to wounded troops ... McCain meets with Dalai Lama, urges China to release Tibetan prisoners ... Ron Paul backers snap up tickets for alternative to GOP convention ...

AP - Obama tells enormous Berlin crowd there are more walls to be torn down in fighting extremism ... With Obama in Berlin, McCain visits German restaurant in Ohio ... Hagel calls on candidates to focus on Iraq's future over past war strategy ... Rice not worried by Obama's foreign policy forays overseas ... Poll: Obama builds support among Hispanic voters ... Police seek to soften protesters' disruptions at GOP convention

AP - House Republicans on Thursday scuttled a bill that Democrats hoped would help lower gasoline prices by forcing the Energy Department to release 70 million barrels of oil — about a three-day supply — from the national stockpile.

AFP - A majority of Americans believe that Democratic candidate Barack Obama will win the presidential election against Republican hopeful John McCain in November, a Fox News poll showed Thursday.

AP - President Bush pulled the rug out from under Republicans this week when he abruptly dropped his opposition to a massive housing rescue. Their reaction? Good riddance.

AP - Borrowing from a European model, Minneapolis and St. Paul police hope to quell any disruptions at this summer's Republican National Convention by exchanging cell phone numbers and offering other olive branches to demonstrators.

AP - On first leg of his European tour, Obama discusses war and economics with Merkel ... Rice not worried by Obama's foreign policy forays overseas ... Poll: Obama builds support among Hispanic voters ... Obama wraps up tour of Israel with visit to Jerusalem holy site ... Police seek to soften protesters' disruptions at GOP convention