WASHINGTON President Bush has agreed to set a "general time horizon" for deeper U.S. troop cuts in Iraq, the White House said Friday, a dramatic shift from his once-ironclad unwillingness to talk about any kind of deadlines or timetables.

WASHINGTON John McCain and Barack Obama vow to reform the nation's defense procurement if elected president, yet each is unwilling to take a firm stand against the skyrocketing cost of a plum White House perk: the new Marine One helicopter.

WARREN, Mich. Republican presidential candidate John McCain pledged Friday to help auto workers rebuild their industry and in the process jump-start the entire U.S. economy.

WASHINGTON Republican John McCain is launching an attack on rival Barack Obama in a new television ad that accuses Obama of switching positions on Iraq "to help himself become president."

WASHINGTON Rep. John Lewis of Atlanta says a mix up on a terrorist watch list is still wreaking havoc on his air travel five years after the problem arose.

BAGHDAD There is a Baghdad that Sen. Barack Obama probably won't see.

Some comments from around Iraq on Sen. Barack Obama's expected visit:

IN THE HEADLINES

WASHINGTON Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said Friday that the United States still has conditions for negotiating with Iran even though the Bush administration is sending a senior diplomat to weekend talks with an Iranian nuclear envoy.

WASHINGTON In some versions of a July 17 story about former Vice President Al Gore's energy proposals, the first name of the president of Securing America's Future Energy, a nonpartisan energy policy group, was misspelled. He is Robbie Diamond, not Robby.

WASHINGTON The Bush administration is telling a federal appeals court that it has the authority to detain a Canadian who was captured in Afghanistan when he was 15 and is accused of killing a U.S. soldier.

WASHINGTON John McCain is facing an excitement deficit.

An Associated Press-Yahoo News poll found differences in how engaged various groups of voters are in the presidential campaign.

The AP-Yahoo News Poll is a unique study that is tracking the moods and opinions of a group of people throughout the presidential election campaign. The fifth wave of this study included re-interviews of 1,759 people between June 13-23 who were originally interviewed in November or early December. The extensive national survey was conducted by Knowledge Networks of Menlo Park, Calif., under the direction and supervision of AP's polling unit.

NEW YORK Inferior electrical work by private contractors on U.S. military bases in Iraq is more widespread than the Pentagon has acknowledged, according to a published report.

WASHINGTON During his tenure at the Federal Communications Commission, Jonathan Adelstein has been a fierce critic of government policies that allow big media companies to get bigger. So it came as a surprise when the Democratic commissioner put forth a proposal that would allow the nation's only two satellite radio companies to merge.

WASHINGTON It's OK to eat all kinds of tomatoes again, the U.S. government declared Thursday - lifting its salmonella warning on the summer favorites amid signs that the record outbreak, while not over, may finally be slowing.

BERLIN Chancellor Angela Merkel's spokesman says the German leader will welcome U.S. presidential hopeful Barack Obama to her office in Berlin next Thursday.

HONOLULU The Army says it's critical to saving the lives of wounded soldiers. Animal-rights activists call the training cruel and outdated.

WASHINGTON European terrorists are trying to enter the United States with European Union passports, and there is no guarantee officials will catch them every time, Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff said Thursday.

WASHINGTON Sen. Barack Obama 's trip to the Middle East and Europe marks his first high-profile step onto the international stage, a campaign-season audition of sorts for a presidential hopeful pledging a new era in diplomacy and an end to the U.S. combat role in Iraq.

IN THE HEADLINES

REDDING, Calif. President Bush offered federal help and encouragement Thursday to some of the 25,000 firefighters working under a blazing sun to contain wildfires that make up the single largest fire event ever recorded in California.

WASHINGTON Though he's raking in the cash so far, Barack Obama's decision to forgo public funds for the fall campaign means he must keep up his torrid pace - a tall order that will tax his time, test his Internet support and require the help of Democratic donors who once wished for his defeat.

WASHINGTON President Bush has been a "total failure" in everything from the economy to the war to energy policy, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said Thursday. In an interview on CNN, the California Democrat was asked to respond to video of the president criticizing the Democratic-led Congress for heading into the final 26 days of the legislative session without having passed a single government spending bill.

WASHINGTON The Democratic National Committee plans to target Republican John McCain and help Democrat Barack Obama with an independent ad campaign run by veteran Democratic strategist Jonathan Prince, Democrats familiar with the decision said Thursday.

NEW YORK Rep. Charles Rangel asked the House Ethics Committee on Thursday to investigate his fundraising for a college research center named after him, saying a probe would prove he did nothing wrong.

WASHINGTON More babies were born in the United States last year than ever before, according to preliminary data, but it's not another baby boom just yet.

DETROIT John McCain's presidential campaign had a hard time Thursday with Barack Obama's upcoming overseas trip.

WASHINGTON What gets under Barack Obama's skin? Criticism of his wife, Michelle Obama.