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James Nicholson, the top official at the Department of Veterans Affairs, says he will leave his post by Oct. 1. Under Nicholson, the agency was criticized for being unprepared to care for veterans of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Senate debate on the Iraq war began in earnest Tuesday as Democrats called for troop withdrawals. Democratic leaders introduced an amendment ordering withdrawals by April 30, 2008. Sen. John McCain, just back from Iraq, gave a floor speech saying precipitous withdrawal would be a disaster.

Despite U.S. and coalition efforts, the terror network has rebuilt its operating capability thanks to a safe haven along the Afghan-Pakistan border, the report says.

House Democrats defy a certain presidential veto and approve an Iraqi troop-withdrawal measure. The move comes hours after President Bush asked for more time in Iraq, as the White House released a report finding the Iraqi government has failed to meet several key benchmarks.

U.N. inspectors are in North Korea to verify the shutdown and sealing of the country's main nuclear facility at Yongbyon. Pyongyang says it shut the country's sole operating nuclear reactor after receiving an initial shipment of oil from South Korea.

In Los Angeles, a judge is expected to sign the largest settlement ever in a clergy sex-abuse case. The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Los Angeles has agreed to pay $660 million to more than 500 people who say they were abused by priests and other clerics.

President Bush faces tough negotiations Sunday, when he's due to meet Vladimir Putin at the Bush family compound in Kennebunkport, Maine. Among the topics of discussion will be the impasse on locations for a U.S. missile defense system.

The justices reject the use of race to assign public school enrollment, block the execution of a mentally ill inmate and free manufacturers and retailers to set price floors.

The inmate required immediate "life-saving measures" after an assault in a federal prison in Florida, officials told NPR.

Relentless rains have pounded north-central Texas and southwest Oklahoma over the past two weeks. At least 11 people have died. Thousands have scrambled to safety. Fire ants and snakes are the next worry.