WASHINGTON – The Pentagon’s plan to restructure overseas military bases (search) and bring thousands of troops back to the U.S. underestimates long-term costs including potential negative effects on keeping soldiers in the military, says an independent review set up by Congress. The report by the Overseas Basing Commission (search) is …

COLUMBUS, Ohio – An unusual spring storm dumped nearly 2 feet of wet snow on parts of the Midwest and Appalachians, snapping power lines, taking a bite out of baseball and rewriting the record books. “We’ve been kind of spoiled because the weather was so nice last weekend,” said Tina …

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WASHINGTON – Senate Democrats are sounding out former State Department officials and at least one current one as they try building a case against the confirmation of John R. Bolton (search) as U.N. ambassador, congressional aides said Thursday. The State Department rallied behind him. Department spokesman Richard Boucher said Bolton …

TRIPOLI, Libya – A Libyan Central Bank (search) official said the government has withdrawn half a billion dollars from an escrow account meant for relatives of people killed in the downing of Pan Am flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland, the official news agency reported. The official, quoted in a JANA …

This is a partial transcript from “The Beltway Boys,” April 29, 2006, that has been edited for clarity. Watch “The Beltway Boys” Saturday at 6 p.m. and 11:30 p.m. ET and Sunday at 2:00 a.m. and 6:30 a.m. ET. MORT KONDRACKE, CO-HOST: Let’s check out our “Ups and Downs” for …

WASHINGTON – President Bush on Friday renewed his threat to veto any war and hurricane spending bill that exceeds his request and urged Congress to finalize an agreement to extend tax cuts. “Congress has got to be wise about how they spend the people’s money,” Bush said at Frager’s Hardware …

MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – Three years after her capture and dramatic nighttime rescue in the early days of the Iraq war made her an instant celebrity, Jessica Lynch yearns for the ordinary. She’s just finished her first year at West Virginia University, where she’s become an anonymous college student on a …

HONOLULU – Hawaii‘s gasoline price controls have sputtered to a stop. The island state whose drivers pay the highest pump prices in the nation has given up on price caps after an eight-month, first-in-the-nation experiment. Some complained that the restrictions actually led to higher prices, because oil companies knew they …

SOCHI, Russia – President Vladimir Putin said Thursday that Russia wants good relations with the United States but he objected vigorously to Vice President Dick Cheney‘s recent criticism of democratic backtracking by the Kremlin. “We see how the United States defends its interests, we see what methods and means they …