The meeting between Obama and Netanyahu at the White House held considerable symbolic importance as much as it is crucial to the future of the Middle East, according to the region’s press. The peace process, the Iranian nuclear issue and the restoration of relations between Turkey and Israel are said to hinge on the summit.

President Obama called the bond between Israel and the United States “unbreakable” following a meeting Tuesday with Israeli Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, as both men rejected reports of a rift between the two countries.

The press in Israel urge their prime minister to take decisive action to restore Israel’s international standing and repair relations with the US. One newspaper noted that it was in the interests of both Mr Obama and Mr Netanyahu to secure at least superficial progress.

Palestinian opinion expressed concern that the meeting might simply be a public relations stunt to boost the standing of the respective leaders. Papers in Egypt, Lebanon and Jordan were sceptical about the likelihood of real progress on the peace process, saying that the meeting was likely to focus on repairing ties between Israel and Turkey.

The public show of unity matters for the delicate Middle East peace process and for domestic political consumption on both sides. Of immediate concern to the Democratic Party is the effect a perceived rift could have on the midterm elections as Republicans angle to use any perceived rupture with Netanyahu to argue that Obama is insufficiently committed to Israel.

Netanyahu arrived at the White House a few minutes before 11 a.m., having been driven the short distance from Blair House in a two-car motorcade. He entered the main West Wing entrance, followed shortly after by his entourage of aides.

Netanyahu met with the president in the Oval Office for about an hour before the two men took questions from reporters. The prime minister said that reports of problems between Israel and the United States are “flat wrong,” and that his country is committed to peace with the Palestinians.

Obama said Israel’s recent decision to loosen its embargo against the Gaza Strip was “real progress.”

Obama was cool toward Netanyahu during their last meeting, leaving the Israeli leader and his aides in the West Wing alone for hours as a subtle rebuke over Israeli settlement policies. The two were never photographed, which in diplomatic code sent a chilly message.

That encounter came after an announcement by Israel, during a visit to the country by the vice president, of a plan to construct 1,600 Jewish homes in a part of East Jerusalem that Palestinians view as their future capital.

In contrast, in the hours before Tuesday’s session, Israel announced that it was indicting and disciplining three military officers for their actions during the 2009 Gaza military operation.

Tuesday’s meeting had been promised as “a makeup visit,” one senior Democratic lawmaker said, giving the two leaders a chance to demonstrate at least some degree of solidarity. On Monday, administration officials said that they were confident the visit would go smoothly and that they had made progress in recent days in demonstrating cooperation between the United States and Israel.

Gen. Stanley McChrystal recently gave an interview to Rolling Stone Magazine. McChrystal, who is the top commanding officer in Afghanistan, painted a less than flattering picture of the White House in the interview. McChrystal has been called to the White House to explain his interview.

Excerpts from a Rolling Stone magazine profile on Gen. Stanley McChrystal, the top U.S. commander in Afghanistan, set to appear Friday:

“Even though he had voted for (President Barack) Obama, McChrystal and his new commander-in-chief failed from the outset to connect. The general first encountered Obama a week after he took office, when the president met with a dozen senior military officials in a room at the Pentagon known as the Tank. According to sources familiar with the meeting, McChrystal thought Obama looked “uncomfortable and intimidated” by the roomful of military brass. Their first one-on-one meeting took place in the Oval Office four months later, after McChrystal got the Afghanistan job, and it didn’t go much better. ‘It was a 10-minute photo-op,’ says an adviser to McChrystal. ‘Obama clearly didn’t know anything about him, who he was. Here’s the guy who’s going to run his f-ing war, but he didn’t seem very engaged. The Boss was pretty disappointed.’”

McChrystal has apologized for his Rolling Stone interview, saying that he used “poor judgment.” President Obama’s monthly meeting on Afghanistan and Pakistan with Gen. McChrystal is usually over secured video, but this time, he has been asked to attend in person.

“I extend my sincerest apology for this profile. It was a mistake reflecting poor judgment and should never have happened,” McChrystal said in a statement. “Throughout my career, I have lived by the principles of personal honor and professional integrity. What is reflected in this article falls far short of that standard.”

The Rolling Stone magazine story, entitled “The Runaway General,” characterizes McChrystal as an outsider who doesn’t get along with many in the Obama administration.

Obama has the power to fire McChrystal if he feels it to be necessary. McChrystal’s predecessor, Gen. David McKiernan was let go when it was decided that the military needed a fresh approach on Afghanistan.

A senior US lawmaker apologized Wednesday to BP chief Tony Hayward for what he described as a White House “shakedown” that led the firm to create a 20-billion-dollar Gulf of Mexico oil spill fund.

“I’m ashamed of what happened in the White House yesterday,” Republican Representative Joe Barton told Hayward as the embattled energy giant’s top executive faced his first public grilling by angry US lawmakers.

“There is no question that BP is liable for the damages, but we have a due process system where we go through litigation and court cases to determine what the damages are and when they should be paid,” Mr. Barton said.

“I apologize,” said the Texas representative. “It is a tragedy of the first proportion that a private corporation can be subjected to what I would characterize as a shakedown, in this case, a 20-billion-dollar shakedown.”

His remarks about the fund, meant to pay for environmental and economic devastation from the worst ecological catastrophe in US history, drew immediate condemnation from White House press secretary Robert Gibbs.

“What is shameful is that Joe Barton seems to have more concern for big corporations that caused this disaster than the fishermen, small business owners and communities whose lives have been devastated,” said Gibbs.

“Congressman Barton may think that a fund to compensate these Americans is a ‘tragedy,’ but most Americans know that the real tragedy is what the men and women of the Gulf Coast are going through right now. Members from both parties should repudiate his comments,” Gibbs said in a statement.

The White House is working with South Korean officials “as they contemplate their next steps” in response to the sinking of a naval ship by North Korea, said Obama administration spokesman Robert Gibbs

Gibbs declined to specify what those next steps might be, nor did he comment on North Korea’s threat that retaliation would trigger “all-out war.”

“I don’t want to get into a series of hypotheticals,” Gibbs said.

South Korea’s formal accusation that a North Korean torpedo sank one of its warships, killing 46 sailors, will set off a diplomatic drumbeat to punish North Korea, backed by the United States and other nations, which could end up in the UN Security Council.

On Thursday in Seoul, the South Korean government presented forensic evidence, including part of a torpedo propeller with what investigators believe is a North Korean serial number.

They said it proved that the underwater explosion that shattered the 1,200-tonne corvette, the Cheonan, in March near a disputed sea border with the North was caused by the detonation of a torpedo.

President Obama’s spokesman said U.S. officials have reviewed the South Korean investigation, and agreed that North Korea engaged in an “act of aggression” that led to the death of 46 sailors.

The attack “further sets back” North Korea, and “further isolates them,” Gibbs said.

On Monday, South Korea is expected to push for the case to be referred to the UN, and the US plans to back Seoul “strongly and unequivocally,” according to Obama administration officials.

President Hamid Karzai and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton attempted to put recent differences between the U.S. and Afghan governments behind them Tuesday, saying that while they may have policy disagreements, such disputes do not reflect instability in the overall bilateral relationship.

The last time Afghanistan’s president, Hamid Karzai, was in Washington—a year ago—he had to share the spotlight with his Pakistani counterpart, Asif Ali Zardari, who got the bulk of the attention from the White House, the Pentagon and the State Department. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton even made a personal, unscheduled visit to huddle with Mr. Zardari at his hotel.

It is a far, far different visit this time around, reflecting the Obama administration’s decision to abandon the publicly tough approach it tried to use to pressure Mr. Karzai to tackle corruption and drug trafficking in his government. Administration officials concluded that the strategy had backfired, making Mr. Karzai more resentful and resistant.

This time, the Americans are pulling out all the stops for Mr. Karzai as part of a new charm offensive. Mrs. Clinton, one of the few people in the administration with a good rapport with him, has invited him for a stroll through the grounds of a private enclave in Georgetown. Richard C. Holbrooke, the special representative to the region, was dispatched to Andrews Air Force Base at 7 a.m. on Monday to personally greet Mr. Karzai. Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. will be Mr. Karzai’s host for a private dinner at the vice president’s mansion.

Notably, Mrs. Clinton mentioned corruption issues in Mr. Karzai’s government only briefly, and then only to praise the Afghan president’s efforts to fight graft, including his strengthening of the Afghan government’s High Office of Oversight.

Speaking at the formal opening of a three-day summit in Washington for Mr. Karzai and a large delegation of Afghan ministers, Mrs. Clinton sought to reassure Afghans that the U.S. was committed to the country’s long-term development, saying the Obama administration would not abandon Mr. Karzai’s government once U.S. troops begin withdrawing next year.

And Lt. Gen. Karl W. Eikenberry, the ambassador to Afghanistan, who personally escorted Mr. Karzai on the flight from Kabul to Washington, was sent off to assure reporters at the White House that he now had faith in the Afghan president’s determination to succeed, a position that stands in contrast to his diplomatic cable last fall denouncing Mr. Karzai as “not an adequate strategic partner.”

The new warmth is oozing all the way to the Oval Office. President Obama, in an unusual show of hospitality and presidential attention toward a visiting foreign delegation, will be host to Mr. Karzai and others in his government for almost a full day at the White House, including a lunch on Wednesday followed by a rare joint news conference.

Thus far during Mr. Karzai’s stay, which began Monday, U.S. officials have noticeably resisted criticism in a move that current and former U.S. officials said is an intentional effort to patch up recent disputes, which spiraled into a public swapping of accusations last month, with Mr. Karzai accusing the West of fraud and the White House intimating it might cancel this visit to Washington altogether.

In her remarks, Mrs. Clinton said disagreements were normal in any relationship between allies.

“President Obama and President Karzai both understand that the ability to disagree on issues of importance … is not an obstacle to achieving our shared objectives,” Mrs. Clinton said. “Rather, it reflects a level of trust that is essential to any meaningful dialogue and enduring strategic partnership.”

Mr. Karzai agreed with Mrs. Clinton, saying disagreements were a sign of a “matured relationship.”

Jay Leno apparently thought it was unnecessary to come up with fresh material for his performance at the White House Correspondents Dinner this weekend, and we really can’t blame him. It means, when you’ve got huge piles of gold like this lying around, why waste your time digging up more?

While Barack Obamasummoned “Daily Show” staffer Kevin Bleyer to write his gags for Saturday night’s White House Correspondent’s Dinner, a Politico.com review of Leno’s act shows the evening’s headliner trotted out recycled gags from TV shows past.

Leno, who recently took back “The Tonight Show” spot after CoCo was unceremoniously ousted, repeated gags from his NBC show as well as “The Jay Leno Show”–and they were met with deafening silence, the DailyBeast.com reports.

On the March 16 episode of “Tonight,” Leno said in his opening monologue, according to the Politico.com report, “If you took all the money the Republicans have spent trying to stop health care, and all the money Democrats have spent trying to get health care, we could afford health care, you know that?”

The gray-haired comic adapted the quip for Saturday’s dinner as the following, “If you took all the money Republicans spent trying to stop health care, and all the money Democrats have spent trying to get health care, you know somethin’? We could have had health care!”

On the April 7th episode of “Tonight,” according to Politico.com, Leno joked: “They said President Bush did a better job throwing out the first pitch. But on the other hand, President Obama can talk.”

Meanwhile, Obama’s fresh gags had the crowd in stitches, particularly his jab at Leno.

“The only person whose ratings fell more than mine did last year is here. Great to see you, Jay!,” he said, prompting some of the biggest laughs of the night from the A-list audience.

Who planted the tricked-up SUV in the very section where Times Square narrows to a choke point, where Broadway meets up with 7th Avenue in the virtual center of Manhattan? The issue was muddied when the Pakistani Taliban said they were responsible, but the Pakistani government was quick to pour cold water on the Islamic militants’ claim. “We do not have any credible or verifiable information about Pakistani involvement at this stage,” said Farahnaz Ispahani, a presidential spokesman, “but we condemn terrorism anywhere and everywhere.”

The investigation into the Times Square car bomb has started to reveal information that suggests the failed attack was the work of an international plot, a senior administration official told the reporters.

The official could not definitively say whether a foreign conspiracy was behind the incident, but that the body of evidence was moving in that direction.

The administration’s assessment came after the White House for the first time clearly defined the attempted attack as an act of terrorism, without saying whether it was the work of a foreign or domestic plot.

Obama administration officials previously stopped short of declaring the incident terrorism.

New York Gov. David Paterson immediately called the attempted attack an “act of terrorism” after police were alerted to the bomb and cleared out Times Square Saturday night. But Attorney General Eric Holder on Monday said it was too early to officially designate the incident as terrorism.

Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano, in several interviews since Sunday, has by turns described the incident as a potential or likely terrorist act, though she said investigators need to find out more about the origin of the plot.

The New York Police Department too seemed to have put the Taliban on the lower end of its list of suspects. Still, no one dismissed Islamic terrorists completely out of hand. After all, on Friday two New Yorkers were indicted on charges that they attempted to send computers and other supplies to help al-Qaeda modernize. And other reports pointed out that the crude bomb in Times Square seemed to resemble the car bombs that were defused in London in 2007 outside the Tiger Tiger nightclub. British authorities later arrested a number of Iraqis with alleged links to al-Qaeda over the incident, which was apparently part of larger bombing plots, including a fiery but abortive attack on Glasgow Airport.

Gov. Bobby Jindal of Louisiana declared a state of emergency Thursday afternoon, saying that the vast oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico “threatens the state’s natural resources.” Federal officials were concerned that the slick could reach the Mississippi River Delta marshes by Thursday evening.

The leak from the oil well, caused by an explosion on a drilling rig about 50 miles off the Louisiana coast, which left 11 workers missing and presumed dead, is estimated at 5,000 barrels of oil a day. Such a disaster is very rare, but the financial and environmental costs are clearly high when it occurs. Last month, President Obama proposed opening more areas of the Gulf coastline to oil and natural gas drilling.

Florida Gov. Charlie Crist declared a state of emergency in six counties Friday as a result of the Gulf Coast oil spill, the governor’s office said.

Crist joins Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal, who declared a state of emergency in his state Thursday.

Crist said the oil spill “threatens the state of Florida with a major disaster.” He declared an emergency in Escambia, Santa Rosa, Okaloosa, Walton, Bay and Gulf counties.

Officials anticipate Venice and Port Fourchon, Louisiana, will be the first places affected Friday when the massive oil spill caused by last week’s rig explosion reaches shore, said Mike Abendhoff, a spokesman for BP, which owns the ruptured well where oil continues to leak.

The Coast Guard was conducting a flyover Friday to see if oil had reached Louisiana’s coastline as federal, state and local officials scrambled to avert a natural disaster threatening to surpass the Exxon Valdez disaster 20 years ago in Alaska.

President Obama on Friday ordered Interior Secretary Ken Salazar “to conduct a thorough review” of the explosion of the Deepwater Horizon rig and subsequent oil spill.

Speaking at the White House, Obama said Salazar will report back in 30 days on any “precautions in technologies” needed to prevent such accidents in the future.

“We’re going to make sure that any leases going forward have those safeguards,” Obama said. “We’ve also dispatched teams to the Gulf Coast to inspect all deep-water rigs and platforms to address safety concerns.”

Obama said domestic oil production continues to be “an important part of our overall strategy” but said “it must be done responsibly for the safety of our workers and our environment.”

But how should we balance the benefits of offshore drilling against the possible environmental damage? Are there technological advances that could be put in place?

“For forty years, Earth Day has focused on transforming the way we use energy and reducing our dependence on fossil fuel–but this year, because of the historic clean energy investments in the Recovery Act, we’re poised to make greater strides than ever in building a nationwide clean energy economy,” Biden said in a statement. “This investment in some of the most innovative energy-efficiency projects across the country will not only help homeowners and businesses make cost-cutting retrofit improvements, but also create jobs right here in America.”

The White House is gearing up for five days of events to celebrate the 40th anniversary of Earth Day, and they’re starting big with the announcement by vice President Joe Biden announced today a plan to invest $452 million in Recovery Act funding to go toward energy-efficient building retrofits in 25 communities.

Austin, Texas – $10 million
Boulder County, Colorado – $25 million
Camden, New Jersey – $5 million
Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning – $25 million
Greater Cincinnati Energy Alliance, Ohio – $17 million
Greensboro, North Carolina – $5 million
Indianapolis, Indiana – $10 million
Kansas City, Missouri – $20 million
Los Angeles County, California – $30 million
Lowell, Massachusetts – $5 million
State of Maine – $30 million
State of Maryland – $20 million
State of Michigan – $30 million
State of Missouri – $5 million
Omaha, Nebraska – $10 million
State of New Hampshire – $10 million
New York State Research and Development Authority – $40 million
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania – $25 million
Phoenix, Arizona – $25 million
Portland, Oregon – $20 million
San Antonio, Texas – $10 million
Seattle, Washington – $20 million
Southeast Energy Efficiency Alliance – $20 million
Toledo-Lucas County Port Authority, Ohio – $15 million
Wisconsin Energy Conservation Corporation – $20 million

“This initiative will help overcome the barriers to making energy efficiency easy and accessible to all–inconvenience, lack of information, and lack of financing,” said Energy Secretary Steven Chu. “Block by block, neighborhood by neighborhood, we will make our communities more energy efficient and help families save money. At the same time, we’ll create thousands of jobs and strengthen our economy.”

John Paul Stevens, the 89 year-old supreme court associate justice is to retire by mid-summer. Which is just in time for a knock-down, ding-dong battle in Congress over who the Obama administration will appoint to replace the liberal lion.

Stevens said Friday he will step down when the court finishes its work for the summer in late June or early July. He said he hopes his successor is confirmed “well in advance of the commencement of the court’s next term.”

Stevens’ announcement leaves ample time for the White House to settle on a successor and for Senate Democrats, who control a 59-vote majority, to hold confirmation hearings and a vote before the court’s next term begins in October. Republicans have not ruled out attempts to delay confirmation.

Stevens’ announcement, which came 11 days before his 90th birthday, had been hinted at for months. It’s presumed Obama will nominate another liberal, so Stevens’ departure wouldn’t alter the court’s philosophical makeup.

Throughout his tenure, which began after President Gerald Ford nominated him in 1975, Stevens usually sided with the court’s liberal bloc in the most contentious cases — those involving abortion, criminal law, civil rights and church-state relations. He led the dissenters as well in the case of Bush v. Gore that sealed President George W. Bush’s election in 2000.

Stevens began signaling a possible retirement last summer when he hired just one of his usual complement of four law clerks for the next court term. He acknowledged in several interviews that he was contemplating stepping down and would certainly do so during Obama’s presidency.

Obama planned to address Stevens’ retirement in a 1:20 p.m. EDT statement in the Rose Garden.

Chief Justice John Roberts said in a written statement that Stevens “has enriched the lives of everyone at the Court through his intellect, independence, and warm grace.”

Senate confirmations of Supreme Court justices have increasingly become political battles and this one will come amid the added heat of congressional election campaigns.

Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, appealed for civility. “I hope that senators on both sides of the aisle will make this process a thoughtful and civil discourse,” Leahy said.

Looking toward those hearings, Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky said, “Americans can expect Senate Republicans to make a sustained and vigorous case for judicial restraint and the fundamental importance of an evenhanded reading of the law.”

In a telephone interview, Leahy said he had suggested to Obama that “the wisest move” would be to plan confirmation hearings on the same midsummer schedule used for the nominations of Roberts and Justice Sonia Sotomayor. Democrats have incentive to seat another justice before the November elections, in case Republican Senate victories make confirmation more difficult.

Leahy said Stevens gave him a heads-up on his plans over a long lunch a few weeks ago.

“I told him at the time I’d like to have him stay forever,” Leahy said.

Stevens officially informed Obama in a one-paragraph letter addressed to “My dear Mr. President.” It was delivered to the White House by court messenger at 10:30 a.m. EDT, two minutes before the public announcement, on a day when the court wasn’t in session.

White House counsel Bob Bauer telephoned the news to Obama aboard Air Force One, as he returned from a trip to Prague.