U.S. President Bush hosts Valentines Day dinner in Washington

WASHINGTON, Dec. 21 (UPI) -- Former North Korean leader Kim Il Sung proposed setting up secret contacts with the United States through Romania in 1974, declassified documents show.

WASHINGTON, Dec. 19 (UPI) -- Why have Russia's diplomats done a dramatic U-turn on their relations with the United States? Within the past week a Russian deputy foreign minister has signaled a willingness to negotiate seriously with Washington about creating a new treaty to replace the START I Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty, which runs out in December 2009.

WASHINGTON, Dec. 8 (UPI) -- Gen. James L. Jones, the national security adviser in President Barack Obama's administration, sees it as "a dress rehearsal for a Palestinian state." The experiment he engineered in the West Bank city of Jenin is what Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice sees as "the place where the Palestinian state will spring up." Hope springs eternal.

WASHINGTON, Nov. 24 (UPI) -- Sen. Hillary Clinton had better order up lots of late night coffee and round-the-clock pizza when she replaces Condoleezza Rice as secretary of state: Around the world, threats to U.S. national security and global interests have metastasized. Cleaning up those messes will make mucking out the Augean Stables look easy.

UPI Almanac for Wednesday, Nov. 19, 2008.

HOUSTON, Nov. 18 (UPI) -- Former President George H.W. Bush entered the room from the right front of the stage, with former first lady Barbara Bush close behind. "Do I know you?" she said to me with a Cheshire cat grin as she walked by and sat within earshot and kitty-corner at the neighboring table. "We met in Prague some years ago, ma'am," I said. "Beautiful," she said. "We'll have to talk." And she sat down. It was the gala of the American Friends of the Czech Republic at Houston's venerable J.W. Marriott hotel last week.

UPI Almanac for Sunday, Nov. 16, 2008.

SINGAPORE, Nov. 7 (UPI) -- While the world economy is "slowing quickly," thanks to the subprime mortgage scandal, there isn't much President Obama can do over a longer period than anticipated. Reining in "unbridled" capitalism and paradigm shifts will have to wait. And euphoria is bound to be short-lived. But acting swiftly to re-engage the world is an imperative necessity.

PYONGYANG, North Korea, Nov. 1 (UPI) -- The next U.S. president should send former White House officials Henry Kissinger and William Perry to negotiate with North Korea, a think tank says.

News from United Press International, around the world around the clock ...