CNN

Compiled by Mary Grace Lucas

CNN Washington Bureau

CNN: Obama's next stop is Jordan
Senator Barack Obama arrives in Jordan later today to begin what his campaign describes as five days of back-to-back in-depth meetings with world leaders where the topics of Afghanistan, Iraq and Iran promise to loom large.

Jordan Times: Obama due in Amman today
US presidential contender Barack Obama is expected to arrive in Amman today, where he will hold talks with His Majesty King Abdullah and talk to reporters later in the day, an official said.

Financial Times: Obama to widen focus beyond Europe
Barack Obama is ready to revive the transatlantic relationship, but he expects Europe to pull its weight on Afghanistan and he would deepen Washington’s engagement with other regions.

New York Sun: Maliki Bets That Obama Will Prevail
In throwing his support behind Senator Obama's plan for a 16-month timetable for an American withdrawal from Iraq, Prime Minister al-Maliki is calculating that Mr. Obama may well be the next president of America, and betting that a successful visit by Mr. Obama to Baghdad will advance Iraqi interests in a new administration.

CNN: McCain camp: Talk of a VP announcement this week
Sources in John McCain's campaign confirm to Dana Bash and Gloria Borger that there have been recent discussions high in the campaign about the possibility of naming a running mate this week.

CNN Radio: Obama wraps Iraq visit, McCain essay turned down by New York Times
Barack Obama is in Jordan today, following a highly publicized, yet quiet, visit to Iraq. Meanwhile, Sen. John McCain is upset with the New York Times after an essay he submitted in response to Sen. Obama’s NYT op-ed was rejected. CNN's Bob Costantini has today's CNN Radio political ticker.

USA Today: McCain: Policy on Iraq hasn't changed
John McCain and his aides jousted Monday with Barack Obama's campaign over Obama's contention that the White House is adopting his ideas on dealings with Iraq and Iran.

Washington Times: Poll: News media biased for Obama
Just as a new poll showed most voters think the news media is biased in favor of Democrat Sen. Barack Obama's presidential campaign, the New York Times spurred criticism by refusing to publish an op-ed article on the Iraq war by Republican rival Sen. John McCain.

Washington Times: Speculation rife in VP sweepstakes
There will be breathless speculation, short lists and long lists as Democrats and Republicans in the veepstakes are vetted and weighed in the next two months. Yet the choice for the No. 2 slot rarely matters.

Washington Post: McCain's Maverick Side: Grandpa Would Be Proud
Sometime around 1900, Archie Wright made his way from Mississippi to Indian country around present-day Muskogee, Okla., and proceeded to raise Cain: "Arch Wright Given Jail Sentence," read a headline in the Muskogee Times-Democrat in 1908. "Lots of Booze," the same paper reported six months later after deputy sheriffs raided Wright's house.

USA Today: Top donors slice gifts to political groups since '04
Top donors to independent groups that sought to influence the last presidential campaign are giving less than one-fifth of what they shelled out in 2004, according to a USA TODAY analysis.

LA Times: A presidential primer on the Middle East conflict
Regardless of who wins, McCain and Obama face a tough situation in trying to bring peace between Israel and the Palestinians.

LA Times: Among Iraqis, Obama is not Topic No. 1
Ordinary citizens appear skeptical that the differences between the U.S. presidential candidates have anything to do with them.

Washington Post: Obama Makes War Gains; Maliki's Embrace of Withdrawal Timeline Confounds McCain
When Sen. Barack Obama left Washington last week, he was under pressure to defend what Republican critics called an arbitrary deadline for withdrawing U.S. combat forces from Iraq. By Monday, the White House and rival Sen. John McCain's presidential campaign were at pains to explain why the Iraqi prime minister had seemingly all but endorsed Obama's relatively rapid timeline for getting out.

NY Times: McCain, at Bush Home, Faults Obama on War Plan
Senator John McCain was like the wallflower at an international political dance on Monday as he campaigned at the quiet summer home of a popular President Bush, George H. W., while the worldwide news media spotlight beamed down on Senator Barack Obama in Baghdad.

Minneapolis Star-Tribune: Presidential style: Polling the experts
Fashion experts consulted on how they would advise the potential first couples gave the following nonpartisan opinions.

Politico: Obama ban: What not to wear where?
An Obama campaign ban on green clothing during the candidate’s visits to Israel and Jordan has created wide puzzlement among observers of the Middle East.

LA Times: Clinton supporters lend Obama a big fundraising hand
Her former donors step up in June to chip in over a million dollars to his campaign. His backers have barely made a dent in her $25-million debt.

USA Today: Wealthy few provide cash for independent political groups
They're millionaires and billionaires, some from old-money families and others self-made entrepreneurs. They're also real estate and hedge fund barons, media moguls and philanthropists, homebuilders and oil tycoons. Meet the handful of people who have bankrolled millions of dollars in advertising to influence presidential elections.

NY Times: Mideast Sees More of the Same if Obama Is Elected
For what feels like forever, Israelis and their Arab neighbors have been hopelessly deadlocked on how to resolve the Palestinian crisis. But there is one point they may now agree on: If elected president, Senator Barack Obama will not fundamentally recalibrate America’s relationship with Israel, or the Arab world.

Washington Post: Young Republicans, Blue About the Prospects Ahead
David All glanced around Top of the Hill bar and saw the future of the Republican Party. It looked dim. A who's who of young conservatives had gathered, but they were few, and they were frustrated.

AP: Obama spends less in June, saves resources
Barack Obama's army of small-dollar donors gave his presidential campaign its biggest boost in June, contributing more than $30 million in individual sums of $200 or less. Overall, the presumed Democratic presidential nominee hauled in $52 million for the month, reversing a three-month fundraising decline. He also had his lowest spending of the year, permitting him to build a $72 million end-of-month cash reserve.

NY Times: Conservative Group Takes on Obama in Ad and Film
An independent conservative group went on the air with a new advertisement on Monday to be followed by a full-length documentary film that tries to portray Senator Barack Obama, the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee, as an overhyped media darling.

USA Today: Army slow to process injuries
Soldiers who are physically or mentally ailing can wait two months to a year before the Army acts to medically discharge them or return them to their units, according to a House investigation. That's two or three times longer than the Army goal set last year. The Army promised last year to cut the time spent treating and preparing soldiers to either return to their units or leave the military after the revelation of bureaucratic delays and poor treatment at the Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington. However, the investigation by the House Armed Services Committee says that whatever progress was made has been reversed.

NY Times: A New (and Unlikely) Tell-All
Jason K. Burnett, Washington’s environmental whistle-blower du jour, is an example of a once rare, now almost common, phenomenon: a political appointee willing to tell much of what he knows of the inner workings of the formerly opaque Bush administration.

NY Times: Bush Prods Congress, as Financers Are Inspected
Bank examiners from the Federal Reserve and the Comptroller of the Currency are inspecting the books of the nation’s two largest mortgage finance companies, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, as the Bush administration prods Congress to approve a plan that would enable it to inject billions of dollars into the companies.

Washington Post: Congress Is Set to Limit Down-Payment Assistance
Mortgage programs that helped nearly 79,000 people buy homes using government-insured loans last year would be eliminated as part of a broader housing package that Congress expects to pass this week, key lawmakers said.

Washington Post: An Oilman's Bet Against Oil; Pickens Reinvents Himself With Alternative-Energy Campaign
T. Boone Pickens has played a lot of odd roles over the years. There was the geologist who made most of his early money by snapping up the stock of big, undervalued oil and gas companies, a practice known as "drilling on Wall Street."

Washington Post: McCain Urges More Drilling, Blames Obama for Gas Prices
The Ad: (Narrator) Gas prices - $4, $5, no end in sight, because some in Washington are still saying no to drilling in America. No to independence from foreign oil. Who can you thank for rising prices at the pump?

Washington Post: Irreverent Reverends
John McCain's pastors have gone to ground. It's been a rough year for the Republican presidential candidate's prominent evangelical supporters.

TIME: US and Iran: A One-Sided Negotiation
Over the course of the last three days, U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has succinctly summarized the four-year arc of her Administration's diplomatic efforts to restrain Iran's nuclear program.

Washington Post: Why BlackBerry When You Can Take the Bus?
Lobbying has gotten fairly high-tech lately, with Web sites, e-mails and viral advertising campaigns. But its simpler, terrestrial methods never disappear - like bus tours.

Washington Post: Two Fed Myths That Need Debunking
There are two things you may have heard about the Federal Reserve Board, both of which are wrong. The first is that the Fed controls U.S. interest rates. The second is that the Fed has made so many commitments that it's in danger of running out of cash or Treasury securities.

NY Times: Sec. Peters Op-Ed: End Gridlock on the Runway
HIGH oil prices present the aviation industry with one of its greatest challenges in recent memory. This is why it is so important to offset fuel costs with a more efficient and reliable system of air travel.

CNNMoney.com: Where the jobs are
Especially in a tough economy, plentiful job opportunities are key to being a great place to live. These 25 counties have experienced the most job growth over the last seven years.

Washington Post: Some Questions Unanswered in Disaster Housing Plan
Nearly three years after Hurricane Katrina revealed the nation's inability to house large numbers of evacuees, the Bush administration proposed a new disaster housing strategy yesterday that includes a mix of solutions tried after the storm, while leaving major blanks to be filled by the next president.

AP: Gitmo trial begins for bin Laden's driver
The judge in the first American war crimes trial since World War II barred evidence on Monday that interrogators obtained from Osama bin Laden's driver, ruling he was subjected to "highly coercive" conditions in Afghanistan.

Washington Post: Russian Bombers Could Be Deployed to Cuba
Russian bombers capable of carrying nuclear weapons could be deployed to Cuba in response to U.S. plans to install a missile defense system in Eastern Europe, a Russian newspaper reported Monday, citing an unnamed senior Russian air force official.