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Rescue teams searched through matchstick rubble Saturday for thousands of people missing in flooded areas of northeastern Japan, beginning one of the most complex relief efforts in history.

Japanese authorities said Sunday that efforts to restart the cooling system at one of the reactors damaged by Friday's earthquake had failed, a major setback in the struggle to contain what has become the most serious nuclear power crisis in a quarter century.

The Office of Congressional Ethics is investigating the chairman of the House Financial Services Committee over possible violations of insider-trading laws, according to individuals familiar with the case.

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Former senator Rick Santorum got a standing, cheering reception from an annual gathering of conservatives Friday morning when he said that the 2012 presidential race could only be won by a pure conservative.

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Seeking to allay the concerns of Catholic leaders,President Obama on Friday announced an adjustment to its health-care rule requiring religiously affiliated employers to provide contraceptive coverage to women.

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Republicans are expressing fresh concerns that Mitt Romney is limping toward the presidential nomination, suffering new blows at the very moment he needs to grow stronger if he is to take on President Obama in November.

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State and federal officials on Thursday announced a settlement of $26 billion with five of the nation?s banks over flawed and fraudulent foreclosure practices that affected several million homeowners and became commonplace after the housing boom turned to bust in recent years. It is the largest government-industry settlement in more than a decade.

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The Obama administration is freeing 10 states from the requirements of No Child Left Behind, responding to complaints from teachers and school administrators across the country that the nation?s main education law is outdated and punitive.

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Conservative activists and Republican attorneys general have launched a series of lawsuits meant to challenge the most muscular provision of the Voting Rights Act 0f 1965 before a Supreme Court that has signaled it is suspicious of its constitutionality.

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Texas Rep. Ron Paul (R) might have his first victory soon: Maine.

Like Paul himself, the primary process in Maine goes against the grain. Most caucuses last a day. In Maine, they last a week.

Former House speaker Newt Gingrich (R-Ga.) and former senator Rick Santorum (R-Pa.) ignored the low-turnout, Northeastern state and former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney is visiting for the first time Friday, while Paul has been campaigning heavily there.

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Three of the remaining four major Republican presidential candidates will address the Conservative Political Action Convention on Friday. Here is the schedule of speakers:

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The White House?s decision to force Catholic hospitals to dispense emergency contraception was a hot topic at the Conservative Political Action Conference on Thursday.

And that?s probably AOK with the Obama campaign.

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RESTON, Va. ? ?I know it seems like government doesn?t like you,? Mitt Romney told a group of about 900 business people Friday morning in a ballroom at the Hyatt Regency Hotel here. ?I love you.?

The feeling appeared to be mutual.

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It?s go time at CPAC ? and that means it?s crunch time for former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney (R).

The annual Conservative Political Action Conference holds its second day of events today, and three of the four GOP White House hopefuls ? Romney, former House speaker Newt Gingrich (Ga.) and former senator Rick Santorum (Pa.) ? address the crowd at the Marriott Wardman Park in Washington.

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There was little consensus among attendees at the Conservative Political Action Conference on Thursday on who should win the Republican presidential nomination.

But there appeared to be broad agreement on who should not get the nod: former Massachusetts governor (and current GOP presidential front-runner) Mitt Romney.

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Rick Santorum may have committed one of the relatively few gaffes of his GOP presidential campaign by suggesting Thursday that women shouldn?t serve in combat roles because of ?other types of emotions that are involved.?

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Will Mitt Romney suffer his fourth straight defeat Saturday?

That?s the big question this weekend as the GOP presidential race heads to Maine, which announces the results of its week-long municipal caucuses Saturday night.

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Voters of America, President Obama has made you a mix.

The president shared a Spotify playlist on his Facebook page Thursday: 29 tunes that he?ll be pumping on the campaign trail between now and Nov. 6. There are songs from artists you?d expect (Bruce Springsteen), artists you wouldn?t (Ricky Martin) and artists that are actually from Canada (Arcade Fire.)

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So, the inevitable has occurred: After the withdrawal of U.S. troops, the American diplomatic presence in Baghdad may be cut drastically, making the new $750 million embassy compound a monstrous white elephant.

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Ron Barber, an aide to former representative Gabrielle Giffords (D-Ariz.), will run for the House seat she just left.

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The Food and Drug Administration said Thursday that it monitored the personal e-mails of employees who had concerns about unsafe medical devices beginning in April 2010 but said it did so to investigate allegations that the employees had leaked confidential information to the public.

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House Democrats plan to introduce a new version of the DISCLOSE Act that would affect super PACs ? and they?re debuting a new tongue-in-cheek Web video taking aim at Comedy Central host Stephen Colbert in an effort to get their message across.

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President Obama on Thursday said the American public has proved remarkably supportive of his administration?s policies on gay rights as the ?right thing to do.?

Appearing at a campaign fundraiser at a private residence in Northwest Washington, Obama hailed the end of the military?s ?don?t ask, don?t tell? policy toward gay and lesbian service members as an example of how attitudes are becoming more tolerant.

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Is it okay that congressional earmarks are sometimes used to fund projects near lawmakers properties?

In 2011, 33 members of Congress sent more than $300 million toward such projects, according to a recent Washington Post investigation.

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?She the People? writers are indeed feeling emotions today in response to GOP presidential candidate Rick Santorum?s comment that ?other types of emotions? could hinder women soldiers in combat situations.

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Who can forget the Great Passport Debacle of 2007 ? when when it was taking more than three months to get a passport, ruining many summer vacations and causing near riots?

Well, the State Department?s consular affairs bureau, which took the hit for that disaster, has just held its annual team-building day at embassies around the world under the theme ?Follow Courageously.?

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In January 2007, Rep. Norm Dicks (D-Wash.) became chairman of a congressional subcommittee that gave him the power to secure millions in federal funds to environmental projects in his district.

Six months later, the congressman requested millions of dollars to clean up Puget Sound ? a vital but polluted system of waterways in his home state of Washington, according to White House records.

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Over the past decade, Sen. Richard C. Shelby (R-Ala.) has directed more than $100 million in federal earmarks to transform Tuscaloosa?s core into a place that local officials say benefits everyone who lives, works and plays in the area.

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KHAR NIKAH, Afghanistan ? Inside a cold room surrounded by sand-filled Hesco barriers in the remote Gereshk Valley, British forces are teaching a group of young Afghan fighters how to protect their village from the Taliban.

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ISLAMABAD ? It?s never been easy being a sexual minority in Pakistan, but transgender citizens, known here as eunuchs or ?hijras,? are getting a surprising amount of judicial protection and newfound civil rights.

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ISLAMABAD, Pakistan ? Pakistan?s Supreme Court on Friday rejected a last-ditch appeal by Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani against an imminent contempt charge, prompting fears of further political instability in the nuclear-armed country.

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BERLIN ? Clashes between police and protesters broke out in Athens on Friday, a day after Greek leaders accepted foreign lenders? demands for tough austerity cuts in a last-ditch bid to keep their country from going bankrupt.

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BEIRUT ? Two explosions struck compounds housing security services in the Syrian city of Aleppo on Friday, reportedly killing 28 people and wounding 238 in the worst violence to hit the country?s relatively calm commercial capital since the uprising began last March.

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CAIRO ? There is no more potent symbol of Egypt?s economic fragility than the pocket bread that is a staple of life here.

Every day, the Egyptian government allocates 25-pound bags of subsidized flour to designated bakeries to produce the Frisbee-shaped loaves, which Egypt?s impoverished and working poor buy for about eight cents per 10 loaves. But sometimes, there is not enough to go around.

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MEXICO CITY ? The State Department advised Americans this week to defer ?non-essential travel? to vast stretches of Mexico, warning that 14 of the country?s 31 states are so dangerous that visitors should avoid them if at all possible. For four other states, it counseled caution or extreme caution.

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BEIJING ? China?s Foreign Ministry confirmed Thursday that Wang Lijun, vice mayor of the sprawling southwestern city of Chongqing, spent one day at the U.S. Consulate in nearby Chengdu and that he is now under official investigation in a bizarre episode with potential bearing on China?s upcoming leadership transition.

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On a bridge outside Berlin one gloomy morning 50 years ago Friday stood Francis Gary Powers, the pilot of a CIA spy plane that was shot down over the Russian Ural mountains. He had waited 21 months for this moment. He had survived a plane crash, weeks of harsh interrogation and the brutal conditions of a Soviet prison. He was on the threshold of freedom, and his heart was thumping heavily.

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Al-Qaeda?s glossy online magazine, Inspire, hasn?t been seen since its creators were killed in a U.S. drone strike last fall, but the terrorist group?s loyalists aren?t the only ones lamenting its demise.

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A report by House Republicans criticizes both the Bush and Obama administration for policies that led to the transfer of detainees from Guantanamo Bay, Cuba who later reengaged in terrorism or the insurgencies in Iraq and Afghanistan.

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Five months after Yemeni-American cleric Anwar al-Awlaki was targeted in a CIA drone strike, a Democratic senator is lambasting the Obama administration for not providing Congress with the legal basis for the killing of the U.S. citizen.

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In a note posted Thursday to his Facebook page, U.S. Ambassador Robert Ford shared satellite photos that showed the Syrian government is using artillery and mortars against residential neighborhoods in Homs.

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A Madonna fan page from Tel Aviv has the world talking.

Artist Kobi Zvili created the page five days ago as an online plea to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, asking him to hold off on any plans to strike Iran until after Madonna performs in Tel Aviv on May 29.

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The death of Kim Jong Il and ascension of his son Kim Jong Eun put a spotlight on secretive North Korea as it mourned its Dear Leader and welcomed another.

The changes in the country highlighted something else: indications that the reclusive country may be becoming more open to outsiders.

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When Thomas Erdbrink, The Washington Post?s correspondent in Tehran, logs on to the Internet in Iran, he never knows whether Gmail and Google Reader, The Post or Facebook will open for him. Increasingly, this is the error message he sees instead of the page he was trying to reach:

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Hamza Kashgari had no idea the firestorm sending out a few candid tweets about the prophet Muhammad would cause.

The Saudi blogger, reflecting last week on the upcoming anniversary of the prophet?s birth, wrote, in part: ?On your birthday, I will say that I have loved the rebel in you, that you?ve always been a source of inspiration to me, and that I do not like the halos of divinity around you. I shall not pray for you.?

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The Pentagon will maintain bans on women serving in most ground combat units, defense officials said Thursday, despite pressure from lawmakers and female veterans who called the restrictions outdated after a decade of war.

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BERLIN ? Clashes between police and protesters broke out in Athens on Friday, a day after Greek leaders accepted foreign lenders? demands for tough austerity cuts in a last-ditch bid to keep their country from going bankrupt.

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Floyd Norris pushes back against the claim the falling unemployment rate put out by the Bureau of Labor Statistics is misleading because it doesn?t count the growing number of people who?ve given up looking for work:

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LivingSocial snapped up its latest deal for $3 million: the renovation of a historic Penn Quarter building where it will set up an experimental retail ?experience? space.

After a dramatic remodeling of the six-story, 120-year-old former insurance building at 918 F St. NW, the company will host small dinners by big-name chefs, intimate concerts and other productions in an effort to carry it beyond its business model of online daily deals, which some critics say lacks long-term potential.

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The government?s $25 billion settlement Thursday with banks over fraudulent foreclosure practices begins a long-promised reckoning with the financial industry over its role in the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression, officials said.

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The median price of Washington area home sales fell 1 percent to $310,000 in January 2012, compared with the same period a year ago, but segments of the market showed signs of strength, even though overall inventory levels remain limited.

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The Office of Congressional Ethics is investigating the chairman of the House Financial Services Committee over possible violations of insider-trading laws, according to individuals familiar with the case.

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The International Energy Agency Friday shaved its forecast for global oil consumption, citing the slowdown in world economic growth.

The IEA said it expects oil consumption to rise a relatively meager 800,000 barrels a day, or 0.9 percent, in 2012, according to its latest monthly market report. That would be 300,000 barrels a day less than the IEA forecast just a month ago.

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With the Justice Department on the cusp of allowing two major acquisition deals among technology companies, the firms involved ? including giants Google, Apple and Microsoft ? are trying to reassure regulators that their battles over intellectual property won?t harm the industry.

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Even before the world knew him as a genius, the FBI had the book on Steve Jobs.

In a 1991 background check, the FBI pegged Apple?s co-founder as brash and unlikable and noted his early drug use.

Most tellingly, the agents, evaluating Jobs for an appointment under President George H.W. Bush, said acquaintances found him to have a peculiarly driven nature.

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The Nuclear Regulatory Commission on Thursday approved a construction and operating license for new nuclear power reactors for the first time since 1978, giving Southern Co. the green light to build two new units at its existing Vogtle site in Georgia.

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Only a few employers will take advantage of rules allowing some small businesses to avoid pending health reform measures, rendering the rules relatively obsolete and minimizing their impact on health insurance costs, according to new analysis and simulations conducted by health policy researchers.

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You?ve read how Facebook and Twitter fueled the Arab Spring uprising. You are watching the videos coming out of Syria on Facebook. But most likely you have not witnessed the power of social media impacting politics in near real time right here at home in America. Sure, activism groups and politicians have tapped social media to raise money. But to date, no flash mob has ever stopped a bill in its tracks or beaten down in less than 48-hours legislation pushed by some of the most well-funded, well-connected lobbies on K Street. But that?s exactly what happened on Jan. 20 when a loosely organized campaign to stop PIPA and SOPA swept the Internet and shook the power structure of Washington D.C.

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