WASHINGTON (AP) — House lawmakers are moving to protect Capitol Hill's budget even as they slash programs like education, health research, water projects and housing aid for the poor.

MOSCOW (Reuters) - Syrian Deputy Foreign Minister Faisal Mekdad said on Wednesday that President Bashar al-Assad's government would decide soon whether to take part in peace talks with the opposition, Russian news agency Itar-Tass reported. Asked whether the Syrian government had committed to a Russian-U.S. effort to hold a peace conference, Mekdad told Itar-TASS: "We are still discussing this question." "A final decision will be taken after our return to Damascus," Mekdad said following talks with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov in Moscow. ...