UN delegation presents cease-fire package; Livni hints Israel won't rule out int'l force in Lebanon  —  Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni hinted Tuesday that Israel would not object to a temporary international force in south Lebanon, despite earlier an outright Israeli rejection of such a plan.

Bush Gropes Germany's Merkel  —  President Bush took time out from the G-8 Summit to grope German Chancellor Angela Merkel.  I'm not kidding.  It boggles the mind.  (Update: John at C&L has the video up.)  —  Via Mash (by the way, great get!), we get photos via a friend of his in Germany.

Brownback Holds Up Drawing Of Embryo, Asks 'Are You Going To Kill Me?'  —  Sen. Sam Brownback (R-KS) is leading the opposition to the H.R. 810, the Stem Cell Research Enhancement Act.  On Saturday, the Washington Post reported that Brownback has used a deceptive and false report …

Why the Left Is Furious at Lieberman  —  A blogger's blast at the embattled Connecticut senator.  Hint: It's not just Iraq.  —  SOME TIME AFTER having lunch in Iraq with the junior senator from Connecticut, Time magazine Baghdad bureau chief Michael Ware told an interviewer …

NYT to cut paper size and close plant  —Text+NEW YORK (Reuters) - The New York Times Co. (NYT.N: Quote, Profile, Research) plans to narrow the size of its flagship newspaper and close a printing plant, resulting in the loss of 250 jobs, the company said in a story posted on its Web site late on Monday.

G.O.P. Senator Resisting Bush Over Detainees  —  WASHINGTON, July 17 — Senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina often plays the contrarian, the conservative Republican willing to poke a stick in the eye of the White House.  —  Now Mr. Graham is playing an even higher-profile variant of that role …

Snow To Helen Thomas: 'Thank You For the Hezbollah View'  —  In a contentious exchange at this afternoon's White House press briefing, Tony Snow attempted to discredit reporter Helen Thomas by characterizing her comments as "the Hezbollah view."  Watch it.  —  Thomas asked Snow …

Reed Hopes Voters Keep Faith, Forget Abramoff  —  His foe in Georgia's GOP primary criticizes the PR work he did for his lobbyist friend.  —  ALPHARETTA, Ga. — For former Christian Coalition head Ralph Reed to succeed in his first bid for public office, he's going to have to pray for the help of voters like Norma Saunders.

Chicago Weighs New Prohibition: Bad-for-You Fats  —  CHICAGO, July 14 — In Grant Park, this city's front yard along Lake Michigan, a dizzying pack of people filled the streets evening after evening, all holding their gazes firmly on the little plates in their hands, loaded with catfish beignets …

A Windfall From Shifts to Medicare  —  The pharmaceutical industry is beginning to reap a windfall from a surprisingly lucrative niche market: drugs for poor people.  —  And analysts expect the benefits to show up in many of the quarterly financial results that drug makers will begin posting this week.

Car Bomb Kills Dozens Near Shiite Shrine in Iraq  —  BAGHDAD, Iraq, July 18— A bomb killed 53 people and wounded more than 100 in the Shiite city of Kufa today, a day after at least 48 people died as dozens of gunmen suspected of being Sunni Arabs went on a rampage through a mostly Shiite market area …

The Democrats' message dilemma  —  WASHINGTON — It was a bit startling the other morning to hear Sen. Charles Schumer of New York — the garrulous poster boy of Democratic liberalism — intone that New Deal Democracy is over.  But also, he added just as surprisingly, so is Reagan Republicanism.