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 …

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 …

Most Americans in Lebanon Are Hezbollah Supporters; U.S. Taxes Shouldn't Fund Their Return  —  **** AS READ ON THE AIR TODAY BY RUSH LIMBAUGH—THANKS, RUSH!  **** ALSO, SCROLL DOWN FOR UPDATE ****  —  One thing is lost in all the press coverage of the whining Americans who went to Lebanon …

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 …

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.

Where's The Senate?  Where's the Debate?  —  The House will debate and pass a resolution in support of Israel and its right to defend itself.  —  The Senate needs to follow suit, and then to take up the resolution it promised to produce post July 4 recess on the publication by the New York Times …