Pelosi team tries to steer Democrats to the center  —  Wary of plans by House liberals  —  WASHINGTON — Anxious to chart a centrist course with Democrats' new majority in Congress, incoming House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and her top deputies are busily working in private and public to rein …

Baghdad Shias Believe Killings May Increase Once U.S.-led Forces Depart but Large Majorities Still Support Withdrawal Within a Year  —  Shias in the Capital—Unlike Those in the Rest of Iraq—Oppose Disarming Militias  —  Most Shia Arabs living in Baghdad have shifted in recent months …

U.S. Considers Raising Troop Levels in Iraq  —  Pentagon officials conducting a review of Iraq strategy are considering a substantial but temporary increase in American troop levels and the addition of several thousand more trainers to work with Iraqi forces, a senior Defense Department official said Monday.

Clinton Won Easily, but Bankroll Shows the Toll  —  She had only token opposition, but Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton still spent more on her re-election — upward of $30 million — than any other candidate for Senate this year.  So where did all the money go?

Federal investigators questioning six Middle Eastern men removed from flight at MSP  —  5 EYEWITNESS NEWS has learned that federal investigators and airport police are questioning six Middle Eastern men who had to be escorted off of a plane Monday afternoon at Minneapolis/St. Paul International.

Israeli Map Says West Bank Posts Sit on Arab Land  —  An Israeli advocacy group, using maps and figures leaked from inside the government, says that 39 percent of the land held by Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank is privately owned by Palestinians.

Lebanese Christian politician killed  —  BEIRUT, Lebanon (AP) — Prominent anti-Syrian Christian politician Pierre Gemayel was assassinated in a suburb of Beirut on Tuesday, his Phalange Party radio station and Lebanon's official news agency reported.  —  His fatal shooting will certainly heighten …

'Seinfeld' Comic Richards Apologizes for Racial Rant  —  Michael Richards, who played the quirky Cosmo Kramer on "Seinfeld," apologized yesterday for using racist language in an angry exchange with an African American man at a comedy club on Friday.  —  Richards, 57, appeared on …

Under Pressure, News Corp. Pulls Simpson Project  —  Bowing to intense pressure from both outside and inside the company, the News Corporation yesterday canceled its plans to publish a book and broadcast an interview with O. J. Simpson in which he was to give an account of how he might …

Jihadis and whores  —  Wars are won by destroying the enemy's will to fight.  A nation is never really beaten until it sells its women.  —  The French sold their women to the German occupiers in 1940, and the Germans and Japanese sold their women to the Americans after World War II.

Washington Post Reporters to Join Politics Web Site  —  The Washington Post, which has long prided itself on the depth and breadth of its coverage of national politics, lost two of its top political reporters yesterday to a fledgling multiplatform news organization, albeit one with deep pockets.

The Human Calculus of National Security  —  Following the Democratic mid-term triumph, California U.S. Senator Barbara Boxer told National Public Radio that the recent average daily loss of three military people in Iraq necessitated disengagement as soon as possible.

Olbermann Delivers A Special Comment Educating Bush on Vietnam  —  Keith gives us another great special comment, this time explaining to Bush the lessons he should have learned in his recent trip to Vietnam.  —  Keith: "It is a shame and it is embarrassing to us all when President Bush travels 8,000 miles …

Democrats Plan Series of Votes on Ethics Reforms  —  Despite divisions among Democrats over how far to go in revising ethics rules, House leaders plan a major rollout of an ethics reform bill early next year to demonstrate concern about an issue that helped defeat the Republicans in the midterm elections.

Calif. court says bloggers can't be sued  —  State's Supreme Court said a federal law gives immunity from libel suits  —  Pete Williams  —  The California Supreme Court ruled Monday that bloggers and participants in Internet bulletin board groups cannot be sued for posting defamatory statements made by others.