Iraq Study Group Weighs Overture to Iran and Syria  —  A draft report on strategies for Iraq, which will be debated here by a bipartisan commission beginning Monday, urges an aggressive regional diplomatic initiative that includes direct talks with Iran and Syria but sets no timetables …

Video: Rangel says men join the army only if they can't have "a decent career"  —  Hence his support for the draft.  If even our volunteers are there involuntarily, why shouldn't everyone be? … This won't get as much attention as what Lurch said (or was understood to have said) a few weeks ago.

Angry Shiites hurl stones at Maliki's motorcade  —  BAGHDAD — Angry Shiite Muslims pelted Prime Minister Nouri Maliki's motorcade with stones today after the Iraqi leader pleaded for national reconciliation at a memorial in Sadr City held for victims of a large-scale bombing attack last week.

Obama lifted by hand of God  —  Rising black star of Democrats connects with evangelicals  —  IN THE latest sign that the "God gap" between Republicans and Democrats is narrowing, one of America's biggest evangelical churches will this week welcome Senator Barack Obama …

'Makings of bomb' found in airport car  —  A worker discovered the device in the trunk of a returned rental car.  It didn't contain explosives but the FBI is investigating.  —  A bomb-like device was found in a rental car Sunday morning at the Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport …

Woman faces fines for wreath peace sign  —  DENVER - A homeowners association in southwestern Colorado has threatened to fine a resident $25 a day until she removes a Christmas wreath with a peace sign that some say is an anti- Iraq war protest or a symbol of Satan.

MTP Transcript for Nov. 25  —  MR. TIM RUSSERT: Our issues this Sunday: One year ago the Republican governor of California had an approval rating of just 32 percent.  His disapproval: sky-high at 58 percent.  And yet, two weeks ago, in the midst of a national Democratic landslide, he was overwhelmingly re-elected.

Hurricane Predictions Off Track As Tranquil Season Wafts Away  —  More from this channel:  —  This feature requires the Macromedia Flash Plugin.  Please visit http://www.macromedia.com/go/ getflashplayer to download this plugin.  —  It was not the hurricane season we expected, thank you.

Chavez vows to beat the "devil"  —  CARACAS, Venezuela (Reuters) - Venezuela's leftist President Hugo Chavez on Sunday promised hundreds of thousands of supporters he would win a resounding victory in his December 3 reelection bid he describes as a challenge to Washington.

History Offers Post-Midterm Survival Tips For President  —  The president was in a funk.  Morose from midterm elections that handed Congress to the opposition, he stewed in private, vented to friends, turned on aides and summoned self-help gurus to help him understand just what went wrong.

UK scientists invent male 'pill' that can be taken hours before sex  —  British scientists have developed a revolutionary pill that men could take as a one-off contraceptive just before a date.  —  The tablet would prevent a man from being able to impregnate a woman, but within a few hours his fertility would return to normal.

Is Russia back to its old poisonous tricks?  —  The death of a prominent Russian defector is reminiscent of the Soviet KGB's penchant for using poison to kill its enemies.  —  THE COLD WAR was supposed to have ended 15 years ago, but the death in London of Alexander V. Litvinenko presents Scotland Yard …

The really tough way to control drugs is to license them  —  A young American friend last week visited Camden Lock, north London, and returned amazed.  In a hundred yards he was offered brazenly in the street just about every drug he could imagine.  It was easier to buy cannabis or cocaine than a cigarette or a can of beer.