Bush accepts Bolton's U.N. resignation  —  WASHINGTON - Unable to win Senate confirmation, U.N. Ambassador John Bolton will step down when his temporary appointment expires within weeks, the White House said Monday.  —  Bolton's nomination has languished in the Senate Foreign Relations Committee …

Anger at UN chief's Iraq comments  —  Iraq's national security adviser says he is shocked by UN head Kofi Annan's suggestion that the average Iraqi is worse off than under Saddam Hussein.  —  Mouwaffaq al-Rubaie also accused the UN of shying away from its responsibility towards the Iraqi people.

So Now What, Mr. President?  —  Folks used to wonder why he didn't push into Baghdad.  Baker doesn't hear that question much anymore.  —  George W. Bush was doing everything he doesn't usually like to do.  He was traveling in foreign lands (when Bush campaigns, he likes to fly home every night to sleep in his own bed).

A Split in the GOP Tent  —  Republicans are good at reinvention.  They have appealed to voters' dark side (Nixon's Southern strategy) as well as to their sunny side (Reagan's "Morning in America").  They have skipped from anti-government populism (Newt Gingrich and the leave-us-alone coalition) …

Breyer says justices must protect minorities' rights  —  WASHINGTON — Justice Stephen G. Breyer says the Supreme Court must promote the political rights of minorities and look beyond the Constitution's text when necessary to ensure that "no one gets too powerful."

NORTH KOREA SUSPECTED OF COLLECTING MILLIONS IN REINSURANCE FRAUD  —  NEW YORK — The cash-strapped regime of North Korea, which has a worldwide reputation for its criminal dealings in weapons sales, drugs and near-perfect counterfeit U.S. $100 bills, may have found a new illicit source …

NASA Says It Will Set Up Polar Moon Camp  —  NASA announced Monday it will establish an international base camp on one of the moon's poles, permanently staffing it by 2024, four years after astronauts return to the moon.  —  It is a sweeping departure from the Apollo moon missions of the 1960s …

Trapped in the Closet  —  Mark Foley's ambition to be a politician became the family dream.  He was always in a hurry.  His doting parents had no problem with his dropping out of Palm Beach Junior College at age 20; they helped him open a diner in downtown Lake Worth and turn it into the platform for his grandiose goals.

Gwyneth Paltrow: I'm Proud to Be American  —  Gwyneth Paltrow is "deeply upset" over stories claiming she made anti-American remarks, and tells PEOPLE exclusively that she never said anything against her native country.  —  "First of all I feel so lucky to be American.

Islamic group wants Ellison critic removed from Holocaust council  —  WASHINGTON - An Islamic civil rights group said Monday that a columnist who criticized Rep.-elect Keith Ellison's decision to use the Quran during his ceremonial swearing-in should be removed from the United States Holocaust Memorial Council.

Video: Comedy Central Plans Cartoon Mocking Bush Administration  —  Oy. … Honestly, I don't have a problem with political satire, even when it mocks the Bush administration or Republicans (SNL's skit on Rice's confirmation is one of my favorites), but I do have one requirement: it has to be funny.

Obama Meets Party Donors in New York  —  Senator Barack Obama treaded onto Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton's home turf last night to meet with prominent Democratic donors and feel out those who might prefer the sound of President Obama to President Clinton (as in Hillary, not Bill).

Bush Sticks to His Guns  —  While George W. Bush's many critics and detractors portray him as facing the same dilemma as Lyndon Johnson in Vietnam, Bush himself seems determined to proceed the way Harry Truman did in Korea — or, as some might put it, as Winston Churchill did after Dunkirk.