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).

Mr. Bolton Resigns  —  John Bolton's decision to resign as America's envoy to the United Nations was a wise move.  He averted a distracting and divisive fight at a time when both Congress and the Bush administration have better things to do.  He has also provided President Bush with an opportunity …

U.S. Envoy Khalilzad to Leave Iraq, Officials Say (Update1)  —  Dec. 4 (Bloomberg) — Zalmay Khalilzad, the U.S. ambassador to Iraq, plans to leave his post and will be replaced by Ryan Crocker, the current ambassador to Pakistan, according to two officials familiar with the matter.

NASA Plans Lunar Outpost  —  Permanent Base at Moon's South Pole Envisioned by 2024  —  NASA unveiled plans yesterday to set up a small and ultimately self-sustaining settlement of astronauts at the south pole of the moon sometime around 2020 — the first step in an ambitious plan to resume manned exploration of the solar system.

Hardliners turn on Ahmadinejad for watching women dancers  —  President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad of Iran, who flaunts his ideological fervour, has been accused of undermining Iran's Islamic revolution after television footage appeared to show him watching a female song and dance show.

Saddam May Escape Hangman's Noose  —  Saddam Hussein waited until the last minute before filing an appeal to his death sentence, and frequently delayed his trial with verbal tirades.  —  It all makes sense considering a little-reported Iraqi law, which bars the execution of anyone age 70 and above.

Escape From Wall Street  —  How Congress put Hong Kong and London in a position to surpass New York as a financial capital.  —  HONG KONG—If you want to look for reasons why New York's status as the world's financial center is in serious jeopardy, you need only come here to gaze at this booming city and tour its markets.

Putz on Iraq: a timeline.  —  Since Putz has so generously offered to hold a symposium on what to do about the Great Victory in Iraq disaster, we thought this brief timeline would be useful for the participants.  —  9/11/01  —  Suggests attacks on WTC give Bush license to nuke Baghdad.  —  6/4/02

Court Reviews Race as Factor in School Plans  —  By the time the Supreme Court finished hearing arguments on Monday on the student-assignment plans that two urban school systems use to maintain racial integration, the only question was how far the court would go in ruling such plans unconstitutional.

A Dream of Mature Nations  —  A number of Canadians took offense recently to a Boston Herald column in which I slammed Canada and Europe in general for failing to hold up its end in this war for democracy, freedom and security.  Specificially, I slammed them for being smug democracies …

Growing tension with Russia over spy death  —  The Government moved yesterday to head off criticism that it was giving in to pressure from Moscow over the apparent murder of Alexander Litvinenko.  —  Tension between the two countries seemed certain to escalate as up to nine Scotland Yard detectives prepared …

Bush Meets With Rival of Iraqi Leader  —  President Bush met today with one of the most powerful Shiite leaders in Iraq — a political rival of Prime Minister Nouri Kamal al-Maliki — and urged him to "reject the extremists that are trying to stop the advance of this young democracy."

Islamic Group Demands U.S. Holocaust Memorial Council Appointee Be Ousted  —  An Islamic group is demanding that a conservative talk show host and columnist, Dennis Prager, be ousted from the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Council because of his statement that a Muslim just elected to Congress …

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 …