Iraq Study Group Report Released  —  Download the official report just released by the Iraq Study Group titled The Iraq Study Group Report: The Way Forward - A New Approach.  USIP is the facilitating organization for the Iraq Study Group (ISG), co-chaired by James A. Baker, III, and Lee H. Hamilton.

Senate approves Gates as defense secretary … WASHINGTON (CNN) — The Senate voted 95-2 Wednesday to approve Robert Gates as President Bush's choice to replace Donald Rumsfeld as defense secretary.  —  The vote came a day after the nomination sailed through the Senate Armed Services Committee.

Hamas smuggled $66 million in 8 months  —  Hamas officials have managed to smuggle more than $66 million in cash through the Rafah border crossing in the past eight months, a member of the Hamas-led government revealed Wednesday.  —  Meanwhile, sources close to the Hamas-led government claimed …

Does water STILL flow on Mars?  —  Dramatic new photographs of Mars have revealed the possible existence of water on its surface.  —  The images - released for the first time on Wednesday by the US space agency NASA - were taken earlier this year in an attempt to unlock the secrets of the Red Planet.

5-day work week is a Capitol Hill culture shock  —  Democrats seek a businesslike image; many in GOP decry effect on families  —  WASHINGTON - Forget the minimum wage.  Or outsourcing jobs overseas.  The labor issue most on the minds of members of Congress yesterday was their own …

NBC: 10 U.S. service members killed in Iraq  —  Meanwhile, mortar attack kills 8 Iraqis, wounds 40 in Sadr City district  —  Residents look at a minibus destroyed in a suicide bomb attack in Baghdad's Sadr City on Wednesday.  —  BAGHDAD, Iraq - Ten American service members were killed …

AUSTRALIAN BIKINI MARCH  —  Patriotic Australians, perhaps like this recent Miss Universe, will march for democracy in their bikinis Saturday to demonstrate their opposition to Sexy Saudi Swimwear  —  Enraged at the local mullahs' medieval declaration that unveiled women are 'uncovered meat …

Arrest Warrant Issued in Denver for Oregon Blogger  —  Many of you will remember the Deb Frisch - Protein Wisdom blog drama.  —  Dr. Frisch has removed her website, but many of her posts and comments can still be found on Technorati and Google.  —  After the Frisch-Goldstein drama …

Why We Persevere  —  BAGHDAD — I don't see a civil war in Iraq.  I don't see a constituency for civil war.  The vast majority of the people want hope for their families, not to massacre their neighbors or divide their country.  A poll conducted in June by the International Republican Institute …

Radiation find in British embassy  —  Small traces of a radioactive substance have been found at the British embassy in Moscow following a precautionary check, the UK Foreign Office has said.  —  But officials said the levels of radiation found would not pose a risk to public health.

Some Republicans Take a Scorched-Hill Tack  —  Leaving Budget Decisions  —  To Democrats Could Disrupt  —  New Leadership's Agenda  —  WASHINGTON — Like a retreating army, Republicans are tearing up railroad track and planting legislative land mines to make it harder for Democrats …

Richest 2% hold half the world's assets  —  Personal wealth is distributed so unevenly across the world that the richest two per cent of adults own more than 50 per cent of the world's assets while the poorest half hold only 1 per cent of wealth.  —  A survey released on Tuesday shows …

Case of the Dwindling Docket Mystifies the Supreme Court  —  On the Supreme Court's color-coded master calendar, which was distributed months before the term began on the first Monday in October, Dec. 6 is marked in red to signify a day when the justices are scheduled to be on the bench, hearing arguments.