Feds: Man planned to blow up Ill. mall  —  CHICAGO - A man who authorities said wanted to commit acts of "violent jihad" against civilians was charged Friday in a plot to set off hand grenades in garbage cans at a shopping mall, authorities said.  —  Derrick Shareef, 22, of Rockford …

JIMMY CARTER FIRES BACK AT LONGTIME AIDE OVER BOOK  —  WASHINGTON — Former President Jimmy Carter faced new criticism Friday over his controversial book on Palestinian lands when a former Middle East diplomat accused him of improperly publishing maps that did not belong to him.

Jeane Kirkpatrick, RIP; 'But Then, They Always Blame America First'  —  Update IV: 10:51 a.m.: John Bolton was just on CNN.  Clearly choking back tears, he said that "it really is very sad for america" and that Kirkpatrick "will be greatly missed."  He said:

AP Poll: Few Americans expect victory in Iraq  —  WASHINGTON: Americans are overwhelmingly resigned to something less than clear-cut victory in Iraq and growing numbers doubt the country will achieve a stable, democratic government no matter how the U.S. gets out, according to an AP poll.

Bush Backs Away From 2 Key Ideas of Panel on Iraq  —  President Bush moved quickly to distance himself on Thursday from the central recommendations of the bipartisan Iraq Study Group, even as the panel's co-chairmen opened an intensive lobbying effort on Capitol Hill to press Mr. Bush to adopt their report wholesale.

That Murder in London  —  The poisoning of Alexander Litvinenko, renegade Russian spy and fierce critic of Vladimir Putin's government, is everywhere being called a mystery.  There is dark speculation about unnamed "rogue elements" either in the Russian secret services or among ultranationalists acting independently of the government.

A Father's Tears  —  George H.W. Bush cried at a tribute to his son Jeb.  What else was he feeling?  —  He stood there at the podium, the kind of podium he'd stood at 5,000 times in a long political life, and talked to the kind of audience he knew well: supporters and loyalists, old friends and new.

Return fire from the right  —  The idea of talks with Iran and Syria riles many conservatives.  Some say the focus was on an exit, not a victory.  —  WASHINGTON — Right-wing radio host Rush Limbaugh called it "The Iraq Surrender Group."  —  The conservative New York Post tabloid doctored …

Labor Presses for Measure to Ease Unionizing  —  Claiming a major role in the Democrats' victory last month, labor leaders are pressing Congressional Democrats to enact a measure to make it easier for workers to unionize.  —  Labor leaders see the measure as pivotal to stop a slide in union membership that has lasted decades.

Interview with David Card  —  David Card seems like a pretty mild-mannered guy.  True, he speaks with conviction, but it is confidence backed by meticulous research and tempered with open acknowledgment of the limits of that research.  Card, an economist  —  at the University of California, Berkeley, is the antithesis of a zealot.

Mugabe joins massive diamond rush  —  A British-listed mining company, the first to invest in bankrupt Zimbabwe since the political crisis began, was ordered off its valuable diamond claim yesterday.  —  While President Robert Mugabe has seized thousands of white-owned farms since 2000 he has, up until now, left mining property alone.

Sherrod Brown: First We Go After Big Pharma  —  WASHINGTON DISPATCH: The senator-elect from Ohio weighs in on drug-pricing reform, Iraq, the '08 campaign, and (oh yeah, that!) trade.  —  Fresh from victory in Ohio's knock-down drag-out Senate race, Sherrod Brown is happily preparing to exit …