Reid: Brief troop increase OK in Iraq  —  WASHINGTON - The Senate's top Democrat offered qualified support Sunday for a plan to increase U.S. troops in Iraq, saying it would be acceptable as part of a broader strategy to bring combat forces home by 2008.  —  President Bush's former secretary of state …

Not So Fast  —  Why Barack Obama may not run.  —  Just about everybody seems convinced that Sen. Barack Obama is going to run for president.  The Chicago Sun-Times, his hometown paper, is writing as if his candidacy is an established fact.  Newsweek magazine cites sources close to him who claim that he's …

Former U.S. Detainee in Iraq Recalls Torment  —  One night in mid-April, the steel door clanked shut on detainee No. 200343 at Camp Cropper, the United States military's maximum-security detention site in Baghdad.  —  American guards arrived at the man's cell periodically over the next several days …

Tsunami survivors given the lash  —  Michael Sheridan and Dewi Loveard, Banda Aceh  —  Disaster donations help Islamic vigilante force impose punishments on women  —  WHEN people around the world sent millions of pounds to help the stricken Indonesian province of Aceh after the Boxing Day tsunami of 2004 …

Litvinenko's killers used polonium worth $10m to give massive overdose  —  British investigators believe that Alexander Litvinenko's killers used more than $10 million of polonium-210 to poison him.  Preliminary findings from the post mortem examination on the former KGB spy suggest …

Winning the war  —  RAMADI, Iraq.  —  "We're here to win."  That's how a U.S. Marine corporal put it when I asked him what he was doing in Iraq.  He spoke looking squarely into our TV camera — a more intimidating experience for him than the rocket-propelled grenade (RPG) …

After Bankruptcy Filing, Recriminations Fly at Air America  —  In its search for a new chief executive this past summer, Air America Radio interviewed seasoned media executives in an effort to revive the faltering network.  One interview took a bizarre turn, however, when the executive got …

Blood and Money  —  In what might be called the mother of all surprises, Iraq's economy is growing strong, even booming in places.  —  Newsweek International  —  It may sound unreal, given the daily images of carnage and chaos.  But for a certain plucky breed of businessmen, there's good money to be made in Iraq.

Pot is called biggest cash crop  —  The $35-billion market value of U.S.-grown cannabis tops that of such heartland staples as corn and hay, a marijuana activist says.  —  SACRAMENTO — For years, activists in the marijuana legalization movement have claimed that cannabis is America's biggest cash crop.

Iranian students hide in fear for lives after venting fury at Ahmadinejad  —  Iranian student activists who staged an angry protest against President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad last week have gone into hiding in fear for their lives after his supporters threatened them with revenge.

Don't Cry for Pinochet  —  Chile succeeded despite him.  —  The death of Augusto Pinochet Ugarte marks the definitive end of his efforts to associate himself with conservatism.  It also marks the ultimate success of his efforts to avoid accountability for his murderous behavior as a leader …

MTP Transcript for Dec. 17  —  MR. TIM RUSSERT: Our issues this Sunday: the president explores new options for Iraq.  —  (Videotape):  —  PRES. GEORGE W. BUSH: I'm not going to be rushed into making a difficult decision.  —  MR. RUSSERT: The tension between the First Amendment and the war on terror.

After surviving 20 million years, China's goddess of the river is driven to extinction  —  For 20 million years, the white-fin dolphin, or baiji, swam China's longest river, the Yangtze.  But a few years of breakneck development, overfishing and a massive increase in shipping have reduced sightings …

And merry Xmas to you all  —  I passed through Shannon Airport in Ireland the other day.  They've got a "holiday" display in the terminal, but guess what?  It says "Merry Christmas."  The Emerald Isle has a few Jews, and these days rather a lot of Muslims, and presumably even a militant atheist or two …

TRANSCRIPT: SEN. EDWARD KENNEDY ON 'FOX NEWS SUNDAY'  —  The following is a partial transcript of the Dec. 17, 2006, edition of "FOX News Sunday With Chris Wallace":  —  "FOX NEWS SUNDAY" HOST CHRIS WALLACE: Well, joining us now for the first time ever, Senator Edward Kennedy.

U.S. Sees Growing Threats In Somalia  —  Al-Qaeda's Influence, Possible War With Ethiopia Are Concerns  —  Six months ago, the Bush administration launched a new policy in war-torn Somalia, putting the State Department in charge after secret CIA efforts failed to prevent Islamic fundamentalists from seizing power in Mogadishu.