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 …

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 …

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.

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) …

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 …

THIS WEEK IN THE NEW YORKER  —  For Immediate Release: December 10, 2006  —  Press Contacts: Sonya McNair, (212) 286-6375  —  Can Social Scientists Redefine the War on Terror?  —  In the December 18, 2006, issue of The New Yorker, George Packer reports on a radically new approach …

Murdoch Is Said to Have Ordered Editor's Dismissal  —  Rupert Murdoch personally ordered the dismissal of Judith Regan, the publisher of a widely criticized O. J. Simpson book, after he heard reports of a heated conversation Ms. Regan had with a company lawyer on Friday that included comments …

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 …

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 …

Hardliners defeated in Iran's twin elections  —  Iranians have dealt a blow to President Ahmadinejad's hardline Government, by thwarting his allies in municipal and clerical elections.  —  According to early results, Mr Ahmadinejad's fundamentalist mentor who espouses cultural isolation from the West …

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.

O, Muslim town of Bethlehem...  All is quiet in Bethlehem.  On Manger Square, the Church of the Nativity stands in the pale gloom of dusk, its doors open to passing pilgrims.  —  But inside, the nave is empty of visitors and the collection boxes depleted of coins.

An Atheist Can Believe in Christmas  —  IF last holiday season charitably could have been described as the war-on-Christmas Christmas — with Bill O'Reilly of Fox News declaring war on the warriors and others declaring war on him — maybe it's not such a stretch to think of this year's prevalent yuletide theme …

France to pull troops from Afghanistan  —  PARIS - France is to withdraw its 200-strong special forces from Afghanistan, all of its ground troops engaged in the U.S anti-terror operation there, authorities announced Sunday.  —  The decision to pull the elite troops, based in the southeastern city …

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 …

More On Warner  —  Now that Hotline has published the rumor, my sources have released me from my pledges ... Mark Warner has, in fact, been rethinking his decision to leave the Presidential race for several weeks now.  Warner's going to wait and see how this race plays out …