White House, Joint Chiefs At Odds on Adding Troops  —  The Bush administration is split over the idea of a surge in troops to Iraq, with White House officials aggressively promoting the concept over the unanimous disagreement of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, according to U.S. officials familiar with the intense debate.

Senator Removes His Block on Federal Court Nominee  —  Senator Sam Brownback of Kansas, who blocked the confirmation of a woman to the federal bench because she attended a same-sex commitment ceremony for the daughter of her long-time neighbors, says he will now allow a vote on the nomination.

Mystery Surfaces Over Apartment of Kofi Annan  —  As Secretary-General Annan prepares to leave his post at the United Nations, a mystery is surfacing surrounding his apartment on Roosevelt Island, subsidized by New York taxpayers, which is still in use by the family of his brother, Kobina Annan.

Libya sentences medics to death  —  A Libyan court has sentenced five Bulgarian nurses and a Palestinian doctor to death for knowingly infecting hundreds of Libyan children with HIV.  —  The medics have been in detention since 1999, during which time 52 of the 426 infected children have died of Aids.

Please Let It Be Whale Vomit, Not Just Sea Junk  —  MONTAUK, N.Y. — In this season of strange presents from relatives, Dorothy Ferreira got a doozy the other day from her 82-year-old sister in Waterloo, Iowa.  It was ugly.  It weighed four pounds.  There was no receipt in the box.

Hillary Clinton Says She Wouldn't Have Voted For Iraq War  —  ABC News' David Chalian Reports: As Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton continues to assess a possible presidential candidacy and the contours of a Democratic nomination fight, she has taken another step away from her 2002 vote authorizing President Bush …

Pelosi preparing new shackles for free speech  —  WASHINGTON - Incoming House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has cooked up with Public Citizen's Joan Claybrook a "lobbying reform" that actually protects rich special interests and activists millionaires while clamping new shackles on citizens …

U.S. Inquiry Falters on Civilians Accused of Abusing Detainees  —  A Justice Department team responsible for investigating accusations that civilian government employees had abused detainees has decided against prosecution in most of the nearly 20 cases referred in the last two years …

Unabashed, Santorum soldiers on  —  TRIBUNE-REVIEW  —  Rick Santorum says he will remain a vocal advocate of America's war on terror — what he calls "the greatest problem ... a very grave threat to the future and security of our country" — despite losing his U.S. Senate seat.

The Bar Fight Primary  —  When Ronald Reagan announced his Presidential run in 1980, he did it in Philadelphia, Mississippi, the town where three Civil Rights workers were killed.  He faced Jimmy Carter in the general, a conservative white evangelical who had built up the military budget …

Iraqi Ex-Minister Escapes Jail in Green Zone  —  Iraq's former electricity minister, the most senior official arrested on corruption charges here, made a brazen escape Sunday afternoon from an Iraqi jail in the heavily fortified Green Zone.  —  There were conflicting reports about how the former official …

'The Real America,' Redefined  —  When a nation alters its philosophical direction and changes its assumptions, there is no press release to announce the shift, no news conference where The People declare that they have decided to move down a different path.