From Thong to Thesis: Monica Lewinsky Flashes Her Intellect  —  There are moments that make you question your fundamental assumptions about the world.  One of them took place a few days ago, when news emerged that Monica Lewinsky had just graduated from the London School of Economics.  —  She did not!!

Clinton, Obama Clearing The Field  —  Without Declaring, They Beat Back Would-Be Rivals  —  Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-N.Y.) and Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.), trading on star power, the capacity to raise tens of millions of dollars with relative ease and an ability to dominate media attention …

Ethiopia attacks Somalia Islamic council  —  MOGADISHU, Somalia - Ethiopia launched an attack Sunday on Somalia's powerful Islamic movement, sending fighter jets across the border and bombarding several towns in a major escalation of the violence that threatens to engulf the Horn of Africa.

Channel tunnel is terror target  —  The Channel tunnel has been targeted by a group of Islamic militant terrorists aiming to cause maximum carnage during the holiday season, according to French and American secret services.  —  The plan, which the French DGSE foreign intelligence service became aware …

Man sets self aflame in Calif. protest  —  BAKERSFIELD, Calif. - A man used flammable liquid to light himself on fire, apparently to protest a San Joaquin Valley school district's decision to change the names of winter and spring breaks to Christmas and Easter vacation.

Putin to remain leader after leaving Kremlin: senior politician  —  President Vladimir Putin will retain a leadership role in Russia even if he steps down in 2008, as required by the constitution, a senior politician has said.  —  "He will not leave," Sergei Stepashin, head of Russia's accounting chamber …

America's Red Ink  —  The largest employer in the world announced on Dec. 15 that it lost about $450 billion in fiscal 2006.  Its auditor found that its financial statements were unreliable and that its controls were inadequate for the 10th straight year.  On top of that, the entity's total liabilities …

The $100 Million Barbecue  —  The weekend barbecue hosted by Ehud Olmert for his neighbor, Mahmoud Abbas, turned out to be more expensive than the cost of a beef brisket and a few brews.  The long-awaited meeting between the head of the Palestinian Authority and the PM of Israel resulted …

Lynne Cheney: Putting Scooter Libby On Trial 'Does Not Reflect Well On Our Judicial System'  —  Scooter Libby, the former Chief of Staff for Vice President Cheney, has been charged with "obstruction of justice, lying to the FBI and committing perjury before a grand jury."  His trial is scheduled to start in January.

Commander Said to Be Open to More Troops  —  The American military command in Iraq is now willing to back a temporary increase in American troops in Baghdad as part of a broader Iraqi and United States effort to stem the slide toward chaos, senior American officials said Saturday.

Iraqi Shiites resist isolating Sadr  —  Politicians and clerics support the leader and view U.S. opposition to him as interference.  —  NAJAF, Iraq — One of Iraq's most influential Shiite clerics rejected a U.S.-backed proposal to isolate Shiite extremists in the national government …

Gender Pay Gap, Once Narrowing, Is Stuck in Place  —  Throughout the 1980s and early '90s, women of all economic levels — poor, middle class and rich — were steadily gaining ground on their male counterparts in the work force.  By the mid-'90s, women earned more than 75 cents for every dollar …