Islamist Forces in Somalia Are on the Retreat  —  Islamist forces in Somalia beat a hasty retreat today to their stronghold in Mogadishu, Somalia's battle-scared capital, crumbling faster than anyone expected after a week of attacks by Ethiopian forces.  —  Burhakaba, a large inland city …

U.S. toll in Iraq surpasses that of 9/11  —  BAGHDAD, Iraq - At least 36 Iraqis died Tuesday in bombings, officials said, including a coordinated strike that killed 25 in western Baghdad.  Separately, the deaths of six U.S. soldiers pushed the American toll beyond the number of victims in the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.

Court: Execute Saddam within 30 days  —  BAGHDAD, Iraq - Iraq's highest appeals court on Tuesday upheld the death sentence for Saddam Hussein in his first trial and said it must be carried out within 30 days.  The sentence "must be implemented within 30 days," chief judge Aref Shahin.

Bush is bracing for new scrutiny … WASHINGTON // President Bush is bracing for what could be an onslaught of investigations by the new Democratic-led Congress by hiring lawyers to fill key White House posts and preparing to play defense on countless document requests and possible subpoenas.

Going universal  —  The American healthcare system is, simply put, a mess, but we may finally be ready to fix it.  —  THE STATISTICS, by now, are well known.  Forty-seven million uninsured Americans.  Premium increases of 81% since 2000.  Small businesses failing, big businesses foundering …

Flash!  President Bush Says He Reads Papers  —  Is there hope for newspapers after all?  Readers may be abandoning the printed versions, but over the last couple of years, at least one person seems to have started reading them, at least sometimes.  He lives in the White House.

Bipartisan Effort to Draft Immigration Bill  —  Counting on the support of the new Democratic majority in Congress, Democratic lawmakers and their Republican allies are working on measures that could place millions of illegal immigrants on a more direct path to citizenship than would a bill that the Senate passed in the spring.

Consultant Helps Democrats Embrace Faith, and Some in Party Are Not Pleased  —  As Democrats turn toward the 2008 presidential race, a novice evangelical political operative is emerging as a rising star in the party, drawing both applause and alarm for her courtship of theological conservatives in the midterm elections.

Lieberman Defends Video-Game Money  —  WASHINGTON — It has become a holiday ritual: Joe Lieberman and family-research officials hold a well-attended press conference to decry the impact on children of excessive video game sex and violence.  —  And, again in 2006, Lieberman indulged …

A Delusional System of Justice  —  Since this is my last column of 2006, tradition and custom obligate me to choose a person of the year.  This practice was started by the late Henry Luce, who realized that choosing a man of the year would call as much attention to his Time magazine as it would to the person himself.