Bush makes surprise visit to Iraq  —  BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) — President Bush arrived at an air base west of Baghdad Monday on an unannounced visit, the White House said.  —  He plans to meet face-to-face with top military commanders, the U.S. ambassador, Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki and provincial tribal leaders.

Edwards backs mandatory preventive care  —  TIPTON, Iowa - Democratic presidential hopeful John Edwards said on Sunday that his universal health care proposal would require that Americans go to the doctor for preventive care.  —  "It requires that everybody be covered.

State of Mexico Addressed, by Invitation Only  —  Calderón Delivers Speech At Ceremonial Palace  —  President Felipe Calderón, blocked from delivering the traditional state-of-the-nation address to Congress, called Sunday for changing the format of an annual rite that has become a chaotic embarrassment for Mexico.

Combat deaths in Iraq decline; reasons aren't clear  —  WASHINGTON — American combat deaths in Iraq have dropped by half in the three months since the buildup of 28,000 additional U.S. troops reached full strength, surprising analysts and dividing them as to why.

The secular elite vs. the popular Islamists  —  Today's political challenge is to allow people to live according to their religion, while at the same time protecting those who are either irreligious or who have a different interpretation of the Koran  —  As a foreigner who is highly interested in …

Soldiers evacuate babies from Israeli daycare centre as Islamic Jihad rockets fall  —  Soldiers scrambled to evacuate babies from a day care center in rocket-scarred Sderot today after a projectile fired by Palestinian militants thudded into the courtyard.  —  None of the 15 babies at the center was hurt.

Report: U.S. workers are most productive  —  GENEVA - American workers stay longer in the office, at the factory or on the farm than their counterparts in Europe and most other rich nations, and they produce more per person over the year.  —  They also get more done per hour than everyone …

Bush, Advisers Make Surprise Visit to Iraq  —  AL ASAD AIRBASE, Anbar Province, Iraq, Sept. 3 — On the eve of major administration decisions on U.S. strategy in Iraq, President Bush, Defense Secretary Robert Gates, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and top U.S. military leaders including …

BBC offers Palestinians 'support'  —  The BBC has been advertising for a "Project Director, Palestinian Territories" to advise Palestinian journalists.  On what?  Impartiality?  —  The BBC have devised another way to spend our money  —  "And I thought WE hated the Israelis," …

Faith And Hillary  —  According to the current issue of Mother Jones magazine and reporters Kathryn Joyce and Jeff Sharlet, Hillary Clinton has been participating in bible study and prayer groups since she came to Washington in 1993, first as part of a Washington wives group while she was First Lady …

Save Our Elmer  —  U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service officials report that the number of licensed hunters in America fell 13%, dropping from 14 million hunters in 1996 to 12.5 million in 2006.  That's at a time when the estimated U.S. population rose from 265 million in 1996 to 299 million in 2006, a 12.8% increase.

The New Money Pit  —  It started with subprime mortgages.  Now owners of McMansions are defaulting, and the effects of the housing bust are beginning to ripple through the economy.  —  Walking through the gated community of Black Mountain Vista on a hill in Henderson, Nev., Thomas Blanchard offers a guided tour of real-estate woe.