Top official: Lott to resign  —  Sen. Trent Lott (R-Miss.) plans to resign his seat by year's end, a senior Republican official told Politico.  —  The announcement took Capitol Hill by surprise because Lott, the former majority leader, seemed to be relishing his job as minority whip, the second-ranking GOP leadership job.

Lott says he'll resign by end of year  —  PASCAGOULA, Miss. - Mississippi Sen. Trent Lott, the Senate's No. 2 Republican, announced Monday he will retire from the Senate before January, ending a 35-year career in Congress in which he rose to his party's top Senate job only to lose it over a remark interpreted as support for segregation.

White House Releases "Principles" for Permanent Iraqi Presence  —  So it begins.  After years of obfuscation and denial on the length of the U.S.'s stay in Iraq, the White House and the Maliki government have released a joint declaration of "principles" for "friendship and cooperation."

Fact Sheet: U.S.-Iraq Declaration of Principles for Friendship and Cooperation  —  The U.S. and Iraqi "Declaration of Principles" is a shared statement of intent that establishes common principles to frame our future relationship.  This moves us closer to normalized, bilateral relations between our two countries.