Iraq lawmakers approve security pact with U.S.  —  The vote is a major step toward ending the American military presence.  The presidency council is expected to ratify the accord.  —  Reporting from Baghdad — In a vote heralded by supporters as a momentous step toward restoring Iraqi sovereignty …

The Mayhem in Mumbai  —  Making sense of India's terrorist attacks  —  The attacks targeted the heart of India's financial district, but the shock waves were felt around the globe.  On Wednesday, a group of heavily armed assailants carried out a series of coordinated strikes in Mumbai …

NBC's Rosie O'Donnell variety show disappoints  —  Rosie O'Donnell gave NBC a real turkey.  —  The network's attempt to revive the primetime variety show failed to draw an audience Wednesday night, tying for the evening's lowest-rated program.  —  A mere 5 million viewers tuned …

Redefining “grownup” and “hack”  —  In a post about the Obama economic team titled The Grownups are Coming, Paul Krugman writes: … Like Paul, I am impressed by the new economic team.  I know best the three economists coming from academia—Larry Summers, Christy Romer, and Austan Goolsbee—and they are all first-rate.

If you only read one thing on China this fall ...  Make sure it is the latest World Bank China Quarterly.  —  David Dollar, Louis Kuijs and their colleagues have outdone themselves - and in the process provided a clear assessment of the sources of China's current slowdown and the risks that lie ahead.

Little buzz for VP-elect Biden  —  CHICAGO — More than three weeks into the transition, and Vice-president elect Joe Biden generates less buzz than the non-existent first puppy.  —  The vice president-elect has not spoken publicly since the election, and was at Barack Obama's side just once …

Deepak Chopra on Mumbai: Too Controversial for CNN?  —  A CNN journalist interviewed Deepak Chopra last night about his take on the Mumbai attacks and how to prevent similar attacks in the future, but it looked like producers cut Chopra off when he started to get too controversial.

Good Time For a Brainy President  —  When I started covering the White House more than 50 years ago, I believed that the smarter a president was, the better he would be.  That was wrong.  —  Lyndon Johnson and Ronald Reagan were certainly not intellectuals, but they understood the power …

The Hysterical Style  —  Politicians now predict the implosion of the U.S. auto industry.  Headlines warn that the entire banking system is on the verge of utter collapse.  The all-day/all-night cable news shows and op-ed columnists talk of another Dark Age on the horizon …

A Command of the Law  —  It's Thanksgiving.  I'm thankful for many things right now, despite the stock market, and first among them is the fact that the next U.S. commander in chief is a constitutional law expert and former law professor.  —  Before I get to why, allow me to add two other reasons for thankfulness.

Keeping Robert Gates as secretary of defense is a great idea.  —  If the reports are true that Robert Gates will stay on as President Obama's defense secretary, the move is a stroke of brilliance—politically and substantively.  —  In his nearly two years at the helm of the Pentagon …