Patient trapped in a 23-year ‘coma’ was conscious all along  —  A man thought by doctors to be in a vegetative state for 23 years was actually conscious the whole time, it was revealed last night.  —  Student Rom Houben was misdiagnosed after a car crash left him totally paralysed.

Microsoft and News Corp eye web pact  —  By Matthew Garrahan in Los Angeles, Richard Waters in San Francisco and Andrew Edgecliffe-Johnson in New York  —  Microsoft has had discussions with News Corp over a plan that would involve the media company's being paid to “de-index” …

Senate Dems suggest they're open to altering health care bill  —  Washington (CNN) — Amid conflicting and heated rhetoric, a political pragmatism began to emerge Sunday as senators prepared for a debate on a sweeping Democratic health care bill.  —  Senate Democrats barely won a vote Saturday night …

Wave of Debt Payments Facing U.S. Government  —  WASHINGTON — The United States government is financing its more than trillion-dollar-a-year borrowing with i.o.u.'s on terms that seem too good to be true.  —  But that happy situation, aided by ultralow interest rates, may not last much longer.

Copenhagen will fail - and quite right too  —  Even if the science was reliable (which it isn't), we should not force the world's poorest countries to cut carbon emissions  —  Exactly a fortnight from today, the United Nations climate change conference opens in Copenhagen.

Where conservatives have it wrong  —  YOU'RE A sensible, principled conservative.  You want America to be a land of boundless opportunity and freedom, where people are treated as individuals and judged on their merits.  You reject the divisive identity politics of the left …

‘Purity’ may cost the GOP  —  The N.C. Republican Party has been channeling its inner Jesse Helms lately, and not just because a portrait of the late conservative icon was unveiled last week.  —  At a GOP banquet Saturday night in North Raleigh, one of the main speakers was to have been Doug Hoffman …

They Chose Celebrity  —  Before the 2008 election, almost nobody outside Alaska and Arkansas had heard of Sarah Palin or Mike Huckabee.  But in a long and crowded campaign season, they were the only Republican politicians who inspired any genuine enthusiasm.  —  They had other things in common as well.

What if a Recovery Is All in Your Head?  —  Beyond fiscal stimulus and government bailouts, the economic recovery that appears under way may be based on little more than self-fulfilling prophecy.  —  Consider this possibility: after all these months, people start to think it's time for the recession to end.

The Phantom Menace  —  A funny thing happened on the way to a new New Deal.  A year ago, the only thing we had to fear was fear itself; today, the reigning doctrine in Washington appears to be “Be afraid.  Be very afraid.”  —  What happened?  To be sure, “centrists” in the Senate have hobbled efforts to rescue the economy.

Analysis: Virtual diplomacy, real damage  —  Article's topics: Syria, Nicolas Sarkozy, Binyamin Netanyahu, Barack Obama  —  The statement by French President Nicolas Sarkozy in Riyadh last week expressing French willingness to mediate talks between Syria and Israel is the latest indication …

Iowa Poll: Iowa GOP likes Palin, but most Iowans have doubts  —  Sarah Palin could expect a lot of support in Iowa's Republican caucuses if she launched a campaign for the 2012 presidential nomination, according to The Des Moines Register's Iowa Poll.  —  But the rising national figure …

Chris Matthews Shocker: Obama Making ‘Carteresque’ Mistakes  —  Chris Matthews appears to have lost that loving feeling for Barack Obama.  —  On “The Chris Matthews Show” Sunday, the once smitten MSNBCer called some of Obama's recent mistakes “Carteresque”:

White House Pushes Science and Math Education  —  To improve science and mathematics education for American children, the White House is recruiting Elmo and Big Bird, video game programmers and thousands of scientists.  —  President Obama will announce a campaign Monday to enlist companies …