Nancy Pelosi offers Clyburn ‘assistant leader’ title in leadership peace bid  —  Trying to resolve a dispute among her top lieutenants, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) said Saturday that she will offer Rep. James E. Clyburn (D-S.C.) the newly created position of “assistant leader,” calling the No. 3 leadership position.

Myanmar frees opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi  —  The Nobel laureate greets a jubilant crowd outside her home after being held in detention for 15 years by the country's military rulers.  She promises to speak at greater length Sunday.  The conditions of her release are not immediately clear.

Obama to push Senate on START  —  YOKOHAMA, Japan - President Obama told Russian President Dmitry Medvedev on Sunday that he'll push the Senate in coming weeks to ratify a nuclear arms treaty the two leaders signed earlier this year.  —  “I reiterated my commitment to get the START treaty done during …

Murkowski on track to win on write-ins  —  CHALLENGES: Miller camp raises questions of election integrity.  —  scockerham@adn.com  —  JUNEAU — The Division of Elections has finished reviewing the write-in ballots for nearly three-quarters of the precincts, and the results show Lisa Murkowski …

An Open Letter to Republican Freshmen Members of Congress  —  Welcome to all Republican Freshmen and congratulations!  —  Congratulations to all of you for your contribution to this historic election, and for the contributions I am certain you will make to our country in the next two years.

Redistricting Hype Blurs Reality  —  Gerrymandering isn't all it is cracked up to be.  —  Republicans' broad gains at the state level in last week's election should give them a major advantage over Democrats when it comes to deciding how to divvy up congressional districts.

Britain's top soldier says al-Qaeda cannot be beaten  —  The new head of Britain's armed forces, Gen Sir David Richards, has warned that the West cannot defeat al-Qaeda and militant Islam.  —  He said defeating Islamist militancy was “unnecessary and would never be achieved”.

WHEN THE 'WATER'S EDGE' STANDARD DISAPPEARS.... If our political system made more sense, this would be an astounding scandal that would dominate the discourse. … This just isn't normal.  Laura Rozen called the meeting itself “unusual, if not unheard of.”  But it's what Cantor said that's astounding.

Missouri Dem warns McCaskill against ‘disloyalty’ to Obama  —  Rep. Emanuel Cleaver (D-Mo.) warned Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-Mo.) of “disloyalty” to President Obama if she should seek to distance herself from the White House in her re-election campaign.  —  Cleaver, who's seen as the likely next leader …

Nicer Emanuel woos Chicago voters  —  CHICAGO — In a city known for its cutthroat politics, Rahm Emanuel's first public approach to winning the votes and, perhaps more importantly, the hearts of Chicago voters is as simple as it is disarming: be nice.  —  It's not a usual pose for a man …

Cindy McCain is a hater - reverses self on DADT 24 hours after doing video linking the gay ban to gay youth suicide  —  With all due respect, Cindy McCain is a liar.  The only question is when she lied - today, or yesterday.  —  Yesterday, Cindy McCain - the wife of US Senator John McCain …

American Narcissus  —  The vanity of Barack Obama  —  Why has Barack Obama failed so spectacularly?  Is he too dogmatically liberal or too pragmatic?  Is he a socialist, or an anticolonialist, or a philosopher-president?  Or is it possible that Obama's failures stem from something simpler: vanity.

A Journey From Lawmaker to Lobbyist and Back  —  WASHINGTON — When Cooper Industries, a century-old manufacturing company based in Texas, moved its headquarters to Bermuda to slash its American income tax bill, it had to turn to a Washington insider with extraordinary contacts to soothe a seething Congress.

Secret Papers Detail U.S. Aid for Ex-Nazis  —  WASHINGTON — A secret history of the United States government's Nazi-hunting operation concludes that American intelligence officials created a “safe haven” in the United States for Nazis and their collaborators after World War II …

For Catholics, Interest in Exorcism Is Revived  —  The rite of exorcism, rendered gory by Hollywood and ridiculed by many modern believers, has largely fallen out of favor in the Roman Catholic Church in the United States.  —  There are only a handful of priests in the country trained as exorcists …