CNN Political Ticker AM  —  For the latest, breaking political news, check for updates throughout the day on the CNN Political Ticker.  All politics, all the time.  —  Compiled by Stephen Bach  —  Making news today...  - House Dems meet to elect leaders by secret ballot this morning …

US plans last big push in Iraq  —  Strategy document calls for extra 20,000 troops, aid for Iraqi army and regional summit  —  President George Bush has told senior advisers that the US and its allies must make "a last big push" to win the war in Iraq and that instead of beginning …

Whither The GOP?  —  After the midterm elections, many of us hoped that the Republican Party would return to conservative First Principles in an attempt to recapture the energy that propelled them to majority status in 1994.  Refocusing on the bedrock principles of limited government …

Sectarian Strife in Iraq Imperils Entire Region, Analysts Warn  —  BAGHDAD — While American commanders have suggested that civil war is possible in Iraq, many leaders, experts and ordinary people in Baghdad and around the Middle East say it is already underway, and that the real worry ahead …

A Confession?  —  With a new book and TV special, O. J. Simpson is reviving the controversy over his acquittal for the murders of Nicole Brown and Ronald Goldman 12 years ago.  —  Is O. J. Simpson confessing?  That's what powerhouse publisher Judith Regan teasingly promises from a new book …

The Social Responsibility in Teaching Sociobiology  —  Socrates was made to drink hemlock for having "corrupted the youth of Athens."  Is sociobiology or — as it is more commonly called these days — "evolutionary psychology" similarly corrupting?  Although the study of evolution is …

Afghan women seek death by fire  —  Increasing numbers of Afghan women are committing suicide by setting fire to themselves to escape difficult lives, according to NGOs based in the country.  —  They say women forced into marriage or suffering chronic abuse are killing themselves out of desperation.

Grading the Pollsters  —  Political polling has come a long way since "Dewey Defeats Truman."  —  Pollsters earned high marks in last week's elections: Surveys correctly predicted that the Democrats would win control of the House of Representatives, that the Senate would be closely contested …

Airport Arrest Turns Up Nuclear Info  —  A man was arrested at Detroit Metropolitan Airport after officials say they found him carrying more than $78,000 in cash and a laptop computer containing information about nuclear materials and cyanide.  —  Sisayehiticha Dinssa, an unemployed U.S. citizen …

Some tight U.S. House races still undecided  —  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Seven races for the U.S. House of Representatives were still undecided on Wednesday, more than a week after Democrats decisively won control of both chambers of Congress.  —  Five House races across the country were too close to call …

Romney hires ex-Bush ad man  —  Producer noted for tough tactics  —  Governor Mitt Romney, who continues to sign up big-name political consultants for a probable presidential run, has hired bare-knuckles GOP ad man Alex Castellanos, a veteran of presidential campaigns known for his tough ads against Democratic candidates.

Turkey ends French military ties  —  The commander of the Turkish army says his country has suspended all military ties with France.  —  Gen Ilker Basbug said this was in protest at a bill passed by the French National Assembly to make it a crime to deny the Armenian "genocide".