MTP Transcript for Jan. 7, 2007  —  MR. TIM RUSSERT: Our issues this Sunday: Is the president on the verge of sending tens of thousands of more American troops to Iraq?  How would this so-called surge change the situation on the ground?  With us, for the Democrats, Senator Joe Biden of Delaware …

Plan Sets Series of Goals for Iraq Leaders  —  President Bush's new Iraq policy will establish a series of goals that the Iraqi government will be expected to meet to try to ease sectarian tensions and stabilize the country politically and economically, senior administration officials said Sunday.

Democrats Step Up Criticism of Iraq Plan  —  As the contours emerge of President Bush's expected plan to increase troop levels in Iraq, Congressional Democrats, who now hold the power to restrain military spending for the war, sharpened their opposition today — and revealed their internal divisions.

Scientists See Potential In Amniotic Stem Cells  —  They Are Highly Versatile And Readily Available  —  A type of cell that floats freely in the amniotic fluid of pregnant women has been found to have many of the same traits as embryonic stem cells, including an ability to grow into brain …

War's Toll on Iraqis Put at 22,950 in '06  —  Statistics From Health Ministry Official Show Tripling of Civilian, Police Deaths  —  More than 17,000 Iraqi civilians and police officers died violently in the latter half of 2006, according to Iraqi Health Ministry statistics …

Dallas-based food chain to accept Mexican pesos  —  Starting Monday, patrons of the Dallas-based Pizza Patrón chain, which caters heavily to Latinos, will be able to purchase American pizzas with Mexican pesos.  —  Restaurant experts and economists said they knew of no other food chain …

'We are on a knife edge - we have to engage Bush'  —  Bronwen Maddox, David Charter in Brussels and Tom Baldwin in Washington  —  Peter Mandelson says that a global trade deal is doomed unless the American President backs it today  —  Global trade talks that are intended to improve the lives …

Intel: A Writer's Blocked  —  A CIA panel has told former officer Valerie Plame she can't write about her undercover work for the agency, a position that may threaten a lucrative book project with her publisher.  Plame's outing as a CIA officer in July 2003 triggered a criminal probe …

Case tests officers' right to dissent  —  1st Lt. Ehren Watada's lawyer likens his client's comments against the war and the administration to those of retired military officials.  —  Do military officers have the right to publicly voice dissent about their commander in chief and U.S. war policy?

If the eco-snobs had their way, none of us would go anywhere  —  Is your journey really necessary?  Who would have thought that, in the absence of world war and in the midst of unprecedented prosperity, the state would be telling us not to travel?  —  Just as ordinary working people had begun …

Revealed: preachers' messages of hate  —  Muslim worshippers are being urged by radical clerics to ignore British law  —  An undercover investigation has revealed disturbing evidence of Islamic extremism at a number of Britain's leading mosques and Muslim institutions, including an organisation praised by the Prime Minister.

Maria Leavey, 52; Political Consultant  —  Maria Leavey, a behind-the-scenes media force for liberal causes who had an uncanny ability to bring opinion makers together with Washington's political elite, died of heart disease Dec. 31 at her apartment in Arlington.  On Jan. 1 she would have turned 53.

I Just Don't Get It  —  This is discouraging. … There are several serious problems here.  — Allowing Bush to escalate the war is unwise.  (Note that Biden told Bush last month, after the election, that there was nothing the Democrats would do to stop him on the war.

Iraqi Leader Plans Security Push  —  Premier Promises Nonsectarian Campaign Against 'Outlaws' in Baghdad  —  Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki warned Baghdad residents Saturday to expect the disruptions of a heightened military presence and said his government was ready to launch the latest effort to pacify the violent Iraqi capital.