Richardson withdraws as Commerce nominee  —  New Mexico governor cites pending investigation of business dealings  —  New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson, tapped in December by President-elect Barack Obama to serve as secretary of Commerce, has withdrawn his name for the position …

Israel splits Gaza in three as soldiers battle Hamas  —  James Hider on the Gaza border and Azmi Keshawi in Gaza City  —  Israeli troops fought heavy battles with Hamas fighters in two densely populated Gaza towns today as the Army sought to split the strip into three sections to cut off the Islamist group's supply lines.

Orwell, blinding tribalism, selective Terrorism, and Israel/Gaza  —  (updated below)  —  Former McCain-Palin campaign spokesman and current Weekly Standard editor Michael Goldfarb notes that Israel, a couple of days ago, dropped a 2,000-pound bomb on a Gazan home which killed a top Hamas leader …

George H. W. Bush: I'd like to see Jeb elected president.»  —  This morning on Fox News Sunday, host Chris Wallace asked former President George H.W. Bush about the possibility of his son, former Florida Governor Jeb Bush, running for Senate.  The former president expressed his hope …

Reid cracks Senate door open for Burris  —  Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) indicated Sunday that there is a chance that controversial Illinois Senate appointee Roland Burris could be seated in the upper chamber.  —  Reid, who appeared on NBC's “Meet the Press,” …

Charity homes built by Hollywood start to crumble  —  RESIDENTS of a model housing estate bankrolled by Hollywood celebrities and hand-built by Jimmy Carter, the former US president, are complaining that it is falling apart.  —  Fairway Oaks was built on northern Florida wasteland by 10,000 volunteers …

The End of the Financial World as We Know It  —  AMERICANS enter the New Year in a strange new role: financial lunatics.  We've been viewed by the wider world with mistrust and suspicion on other matters, but on the subject of money even our harshest critics have been inclined to believe that we knew what we were doing.

More Groups Than Thought Monitored in Police Spying  —  New Documents Reveal Md. Program's Reach  —  The Maryland State Police surveillance of advocacy groups was far more extensive than previously acknowledged, with records showing that troopers monitored — and labeled as terrorists …

Schumer: Franken is the winner  —  Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), the outgoing chairman of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, declared Sunday that Al Franken has won the Minnesota Senate recount against Sen. Norm Coleman (R-Minn.).  —  “With the Minnesota recount complete, it is now clear that Al Franken won the election.