AP - Pope Benedict XVI on Sunday prayed that no political ideology would ever again cost people their freedom and dignity, as he recalled the millions who died from famine in Ukraine and other Soviet regions under dictator Josef Stalin.

AP - Pattie Brew, daughter of a North Carolina sharecropper, had let almost a century go by without casting a vote for president or joining the inaugural crowds only three miles from her home in the nation's capital.

Reuters - Three senior U.S. senators, including defeated presidential candidate John McCain, will visit Bangladesh early next month to meet its leaders ahead of a long-delayed vote, a U.S. official said on Monday.

AP - Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and President George W. Bush are wrapping up three years of close cooperation with hopes of leaving a Mideast peace legacy to their successors.

AP - A federal appeals court is considering the fate of 17 Turkic Muslims being held at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, a constitutional showdown over presidential power that could speed efforts to close the military prison.

Reuters - Violations of children's rights are increasing in Afghanistan with more attacks against schools, more children killed and more evidence of child sexual abuse, the United Nations said on Sunday.

Politico - One of the closest elections in U.S. Senate history is hurtling towards a critical juncture in its ongoing recount this week, as the campaign of Democratic challenger Al Franken opens a new legal front in its battle to break a virtual tie with Republican Sen. Norm Coleman.

AP - The U.S. men and women teams kept their slim hopes for a medal alive on Sunday after the men beat Germany 2.5-1.5 and the women rolled over Uzbekistan 3.5-0.5 in the 10th and penultimate round of the Chess Olympiad.

AFP - An Indian shipping union on Monday called for United Nations naval patrols in the treacherous waters off Somalia, as the crew of one hijacked vessel returned home to an emotional welcome.

Politico - With a CNBC clock counting down the minutes until President-elect Obama announced his economic team in Chicago, President Bush appeared outside the Treasury Department on Monday morning with Secretary Hank Paulson to show they are still at the tiller. 

AP - A federal appeals court expressed skepticism Monday about a judge's order releasing 17 Turkic Muslims from Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, into the United States.

AP - The chief U.S. delegate to the International Atomic Energy Agency said Monday that the change in administrations in Washington would be a good opportunity for Iran to enter new negotiations to end its uranium enrichment program.

Politico - CHICAGO — President Elect Barack Obama selected a Mr. Defense and a Mr. Offense for his economic team Monday,  picking Timothy Geithner as Secretary of the Treasury and Lawrence Summers as director of the National Economic Council.

Bloomberg - Nov. 24 (Bloomberg) -- Barack Obama today unveiled an economic team steeped in fighting crises and likely to push for an unprecedented government role in reviving growth and stabilizing the financial system.

CQPolitics.com - After he waged a campaign built around a stirring message of change, many of President-elect Obama's supporters expected him to begin stocking his administration with passionate progressives bristling to challenge the status quo. Conservatives anticipated something akin to the second coming of the New Deal.

Politico - One of the closest elections in U.S. Senate history is hurtling towards a critical juncture in its ongoing recount this week, as the campaign of Democratic challenger Al Franken opens a new legal front in its battle to break a virtual tie with Republican Sen. Norm Coleman.

AP - The commander of NATO said Monday he hopes that U.S. plans to send more troops to Afghanistan will motivate other alliance members to do the same.

AP - The trial of three men accused in the murder of Russian journalist Anna Politkovskaya resumes Tuesday, a week earlier than had been announced.

Politico - CHICAGO — President Elect Barack Obama selected a Mr. Defense and a Mr. Offense for his economic team Monday,  picking Timothy Geithner as Secretary of the Treasury and Lawrence Summers as director of the National Economic Council.

McClatchy Newspapers - WASHINGTON — By designating Lawrence Summers to direct his National Economic Council, President-elect Barack Obama gets a man with wide experience in handling international financial crises.

AP - Sen. Charles Schumer said Monday he is giving up his job running the Senate Democrats' national campaign efforts after two successful elections.

AP - A federal judge on Monday refused to block the military trial of a Canadian held at Guantanamo Bay and charged with killing a U.S. soldier while still a juvenile.

AP - The chief U.S. delegate to the International Atomic Energy Agency said Monday that the change in administrations in Washington would be a good opportunity for Iran to enter new negotiations to end its uranium enrichment program.

AP - A sports team owner, a financial firm executive and residents of Hong Kong and Saudi Arabia were among 2,702 millionaire recipients of farm payments from 2003 to 2006 — and it's not even clear they were legitimate farmers, congressional investigators reported Monday.

AP - As Treasury secretary, Lawrence Summers was famous for wolfing down a bag of Cheetos and polishing them off with a can of Diet Coke. The tip-off was the patina of orange dust on his suit.

Politico - President-elect Barack Obama’s transition strategists are now satisfied that Eric Holder will be confirmed as attorney general despite plans by Senate Republicans to ask tough questions at his confirmation hearings, Democratic officials said. Plans to name him to be the nation's top law enforcement officer are now definite after aides took soundings from Capitol Hill, the officials said.

AP - Government health advisers Monday recommended approval of the first new drug in 40 years for gout, a painful joint disease that mainly strikes middle-aged men.

AP - Germany will continue to pursue a well-known Holocaust denier even after a British court ruled against his extradition and set him free, a German state prosecutor said Monday.

AP - Former Osama bin Laden driver Salim Hamdan is being transferred from the U.S. detention facility at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, back to his home country of Yemen, a senior defense official said Monday.

Politico - The Republican U.S. senator sits glumly across the restaurant table.

AP - Despite political, social and economic advances by black Americans, racial disparities between blacks and whites persist in just about every measurable form:

Politico - Delaware Gov. Ruth Ann Minner’s (D) decision to appoint Vice President-elect Joe Biden’s longtime aide Ted Kaufman to the Senate has upset local Democrats who believe the move was a ham-handed attempt to engineer the election of Biden’s son, Beau, to the Senate in 2010.

Politico - ATLANTA — Here on the central front in the battle to capture a 60-seat, filibuster-resistant Democratic Senate majority, only one thing matters anymore—turning out the party faithful.

Reuters - The Federal Communications Commission's battle to collect fines from broadcast network CBS over Janet Jackson's infamous 'wardrobe malfunction' could be heading to the U.S. Supreme Court.