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Reading a story by Lydia Davis is like watching a magic trick: She shows you a top hat that's obviously empty, and then she pulls out of it something enormous and oddly shaped.

R.O. Kwon's new novel explores the attractions — and dangers — of faith, against the overheated, over-the-top backdrop of an upper-crust college somewhere in the Northeastern United States.

Former Democratic presidential candidate Andrew Yang's Forward Party is preparing to put up its first candidates in 2024.

Top Illinois lawmakers say they'd like to call the legislature into session for a special election to pick President-elect Barack Obama's Senate replacement. They don't want to leave that job to Gov. Rod Blagojevich who's accused by federal prosecutors of trying to sell the seat. The governor and the president-elect are not personally close, but they have worked closely together over the years.

President Obama has tapped a rural family physician to be the nation's top doctor. At a Rose Garden ceremony Monday, Obama nominated Alabama doctor Regina Benjamin to be the U.S. surgeon general. Benjamin runs a nonprofit health clinic on the Gulf Coast.

The top U.S. military commander in Iraq, Gen. David Petraeus, briefs both the Senate Armed Services and the Senate Foreign Relations committees Tuesday on the military situation in Iraq. Lawmakers will also be updated on political developments by the U.S. ambassador in Baghdad, Ryan Crocker.

Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf ousted Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif in a coup in 1999. Now, Musharraf faces increasing pressure to step down after sacking the country's top judge. Sharif is among those who wants Musharraf to resign, and says he is willing to return to join forces against Musharraf, even if it means going to jail.

The White House made sure Attorney General nominee Michael Mukasey would fly with potential opponents: conservative Republicans as well as various Democrats. President Bush stayed away from more volatile choices.

The nation's top military officer says more U.S. troops will likely be needed to win the war in Afghanistan. Adm. Mike Mullen's comments before the Senate Armed Services committee came as Democratic Sen. Carl Levin of Michigan underscored his opposition to additional forces, and Sen. John McCain, the committee's ranking Republican, shot back that any delay in sending troop reinforcements would have catastrophic consequences.

Gen. Stanley McChrystal, the top U.S. commander in Afghanistan, told Congress Tuesday that he's confident he now has both the strategy and resources he needs in Afghanistan. Ambassador Karl Eikenberry, initially wary of a troop increase coming before a crackdown on corruption, said he's satisfied that Afghan President Hamid Karzai has expressed the right intentions.