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Kayla Williams is a former U.S. Army soldier who served in the Middle East as an Arabic interpreter. She recounts her decision to enlist and her experiences during the Iraq war in a new memoir.

Iraqi Shiite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr calls for calm after violent clashes between his supporters and a rival militia. This rift within Iraq's Shia erupted at an acutely sensitive time -- Iraq's politicians are supposed to agree on a draft constitution by midnight Thursday.

Sen. Trent Lott, the Republican from Mississippi, has a new memoir called Herding Cats: A Life in Politics. Lott was the Senate majority leader from June 1996 to January 2001. He resigned from his position in 2002 after making racially divisive remarks.

In Iraq, fighting breaks out between rival Shiite Muslim militiamen in two cities. The clashes involved gunmen loyal to radical cleric Moqtada al-Sadr and members of the Badr Brigade, the paramilitary arm of the most powerful Shiite political party.

Sunni Arab negotiators in Iraq are so far rejecting the constitutional draft presented to the National Assembly Monday. Their largest concern is about the terms under which Iraq will be a federation. And some Iraqis fear the document will lead to a country dominated by Shiite clerics.

A draft constitution has been presented to Iraq's National Assembly. But there was no vote, and discussions on its contents are ongoing. The news came six minutes before the midnight deadline. Minority Sunni representatives have threatened to hold up final approval.

Leaders of Iraq's three main factions try to finish drafting a new constitution. The deadline on their one-week extension is midnight Monday. Negotiators have yet to achieve a breakthrough, and there is speculation they might seek another extension.

Our founding myth suggests the Americas were a lightly populated wilderness before Europeans arrived. Historian Charles C. Mann compiled evidence of a far more complex and populous pre-Columbian society. He tells John Ydstie about 1491.

Monday is the latest deadline for an Iraqi constitution. Despite renewed optimism, a number of key issues are unresolved, including the role of Islam, distribution of oil wealth and women's rights.

Despite an extended deadline, there is little visible progress toward a constitution for Iraq. While some involved say a resolution is near, others cite "profound" differences between competing groups.