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Under mounting pressure from U.S. officials, Iraqi politicians are struggling to meet Monday's deadline for drafting a new constitution. Divisive issues remain, including the level of regional autonomy, the role of Islam and the rights of women.

Iraq will have a new constitution by Monday's deadline. Several politicians involved in drafting the document say it may even be ready by Sunday. Will it be effective? A key question -- the role of Islam in government -- remains.

Two women meet in a baby store in Long Beach California, and poet Kim Addonizio's first novel, Little Beauties, is off and running. Alan Cheuse has a review.

After soaring to fame with Saturday Night Live, Dan Aykroyd built a solid film career. But he's still capitalizing on his early hit, The Blues Brothers (now available in a 25th-anniversary DVD). He serves on the board of the "House of Blues" restaurant and concert-venue franchise, and last year he published a book as his Blues Brothers alter-ego, Elwood, interviewing blues greats. (This interview was first broadcast on Nov. 22, 2004.)

As Social Security turns 70, President Franklin Roosevelt is remembered for bringing this popular government program to life. But it was Roosevelt's Secretary of Labor Frances Perkins who led the team that created the plan for Social Security and steered it through Congress.

Book critic Maureen Corrigan reviews Icendiary, the debut novel by British writer Chris Cleave. The story is triggered by an al-Qaeda bomb attack on a London soccer match.

The Kite Runner, the debut novel by Afghani-born physician and author Khaled Hosseini, has been on best-seller and book club lists for nearly a year. Writer Isabel Allende says the book — about a young man who returns to Afghanistan after a long absence — is "one of those unforgettable stories that stays with you for years."

In talks to frame an Iraqi constitution, a top Shiite political leader calls for autonomy for the Shiite-dominated region of southern Iraq. In the north, Kurdish leaders made similar demands. Iraq's Shiite prime minister rejected the proposals.

The back rooms at a Harvard University museum are filled with millions of items that will never be displayed. But curators just can't bring themselves to throw anything away.

Bill Maher, host of HBO's Real Time With Bill Maher, has a new book, New Rules: Polite Musings of a Timid Observer. It's a compilation of satiric segments from the show, in which he takes aim at everything from cell phones and fast food to politics.