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Washington Post senior correspondent Thomas Ricks says the Iraq war is likely to last at least another five to 10 years. He has written a new book about General David Petraeus and the Iraq war called The Gamble.

Last year, private-equity firm Lone Star Funds bought up nearly $6.7 billion of Merrill Lynch's credit debt obligations at 22 cents on the dollar. Could that be the private model the Treasury Department wants others to duplicate? Simon Johnson, a professor at MIT and a former chief economist at the International Monetary Fund, offers his insight.

Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner on Tuesday offered details of the Obama administration's revised strategy for rescuing the nation's financial system. NPR's Scott Horsley and Linda Wertheimer discuss the announcement.

With her wispy, delicate voice, Dearie was a darling of the jazz world for decades. Her biggest hit was "I'm Hip," and she even recorded with Schoolhouse Rock. The cabaret singer and pianist died Saturday of natural causes in her New York City home. She was 82.

Amy Dickinson, author of the syndicated advice column "Ask Amy," writes about the strong women in her life in her new memoir, The Mighty Queens of Freeville. The youngest in her family, Dickinson says she's "the plankton at the end of the food chain and the advice flows down."

The new movie Coraline is the story of a little girl who follows a secret passage into an alternate universe. It is the first stop-motion animated film to be conceived and shot in 3-D.

U.S. Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg was hospitalized on Thursday and treated for pancreatic cancer. Ginsburg, 75, has told friends she intends to be back on the bench when the court reconvenes Feb. 23. Nevertheless, there's speculation about whom President Obama would chose to replace her should she step down.

Historian Douglas Brinkley considers Ronald Reagan one of the top five American presidents of the 20th century. Brinkley is the editor of The Reagan Diaries.

Just two weeks into President Obama's administration, Russia is moving to reassert its influence over former Soviet republics in Central Asia. Moscow is pushing military cooperation and offering financial aid in what some say is reminiscent of the Kremlin's client-state relationships during the Cold War.

President Obama announced stricter rules on executive compensation at banks receiving "exceptional" levels of aid from the federal government. Some executives will have their annual salary capped at $500,000. Anything above that would have to be paid in stock that won't vest until the firm has paid back its government loans.