After President Obama vowed new goals for emissions cuts in the U.S., China is following suit, pledging a formidable 45 percent cut by 2020. In recent years China has come under fire for its heavy pollution, and the new climate goals fall short of expectations for a 50 to 55 percent cut, given that the growing nation is expected to increase global rates of emissions by 50 percent over the next two decades. "The U.S. commitment to specific, mid-term emission cut targets and China's commitment to specific action on energy efficiency can unlock two of the last doors to a comprehensive agreement," said Yvo De Boer, who is heading the upcoming UN climate conference in Denmark. In preparation for the talks, Obama and China’s president Hu Jintao have announced plans for initiatives between the U.S. and China to develop various green technologies and strategies, and to research Chinese emissions more closely.

Of all his opposition, President Obama may face the most resistance from his own Democratic Party when he unveils his updated Afghanistan strategy on Tuesday. Though the plan lines up with requests from General Stanley McChrystal, prominent Democrats are reportedly skeptical of Obama’s likely request for more funding and 30,000 more troops, and may demand tax increases in response, and Nancy Pelosi described the mood of her caucus as one of “serious unrest.” In the midst of a re-upped war effort, the president is also attempting to appease concerns that the war in Afghanistan, is becoming a Vietnam-esque quagmire, and Robert Gibbs recently said, “We are in year nine of our efforts in Afghanistan. We're not going to be there another eight or nine years." Still, anti-war and hawkish Democrats alike are skeptical of the rumored plans. “Devoting billions more dollars and tens of thousands more troops to Afghanistan is not likely to significantly improve conditions in that country, and it will not help—and could even hurt—our efforts to dismantle al-Qaeda's global network,” said Sen. Russell Feingold (D-Wis.).

As the Pakistani army chases the Taliban out of the South Waziristan, the former Taliban stronghold, the group is spreading to nearby districts, regrouping, and becoming a significant threat elsewhere. In Kurram amd Orakzai, beyond the battle zone, the Islamic militants have created a large presence, defying the U.S.-backed Pakistani government. Armed with AK-47s and rocket launchers, the militants are patrolling these regions, refilling their coffers through security checkpoints, kidnappings, and robberies. "They come to our houses and terrorize us," said one student in Kurram. "They are kidnapping our elders and stealing our cars. We have no way of rising up against them, and there's no government here to help us… Kurram is in trouble because of them."

The departing head of the U.N.’s International Atomic Energy Agency, Mohamad ElBaradei, said that the agency's investigation into Iran’s nuclear program has reached a “dead end.” “It has now been well over a year since the agency was last able to engage Iran in discussions about these outstanding issues,” ElBaradei said. After rejecting a deal that would monitor Iran’s uranium intake, Iranian officials insist that their nuclear program is an entirely peaceful endeavor, but the U.N. agency is expected to pass a vote chastising the country for its lack of cooperation. “The proposed agreement represents a unique opportunity to address a humanitarian need and create space for negotiations,” ElBaradei said. “This opportunity should be seized and it would be highly regrettable if it was missed.”

With news that Israel could release 1,000 prisoners in exchange for the kidnapped Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit, Palestinian officials have reportedly come together to decide who they would like to be released. Hamas authorities tell The Times of London that a top priority is Marwan Barghouti, who was jailed by Israel in 2004 for murder. Barghouti is seen as a figure who might be able to reunite the various Palestinian factions which have split in recent years. Barhouti is currently serving five life sentences. Also on the list: a bomb maker named Abdullah al-Bargouti and former Hamas military commanders. Israeli officials have allegedly agreed to many of the prisoners on the list, most of who are in jail for minor offenses, but another source says reports of an imminent prisoner exchange were “premature.”

The United States is trying to convince its allies in NATO to provide 10,000 extra soldiers to Afghanistan as President Obama ponders an escalation in American troops. Officials tell The New York Times that countries only seem willing to provide less than half the requested amount. Obama will announce his new Afghan war policy on Tuesday. With NATO's help, the president could close the gap between the number of soldiers he'd like to send and the number that Gen. Stanley McChrystal has requested. In Britain, where the war is increasingly less possible, the government seems willing to send 500 more troops. Canada and the Netherlands have begun discussing plans to leave Afghanistan entirely.

Thanksgiving weekend airport lines may ease up this year as an increasing number of Americans are choosing to stay home for the holiday, unable to afford the high cost of travel in the midst of the recession. Airport crowds have already been reportedly less frenzied than usual: “Last year we had people fighting at the checkpoint. They were screaming… they were getting mad over waiting in line,” said one American Airlines worker. Even with 38 million people expected to travel this weekend, the amount of air travel is set to drop by about 6.7 percent this year, and is down by a staggering 20 million people since 2005, when the economy was more stable. “It’s too expensive,” said one woman unable to visit her family in Atlanta. “It’s depressing because you want to be with your family for the holidays.” More people are making a road trip out of it, calculating the cost of driving to be much lower, if less time-efficient. Train travel is also getting more popular, with Thursday expected to be Amtrak’s busiest day of the year.

Defense lawyers for one of the five Blackwater security guards accused of killing 17 Iraqis in Baghdad are alleging misconduct by Justice Department prosecutors. In closed-door pretrial proceedings, the Justice Department recently sought to dismiss charges against Nicholas Slatten, though in a one-paragraph filing, it sought to preserve the possibility of filing new charges against him. Slatten's lawyers said they want to stop the Justice Department from doing so, and they want the issue aired in a public hearing. They say there is a fundamental lack of evidence against Slatten, and that the government repeatedly mischaracterized witness testimony and excluded evidence that ran in Slatten's favor from the grand jury that indicted him. The Justice Department didn't comment. Slatten, a former Army sniper, deployed to Iraq twice before joining Blackwater, which has been renamed Xe Corp. All five guards are charged with 14 counts of manslaughter, though the government isn't sure who shot which victims.

A Federal Reserve report cautions that a full recovery for the economy and labor market could take five to six years. Record-low interest rates could lead to excessive risk-taking in financial markets, the Fed says, and could cause consumers and businesses to worry about increased inflation. Fed officials expect a gradual unfolding of the recovery, with modest growth keeping unemployment elevated for the next several years. The jobless rate is predicted to be between 8.6 and 10.2 percent next year, slightly better than an earlier forecast of up to 10.6 percent.

She's the Secretary of State. He's a globe-trotting ex-president. Are Bill and Hillary Clinton doing enough to avoid conflicts of interest? According to The Washington Post, maybe not. Near the top of Hillary's agenda are Northern Ireland, Haiti, and Third World development, countries and issues that are part of Bill's charitable mission. In North Korea, Bill secretly pushed the administration's agenda. "They need to walk a very careful line; it's a very tricky area," said the spokesman for Sen. Richard G. Lugar, the top Republican on the Foreign Relations Committee. "A lot of the overlap in their interests and work you might see now are probably an outgrowth of having worked together on those issues when they were in the White House," said a spokesman from Hillary's presidential campaign.

Even after having spent 118 days in Iran's notorious Evin Prison, Newsweek reporter Maziar Bahari says the west must continue talking to Iran. In a Washington Post op-ed, Bahari describes the insecurities and fear of his captors and the Revolutionary Guard which controls Iran. "So can the West, especially the United States, have a dialogue with these people?" Bahari asks. "Yes. Because there is no other choice. The West has to negotiate with Iran on the nuclear program and the stability of Iraq and Afghanistan. Not talking to Tehran doesn't work." The U.S. must do everything it can to prevent a nuclear Iran, Bahari says. Bahari adds, "We have been brutalized to think of the world in black and white. Seeing the shades of gray can be our strongest weapon against those who would jail, beat and torture us."

Recession or no, rain or shine, nothing can rattle the time-honored tradition of Thanksgiving Day parades. Heading up the festivities as usual is the 83rd annual Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade in Manhattan, which is passing through a new route this year, its first time ever not going down Broadway. Many other U.S. cities play host to their own parades, and Philadelphia lays claim to the oldest, celebrating its 90th year today. The floats are a mix of new (think Spongebob) and classic (think Snoopy), a spectacle described by one onlooker in New York as “totally worth” the crowds. “When you watch it on TV, you don’t get that feeling,” he said.

Former CNN host Lou Dobbs is seriously thinking about running for the Senate in New Jersey, but his higher office aspirations don't end there. Dobbs might challenge Democratic Sen. Robert Menendez. ''A logical step for Lou, should he choose to go into public life, is to run for the next Senate seat in New Jersey, or to accept some kind of appointed position, nationally or in New Jersey,'' a spokesman said. Earlier this month, Dobbs left CNN after working for the news network for 29 years. The spokesman said the Senate could be a stopover for Dobbs—an "intermediary step"—on the way to the White House. Menendez brushed off any challenge. ''I'm concentrated on jobs, not Dobbs,'' he said.

It seems that two partygoers at last night's state dinner weren't actually invited. A DC socialite couple were able to get into the party honoring Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, despite lacking invitations; the Secret Service, which says it will be looking into its security procedures, said that the President was never in danger, since the couple went through the same security screening as all the invited guests. The couple, identified as Michaele and Tareq Salahi, consists of a hopeful reality TV show star (Michaele is said to be hoping for a spot on an upcoming Real Housewives of DC) and the man who founded "America's Polo Cup." The service learned about the gatecrashers thanks to journalists asking about the revelers online boasts and the photos on their Facebook page. Owen Wilson and Vince Vaughn were not available for comment.

A small town in Australia is seeking a bizarre solution to a bizarre problem—a sudden herd of “marauding, wild camels.” Northern Territory, Australia, has been overrun by 6,000 camels in the past few weeks, the result of a recent drought and a lack of water available to the animals. The herd far outnumbers the town’s population of 350, and officials are calling the situation “very critical” saying that it requires “urgent action.” The proposed solution—rounding up the camels with helicopters, leading them into the desert, and shooting them—has been met with resistance by local animal rights groups. “It’s a terrible thing that people react to these events by shooting,” said the executive director of Animals Australia. The camels have already caused significant damage to water tanks, fencing, and other personal property in the town, as well as contaminating the local water supply.

As Turkey time approaches Thursday, President Obama is not the only one seeking to save a turkey. One Massachusetts woman has placed an ad on Craigslist seeking to raise $2600 to give her pet bird Jerry, a three-year-old Narraganset turkey, recommended cataract surgery. Without the operation, Jerry will go blind. Jerry and a lady friend Penelope were adopted by a family only a week ago.

Retail workers across the country can start counting their overtime pay, as stores are battling the recession by staying open for Thanksgiving. Retailers such as Wal-Mart and the Gap are keeping their fingers crossed that consumers will shell out more in holiday shopping this year than in last year’s dismal showing, and hope to increase traffic by opening one day before Black Friday kicks off the mania of the holiday shopping season. But the recession also means that markdowns will be less generous than last year, peaking around 50 percent as opposed to 75 percent in 2008. The period between Thanksgiving and Christmas is the high-stakes time of the year in retail—approximately 134 million Americans are expected to hit the stores this weekend, and a promising one-third of consumers surveyed recently admitted that they would probably end up spending more than expected this year. "The recession last year was a shock to the consumer. This year they are already tired of it," explained a retail analyst. "They might even reward themselves for being frugal for the whole year."

Even though her show will be expiring in two years, that doesn't mean Oprah is receding to the sidelines just yet. She's about to add President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama to the A-listers she has interviewed over the years on her show. The episode, "Christmas at the White House: An Oprah Primetime Special," will air December 13, and will take audiences behind the White House doors to peek at the holiday preparations. Oprah came out as a loud supporter for the president during his 2008 campaign and was credited with getting him out in the lead for the primaries. It will be Oprah's first sit-down with the man in the White House since he took office.

As Libya has made nice with the West, its political royalty has adopted the traditional pastimes of the British upper class. Or at least, one of them has. Saif al-Islam Gaddafi, son of Libyan dictator Moammar Gaddafi and the man who escorted Lockerbie bomber Abdelbaset al Megrahi to a hero's welcome back in his country, recently enjoyed a charming gathering with some of Britain's most respected politicians, according to Charles Moore at the Spectator. Tony Blair's wife Cherie was at the partridge shoot, plus other unnamed guests with "double-barreled or European princely names." Gaddafi likes the sport so much he's blown away nearly 40,000 partridges in Tripoli, once in the company of a Formula 1 driver. Moore writes that shooting birds is preferable to "blowing up airliners," but it’s odd that British leaders would associate with "a member of the family responsible for the biggest terrorist atrocity ever committed against British citizens."

Two attacks undertaken by men wearing the uniforms of the Iraqi Army in the last two weeks have raised fears that the sectarian violence that plagued the country several years ago has returned. Six members of a family in Baghdad, including children, were killed on Wednesday; nine days before, 13 civilians were murdered in the Abu Ghraib district. But hard details about the attacks remain difficult to discern: the victims' relatives, local officials and security officials all give different accounts, many of them seemingly sectarian. Vice President Tariq al-Hashimi, currently in the midst of a campaign against an election law he believes disenfranchises Sunnis, described the attacks as "the return of the death squads"; the Shiite-led government's official statements, on the other hand, say the killings are "tribal disputes." Commander of American forces in Iraq Gen. Ray Odierno says there are "several different theories... That's what we have to work our way through."

The Kentucky Supreme Court ruled that officials hadn't followed the law in adopting procedures for executions Wednesday and suspended the killing of prisoners. The ruling did not address whether the three-drug cocktail used in lethal injections is inhumane. The justices held that the state corrections department must follow state laws concerning administrative procedures and publish details of the death penalty procedure and have public hearings on the matter. An anti-death-penalty group lawyer said the decision “will shine light on the lethal injection process and create accountability for the procedures that are used.” But dissenting justices said the ruling was a stalling tactic that "turns on a sterile technicality" and will lead to more delays in death penalty cases. “Respect for our law erodes when timely punishment is not given its fair place upon the scales of justice,” wrote one dissenter.

They say never judge a book by its cover—but is it okay to judge a candidate by his or her book? With three likely candidates for the 2012 Republican presidential nominations becoming published authors over the next few months, book sales may be one factor in pundits' predictions for the upcoming race. Both former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee and former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin are taking to the road right now, promoting their new books—for Huckabee, A Simple Christmas, his folksy account of Christmases past, and for Palin, Going Rogue, her folksy account of the 2008 election. The potential candidates' books reveal differences in their characters: Mitt Romney plans to release No Apology: the Case for American Greatness, by all accounts a much less folksy tome of policy issues and political analysis. What the three Republicans' adventures in writing point to is a banner era for conservative publishing: Penguin vice president Will Weisser says the niche has been "renewed with vigor."

Two men tied the knot in Australia's first legally viable civil ceremony Wednesday, one week after the paperwork for the newly legal same-sex unions became available. “Finally we're equal and we’re not treated as second-class citizens,” said Chris Rumble. “We've just been best friends for 20 years,” added Warren McGaw. Despite fears that those seeking civil partnership in Australia might face an uphill battle—with some Aussies looking to overturn the new legislation—the government announced Thursday that it would not intervene. The unions also come with an unexpected price tag of $199 for registration, a fee that doesn’t exist for straight couples.

Just when you finally memorized your TV lineup, General Electric may be closer to selling its ownership of NBC to Comcast. NBC Chief Jeffrey Immelt met with the head of Vivendi, the minority owner of NBC, in France Wednesday. Immelt is looking to get Vivendi to agree to a value at which it would sell its 20 percent share of NBC to Comcast. Bloomberg News reports that the two sides are less than $500 million apart. Getting Vivendi on board is a critical step in creating a joint venture between GE and Comcast. The Philadelphia cable giant would take a majority ownership of the company. Company officials declined to comment. Each year, Vivendi has a window between November 15 and December 10 to sell its stake.