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The prospect of holiday parties fill some with dread. But mastering the art of small talk can make conversations with strangers more enjoyable. Debra Fine shares her tips for getting through holiday parties unscathed.

Major U.S. newspapers continue to cut staff to offset disappointing revenue. But recent layoffs and buyouts at two newspapers owned by the Tribune Company prompted editorial cartoonists to protest. The cartoonists fear the cost-cutting measures may signal the end of an era for their profession.

It will be very difficult for Sunnis to support the constitution as it is, according to Ghassan Attiyah, director of the Baghdad think tank the Iraq Foundation for Development and Democracy. But Attiyah also predicts Sunnis may not be able to muster the votes to defeat it in the coming referendum.

Thousands of Iraqis attend funeral services for more than 900 people who died Wednesday in a panicked crush on a Baghdad bridge. The rumor of a suicide bomber sparked a mad rush during a Shiite religious festival. Amid the funerals there are calls for an investigation into the cause and accusations of a fumbled response to the disaster.

In California, federal authorities announce indictments against the head of an Islamic prison gang and three Los Angeles men suspected to be involved in terrorist plot to attack synagogues, National Guard facilities and at LAX airport.

Some economists warn that Hurricane Katrina will have economic impact far beyond the Gulf Coast region. David Wessel, deputy Washington bureau chief of The Wall Street Journal, says the inability to refine and distribute oil in hurricane-battered areas could negatively affect the economy nationally, including unemployment.

New Orleans resident Trenise Williams made sure to save one thing when she fled Hurricane Katrina: her marriage license. It may not have been the wedding she'd dreamed of, but Williams did marry her fiancé, Joseph Kirsh, in a shelter in Jackson, Miss. Local businesses chipped in for everything, including food and a wedding dress.

Emergency managers in New Orleans had been debating whether the levee system would work in a major hurricane before Katrina hit. Federal funding cuts left many projects undone and local engineers were not surprised when water surged into New Orleans.

Tilda Swinton plays a botanist who is haunted by a mysterious sound in an intriguing new film. Reviewer Justin Chang says Memoria's climax will leave your jaw on the floor.

“Your rhythm becomes everyone else's rhythm," 9th grader Vinoj Fullen says, "and there's just this shared motion and this connection between you and the water and everyone in your boat.”