In learning to play the drums, the British singer delves into her music's rhythmic core.

latimes.com
A scientific panel chartered by Congress cites nerve gas drug and pesticides used during the conflict as being associated with veterans' neurological problems. >>

Q & A
As Iraq's parliament plans to vote on a deal that would set Dec. 31, 2011, as the end date for U.S. occupation, The Times answers questions about the pact. >>

TELEVISION
First lady of France Carla Bruni-Sarkozy is a guest on 'Late Show With David Letterman.' >>

France: Alleged ETA leader held / Peru: Man held with grenades / Brazil: Trader tries suicide at exchange / Australia: Navy gets 2-month holiday / South Africa: Teen pleads guilty to shootings >>

JAZZ REVIEW
Brad Mehldau, Ellis Marsalis and McCoy Tyner play memorable sets at the Greek. >>

November 17, 2008
BELIEFS
A recent forum at the Vatican designed to foster interfaith communication is the kind of thing local followers have been doing for years. >>

The long-negotiated security pact is expected to face opposition in parliament by lawmakers who see it as a sellout. Radical Shiite cleric Muqtada Sadr has threatened a renewed uprising. >>

DISPATCH FROM LONDON
The U.S. Embassy is moving from north of the river to the south, crossing a social divide between old and new, between class and sass. >>

India: Tibetan exiles seek new ideas on dealing with China / Australia: Nonlethal whale research planned / Congo: Rebel leader agrees to U.N. peace talks / Mexico: 4 Scuba divers die during aqueduct m >>

November 16, 2008
Leaders agree to tighter controls on financial markets and to work together to halt the global economic crisis. Bush defends the gathering as a good start. >>

The leader, who is in Washington for economic talks, expresses hopes that President-elect Obama will help improve the deteriorating U.S.-Russian relationship. >>

The U.S. ally's finance chief says the International Monetary Fund agreed to the bailout after endorsing plans to tackle the country's huge budget and trade deficits. >>

November 15, 2008
TELEVISION REVIEW
Ricky Gervais combines his 'Office' and 'Extras' personas in his 'Out of England' HBO special. >>

President Dmitry Medvedev is to visit Venezuela, where President Hugo Chavez has been cultivating stronger military and economic relations with Russia. Stops in Brazil and Cuba are also planned. >>

Russia: Longer term for president approved / Brazil: Report cites police corruption / Colombia: Finance official resigns / Uruguay: Abortion law vetoed / Belarus: Lukashenko considers missiles >>

Spending pullbacks raise fears of higher unemployment in coming months. >>

November 14, 2008
Although Vladimir Putin has left the presidency and become prime minister, there's no longer any question that he's more powerful than his handpicked successor, Dmitry Medvedev. >>

Defense secretary calls Russia's threat to deploy missiles on its border with Poland 'unnecessary and misguided.' He says Moscow has nothing to fear from a U.S. missile defense system in Europe. >>

November 13, 2008
Soldiers and officers convicted or implicated in the deaths of six priests in 1989 are free under a controversial amnesty law. Victims' relatives and rights groups turn to Spain's courts. >>

Sudan: President offers cease-fire in Darfur / United Nations: Saudi king calls terrorism the enemy of all religions / Germany: Anti-terr >>

It never agreed to that provision in a deal with the U.S., Pyongyang says, but Washington disputes such talk. >>

November 12, 2008
Gordon Brown calls for countries to boost the global economy, orchestrating stimulus packages and forging an international trade deal. >>

November 11, 2008
Army Air Forces 2nd Lt. Ray Packard was listed as missing in action after being shot down in France in 1944. Last month, he was interred at Arizona's Prescott National Cemetery. >>

Congo: Cholera spreads to town / Taiwan: Ex-president's arrest expected / Somalia: Gunmen kidnap 2 nuns in Kenya / Britain: Extremist preacher Abu Qatada faces hearing / Mexico: U.S. unveils consulate >>

At a cathedral in downtown L.A., the organization Send the Bishops a Message requested at a news conference that congregants nationwide not donate Sunday in protest of clergy sexual abuse. >>

November 9, 2008
EUROPE
At Henri-Chapelle in Belgium, Meuse-Argonne in France and Sicily-Rome, countless tombstones tell the stories of those who gave their lives in battle. >>

If you go

THE AMERICAN BATTLE MONUMENTS COMMISSION

Court House Plaza II, Suite 500, 2300 Clarendon Blvd., Arlington, Va., (703) 696-6897, www.abmc.gov, maintains 22 monuments and 24 military cemeteries on foreign soil. >>

November 7, 2008
From Europe to Asia, Mexico to the Mideast, the realities on the ground will prove far more complex than the promises of the campaign. >>

November 8, 2008
COLUMN ONE
At Paris' Puces de Vanves flea market, Eric Hebert offers a mind-boggling array of yellowing cards covered in vintage buttons. Please don't ask how many he has. >>

November 5, 2008
BOOKS & IDEAS
The wife of former British prime minister Tony Blair largely avoids politics in her autobiography. 'I wanted it to be a woman's book,' she says. >>




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