"The United States has accelerated the scrapping of its nuclear weapons, approving a "significant reduction" in the stockpile by the end of the year, the White House said Tuesday. As a result, the US nuclear stockpile will be less than one-quarter its size at the end of the Cold War." (Thanks to William F. for the tip!)

"Police in a California suburb are stopping law-abiding motorists and rewarding their good driving with $5 Starbucks gift cards." (AP WIre)

"A donors’ conference in Paris, which US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice called ‘the last hope’ to avert bankruptcy, has raised 7.4 billion dollars in aid for the cash-starved Palestinian from the US, Europe and Arab countries." (Deutsche Press) Click read more to see a list of countries and contributions.

"Some Iowa colleges are trying to make it easy for their students to head back to campus early to help nominate the next president on January 3." (NYTimes)

"When a 20-year-old Boston gang leader was gunned down in November 2006, some community members feared the truce he helped lead between two city gangs would die with him. Instead, the cease-fire he brokered has held up over the past year, and the effort has been copied in other parts of the city." (BostonGlobe)

"An inventor has created a tiny, skeletal aircraft he hopes will revolutionize the business of disaster relief. The little planes can be packed into a container and flown to areas such as Darfur, where they could be deployed to hard-hit sites with loads of food and medical supplies." (Globe and Mail) Link from Andrew N.