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As Iraqis prepare for parliamentary elections, U.S. and Iraqi army commanders are gearing up for a massive security operation on polling day, Dec. 15. The top U.S. military commander in Iraq traveled around the country this week, focusing on election security.

In the past two days, police in Baghdad have found the bodies of more than 80 men -- some shot, some strangled, most with their hands bound -- raising fears that Shiite militias are running death squads to avenge Sunday's bombing in the capital's main Shiite district.

Israeli forces blast their way into a Palestinian prison in the West Bank town of Jericho. The action was taken in an attempt to capture Palestinian several militants, including a man convicted in Israeli courts of killing an Israeli Cabinet minister. The targets of the siege refused to come out despite Israel's threats to kill them.

U.S. forces launch a new counter-insurgency operation west of Baghdad, while a car bomb explodes at the entrance of the Green Zone in the capital. With just 10 days before Iraqis vote on a draft constitution, political fights about the rules of the vote and the wording of the document itself rage on.

Reports surface of another Iraqi Interior Ministry detention center where inmates were reportedly subject to abuse. Prime Minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari said 13 of the 625 inmates at the center required medical treatment, but he gave no details. A similar case came to light last month.

A group called the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta has grabbed four oil workers and also attacked pipelines and platforms of Royal Dutch Shell. Shell is the biggest producer in the swamplands of the Niger River Delta. Financial Times reporter Dino Mahtani discusses developments with Steve Inskeep.

Rock journalist Bob Spitz's new biography of the Beatles is decidedly not prettified: venereal disease, drugs, and bad business are all part of the story of the Fab Four. The book is The Beatles: The Biography.

Saddam Hussein, the former president of Iraq, testified for the first time on Wednesday at his trial in Baghdad. He called the proceedings a "comedy." The judge closed the session to the public when Saddam refused to follow orders.

A Russian missile struck a crowded shopping mall last month, killing 21 people and injuring dozens more. It was just one of many instances when Russia hit Ukraine's civilian areas.

The band Animal Collective performs a transfixing, unpredictable concert at MASS MoCA.