To the Point

It's Down to the Wire for Iraq's New Constitution

Iraq is currently governed by a temporary constitution, which stipulates that if a new constitution is not agreed on by midnight tonight, the interim government will go out of existence and new elections will have to be held. But Sunni Arabs who ruled under Saddam Hussein fear that Kurds and Shiites are making a deal to monopolize Iraq's oil. If they're not part of the action, the Sunnis could fuel an increasingly violent insurgency for a long time to come. After last-minute postponements, we get a progress report on meeting tonight's deadline, and update the disagreements over federalism, the role of Islam, and the consequences for women's rights. Making News: Confrontation Marks Israelis' Gaza Pullout Israel's pullout from the Gaza Strip has begun. Soldiers today issues eviction notices to settlers with orders to leave by Wednesday or be removed by force. Richard Miron, who is reporting from Gaza for the BBC, says that while there has been no violence, there have been confrontations between soldiers and settlers. Reporter's Notebook: Midwest Experiences Worst Drought in 17 Years From Eastern Texas to Wisconsin, five months of drought have led to smaller harvests of corn and soybeans. The shortage of rain also means that rivers crucial to inland transportation are approaching all-time low levels. There's concern that the mighty Mississippi might drop as low as the record of 6.3 feet, set in 1940. That's according to Martin Van Der Werf in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.