Newsweek: "Genes & Family"

Senior Writer Claudia Kalb reports that tens of thousands of Americans
have swabbed their cheeks and mailed in their DNA to companies
nationwide for testing to find out about their ancestry. As a result,
far-flung cousins are finding each other and family legends are being
overturned. As people track down their personal family narratives,
population geneticists are seeking to tell the larger story of
humankind. A genetic "Adam" and "Eve" have already been traced back to
Africa, and other intriguing forbears are being discovered all over
the map. Kalb also reports that the same science being used to trace
ancestry through DNA can also be markers for genetic disease and how
one day, giving a swab for a medical analysis may be as routine as a
physical.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/11080815/site/newsweek/

(Photo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20060129/NYSU002 )

PERISCOPE: "Direct Talks: U.S. Officials and Iraqi Insurgents" (p. 8).
In this exclusive, Baghdad Bureau Chief Scott Johnson and
Correspondent-at-Large Rod Nordland report that American officials in
Iraq are in face-to-face talks with high-level Iraqi Sunni insurgents.
Americans are sitting down with "senior members of the leadership" of
the Iraqi insurgency, according to Americans and Iraqis with knowledge
of the talks. The talks are taking place at U.S. military bases in
Anbar province, as well as in Jordan and Syria. The groups include
Baathist cells and religious Islamic factions, as well as former
Special Republican Guards and intelligence agents, according to a U.S.
official with knowledge of the talks. Iraq's insurgent groups are
reaching back.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/11079548/site/newsweek/

MIDDLE EAST: "Extreme Victory" (p. 26). Jerusalem Bureau Chief Kevin
Peraino examines the Hamas victory and what it means for the Middle
East. Muhammad Abu Tir, Hamas' second-ranked candidate from the
election, has spent plenty of time in Israeli prisons. He tells
Newsweek, "We will not act as policemen." And that could be a problem,
Peraino reports. The most desperate need these days in the Palestinian
territories is law and order.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/11079981/site/newsweek/

FAREED ZAKARIA: "Caught By Surprise. Again" (p. 32). Newsweek
International Editor Fareed Zakaria writes that we should not be
surprised by the rise of Hamas, since it mirrors the rise of almost
all such Islamic political parties in the Middle East. "Much is now
being written on how Hamas will have to moderate itself to rule,"
Zakaria writes. "But the next few months, if not years, will be a very
rocky ride. If we are to learn something from this experience, it
should surely be that now is the time to start building and shoring up
the secular groups, the middle-class organizations, the liberal-minded
civil society of the Middle East."

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/11078875/site/newsweek/

INTERVIEW: Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf (p. 33). Special
Diplomatic Correspondent Lally Weymouth interviews Pakistani President
Pervez Musharraf, who says that while it's the correct goal to
eliminate Al Qaeda, the strategy should be to address extremism in the
minds of the people. "People think 'Get Osama bin Laden and Zawahiri.'
You get Osama and Zawahiri, OK, you kill them tomorrow, I can assure
you [that] you will have achieved nothing. Let it be very clear."

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/11077658/site/newsweek/

POLITICS: "Palace Revolt" (p. 34). Washington Bureau Chief Daniel
Klaidman, Contributing Editor Stuart Taylor Jr. and Assistant Managing
Editor Evan Thomas report on a group of Justice Department lawyers who
secretly fought to rein in President Bush's power in the war on terror
from October 2003 to June 2004. And they paid a price for it. They
were ostracized, some were denied promotions, while others left for
more comfortable climes in private law firms and academia. Newsweek
examines the insurrection, as described by current and former
administration officials.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/11079547/site/newsweek/

JONATHAN ALTER: "The Political Power of Truth" (p. 41). Senior Editor
Jonathan Alter writes that as Oprah was asking for the truth from
James Frey last week, "there was even some truth breaking in the White
House press room ... Reporters were pressing President Bush hard"
about the National Security Agency's warrantless eavesdropping, which
violates a 1978 law. "Instead of the issue being framed in Karl Rove's
phony and demagogic terms ... we were edging our way toward a more
accurate depiction of the controversy."

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/11078876/site/newsweek/

MEDIA: "The Wrath of Oprah" (p. 42). General Editor Jonathan Darman
reports on Oprah's Jan. 26 show in which she brought author James Frey
on to explain the fabricated parts of his book "A Million Little
Pieces." "It was a masterclass in bravery," Oprah's close friend Diane
Sawyer told Newsweek. "She reminded everyone of the ... power of
telling the truth."

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/11079174/site/newsweek/

THE CRUNCHER: "Trial by Fire: The Real Enron Lesson" (p. 14). Wall
Street Editor Allan Sloan writes that in the wake of the Enron
debacle, Congress has not adopted one simple reform that would
eliminate the risk of having your retirements account collapse if your
employer does. "In the name of reform, Congress restricted executives
from selling stock during blackout periods-big whoop," Sloan writes.
"It also made companies allow employees to sell company stock they
received as 401(k) matches. That's good. But Congress wouldn't take
the big step-limiting the proportion of your 401(k) that you can
invest in company stock."

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/11077656/site/newsweek/

BUSINESS: "The New Magic Man" (p. 44). Los Angeles Bureau Chief David
J. Jefferson reports on Disney's purchase of Pixar animation studio
and looks ahead at what it means for future Disney animated movies.
Pixar's John Lasseter will report directly to Disney CEO Robert Iger
and have the power to "greenlight" animation projects at either
studio. His biggest challenge will be maintaining Pixar's freewheeling
culture after it is absorbed into the hidebound world of Disney.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/11078874/site/newsweek/

RELIGION: "Cut, Thrust and Christ" (p. 56). General Editor Susannah
Meadows reports that the debate team at Liberty University, Jerry
Falwell's Fundamentalist Baptist College, is currently ranked No. 1 in
the country. But there's more at stake here than a trophy. Falwell and
the religious right figure that if they can raise a generation that
knows how to argue, they can stem the tide of sin in the country.
Seventy-five percent of Liberty's debaters go on to be lawyers with an
eye toward transforming society.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/11078887/site/newsweek/

MOVIES: "Prize Fighters" (p. 58). Senior Writer Sean Smith and Senior
Editor David Ansen talk to five directors who made provocative movies
in 2005- Steven Spielberg, George Clooney, Paul Haggis, Bennett Miller
and Ang Lee- about politics, Oscar ads and crying at movies, among
other things.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/11077661/site/newsweek/

THE TIP SHEET: "Free Calls Get Pretty" (p. 69). Silicon Valley
Correspondent Brad Stone reports on the Internet telephone service
Skype, which, until now, could only be used when attached to a
computer. But now there is a set of technical instructions that allow
phone manufacturers to build the service into their devices. Newsweek
tested a few of the gadgets and reviews each.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/11078979/site/newsweek/ SOURCE Newsweek