The second annual list of predictions for the New Year by Chicago Tribune reporters.

“Biden, a critic of Bush’s war policy, announced that hearings would begin Jan. 9,” said Novak.

This morning I watched a video of the hanging featured on a major news website. Even though his life has come to an end, the violence in Iraq has not. And December reigns at the bloodiest month for U.S. servicemen and women, with no end in sight.

“The situation here remains like a tinderbox,” said one aid worker who witnessed clashes in December in el-Fasher town before it was evacuated.

“Iraq has closed one of the darkest chapters in its history and rid the world of a tyrant,” stated Senator Biden.

Earlier this month, Sen. Joseph R. Biden Jr., who takes over as head of the committee when Congress reconvenes Jan. 4, urged Britain to move quickly on ratification.

“If the President proposes escalation in Iraq, I will oppose him and so will many of my colleagues in Congress.,” stated Senator Biden.

Senator Biden answers questions about Iraq for Guy Raz at National Public Radio.

“About six months ago, the president said to me, ‘Well, at least I make strong decisions, I lead.’ I said, ‘Mr. President, look behind you. Leaders have followers. No one’s following. Nobody.’” -Sen. Joe Biden in Rolling Stone magazine.

Shatha Talib, 30, her husband and five children, are among about a thousand struggling Iraqi families that have taken up residence in the bombed-out remains of the former Iraqi Air Defense headquarters and air force club in the center of Baghdad. “Nobody should live in such a place,” she said. “But we don’t have any other option.”