Last night, President Obama gave a speech from the Oval Office to commemorate the end of the combat missioin in Iraq. That and this morning's top headlines.

President Obama declared the end of combat operations in Iraq last night. David Sanger, chief Washington correspondent for The New York Times, analyzes President Obama's address from the Oval Office last night, and explains what it reveals about the future of the U.S. in the Middle East. Sanger says that Obama's speech was interesting for its message that the commitments in Iraq and Afghanistan are not open-ended, and that there are bigger priorities at home, including the economy and job creation.

Now this is going to sound somewhat familiar… the White House is hosting direct talks, starting today, to begin brokering an Arab-Israeli peace agreement, ideally to be formalized within the next year. Both Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and President of the Palestinian Authority Mahmoud Abbas will be in Washington today for the first face-to-face talks in two years.

Expectations are low, and the inevitable question arises: is anything really new this time around?

A new study shows that Caesarian sections account for about 1/3 of births in the U.S. And that number is expected to rise. Is the C-Section becoming the new natural and safe way to give birth? We want to hear from you: what's so natural about "natural" birth, anyway?

The Takeaway's sports contributor, Ibrahim Abdul-Matin, headed to Flushing Meadows Park in Queens, NY for the U.S. Open. He came away with a number of observations, including how players distract themselves, like Frenchman, Gael Monfils who played soccer on the court before his match.

For nearly two weeks, a stretch of highway outside Beijing saw monster gridlock, which stretched out over sixty miles and trapped drivers on China's National Highway 110 for days. It had been expected to last until mid-September, but last Thursday, after eleven days, the traffic jam suddenly broke.

Many people, of course, are wondering: Where did it go? How did it start? And could this kind of jam happen again?

President Obama delivered a speech last night from the Oval Office that marked the end of the U.S. combat mission in Iraq, but myriad problems in the Middle East still exist. That and the morning's top headlines. 

President Obama addressed the country last night, marking the official end of U.S. combat operations in Iraq. Balancing his own former opposition to the war with congratulating the troops required Obama, a gifted orator, to thread several rhetorical needles, but a larger question remains: do people care what Obama had to say about Iraq?

Orchestras across the country are trying to find new ways to boost ticket sales in a bad economy. Conductor George Daugherty describes how he's introducing new audiences to live classical music, with the help of an unusual ally: Bugs Bunny. The Bugs Bunny at the Symphony program tours the world with the Sydney Symphony; audiences get to see and hear a live orchestral performance while the Looney Tunes gang plays on a screen above.

Yesterday we spoke about the large number of Americans receiving public assistance, and the story got you commenting as well. Listeners weighed in with their own personal stories about work and the issue of pride when you are getting help from the government.

With the unemployment rate over nine percent, many people are being forced to do just about any job, even if that means taking a serious cut in pay. This is part of a trend toward growth in low-skilled and low-wage jobs, according to a new study by the National Employment Law Project, which found that job expansion so far has been skewed toward industries whose median wages fall below $15 an hour. Some fear it is a trend that is likely to continue, even as the economy improves.

East Coast residents are keeping watching Hurricane Earl this week as the storm heads away from Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands, and up the east coast of the U.S., just in time to potentially disrupt Labor Day weekend. Earl is now a category 4 storm, with winds that have already hit 135 miles per hour.

At this point, Earl’s projected path shows it staying out at sea, parallel to the coast – big waves could reach North Carolina later today, and Long Island and Cape Cod by Friday. The National Hurricane Center is urging people along the coast from North Carolina to Maine to have a plan in case the hurricane comes ashore.

Chilean hip-hop artist Ana Tijoux sees herself as a musician first, and a rapper, second. The combination of clear homage to the kings and queens of soul, hip-hop and funk come through in her music, and sets a backdrop to her smooth style. Tijoux was born in France, after her parents fled Chile during Augusto Pinochet's dictatorship.