instruction:
Given a text, write a compressed version of it in a single sentence.
question:
"Also available, Jewish Christmas-tree ornaments--a dreidel, a Mogen David--none of which includes the cheery holiday message: ""I'm hedging my bets with the Lord."""
answer:
Available, are Jewish Christmas tree decor, a dreidel, a Mogen David without the holiday message I'm hedging my bets with God

question:
The LAT , NYT , and WP fronts carry the news that the federal government has indeed, as it first hinted over a week ago, decided to try to block the Lockheed-Northrop merger.
answer:
The LAT , NYT , and WP report that the federal government has, as previously hinted, decided to block the Lockheed-Northrop merger

question:
He and his associates, supported by Clarke, pressed for developing a partnership with the Northern Alliance, even though doing so might bring the United States squarely behind one side in Afghanistan's long-running civil war.
answer:
He and is associates pressed for developing a partnership with the Northern Alliance, even though doing so might bring the U.S. behind in Afghanistan's civil war