Snow: Polls won't influence Iraq strategy  —  WASHINGTON - President Bush understands there is growing U.S. concern over his handling of the Iraq war but will not rely on polls to determine when to withdraw troops, his spokesman said Sunday.  —  "The president understands how a war can wear on a nation …

Al Qaeda-linked group claims it kidnapped 2 U.S. soldiers  —  BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) — An al Qaeda-affiliated group on Monday claimed it kidnapped two U.S. soldiers south of Baghdad, although the captives were not named.  —  The group — Mujahedeen Shura Council — made the unverified claim in a statement posted on a Web site.

A.C.L.U. Warned on Plan to Limit Members' Speech  —  A lawyer in the New York state attorney general's office informally warned the American Civil Liberties Union that his office had concerns about proposed standards that would limit the group's board members from speaking publicly about policies …

Doubts About Duke  —  The prosecutor insists his rape case is strong.  One big problem: the facts thus far.  —  June 29, 2006 issue - The order had come, signed by a judge, requiring that the Duke lacrosse team give DNA samples.  The prosecutor was trying to identify the three players …

Waste Oil Dumps Threaten Towns in Northern Iraq  —  BAGHDAD, Iraq, June 18 — An environmental disaster is brewing in the heartland of Iraq's northern Sunni-led insurgency, where Iraqi officials say that in a desperate move to dispose of millions of barrels of an oil refinery byproduct called …

Zoellick Leaving State Department, to Join Goldman (Update1)  —  June 19 (Bloomberg) — Robert Zoellick resigned as deputy U.S. secretary of state and said he will take a job with Goldman Sachs Group, Inc., the world's biggest securities firm by market value.

Mideast Analysis, Fast and Furious  —  WHEN an Iraqi insurgent group releases a new videotape or claims responsibility for an attack, Western reporters in Baghdad rarely hear about it firsthand.  Nor do they usually get the news from their in-house Iraqi translators.

The Project That Wouldn't Die  —  Over the past decade Vibration & Sound Solutions Ltd., a small Alexandria defense contractor, has received a steady flow of federal contracts to work on "Project M" — $37 million in all from annual "earmarks" by congressional supporters such as Rep. James P. Moran Jr. (D-Va.).

Trying to Get Even  —  Democrats keep betting on failure in Iraq.  —  During last week's congressional debate over the war in Iraq, critics of the Bush administration's policy made three arguments: that President Bush more or less lied when claiming Saddam Hussein was a threat to the U.S. …

Decisions: Clean Water Act reach limited  —  A pluarlity of the Supreme Court concluded on Monday that the Clean Water Act's protection of "waters of the United States" is limited to those bodies of water that are "permanent, standing or continously flowing," and thus does not embrace channels through …

Lauder Pays $135 Million, a Record, for a Klimt Portrait  —  A dazzling gold-flecked 1907 portrait by Gustav Klimt has been purchased for the Neue Galerie in Manhattan by the cosmetics magnate Ronald S. Lauder for $135 million, the highest sum ever paid for a painting.

Blawg Review #62  —  Welcome to New World Man, a Library of Congress Web Resource on the Alito nomination, and home of Harriet Miers' con law crash course.  The author is a reformed lawyer who enjoys reading blawgs and writing about legal issues and in particular the Constitution and Supreme Court.

In 'The Devil Wears Prada,' It's Not Couture, It's Business (With Accessories)  —  IN one scene in the new movie "The Devil Wears Prada," the heroine, Andy Sachs, who serves as slave and coat rack for her boss, Miranda Priestly, receives a visit from her concerned Midwestern father.

NBC's chief confident on 'Today,' Brian Williams vs. Couric  —  E-mail Peter Johnson at pjohnson@usatoday.com  —  Just two weeks after CBS Evening News-bound Katie Couric said a tearful goodbye to NBC's Today, her old boss now sings the praises of her successor, Meredith Vieira …

CNN RELIABLE SOURCES  —  Coverage of Rove's Role in Plame Leak Investigation; Interview With Jim Lehrer  —  THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT.  THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.  —  HOWARD KURTZ, HOST: Rove's reprieve.  After years of media speculation …