Bank Data Sifted in Secret by U.S. to Block Terror  —  WASHINGTON, June 22 — Under a secret Bush administration program initiated weeks after the Sept. 11 attacks, counterterrorism officials have gained access to financial records from a vast international database and examined banking …

FBI arrests 7 in domestic terrorism probe  —  Raids being conducted in Miami area  —  WASHINGTON (CNN) — FBI agents were raiding sites in Miami, Florida, on Thursday in connection with a domestic terrorism investigation, law enforcement sources said.  —  Officials said no weapons …

General Reports Spike in Iranian Activity in Iraq  —  Iranian support for extremists inside Iraq has shown a "noticeable increase" this year, with Tehran's special forces providing weapons and bomb training to anti-U.S. groups, the top U.S. commander in Iraq said yesterday.

Senate Report Lists Lobbyist's Payments to Ex-Leader of Christian Coalition  —  WASHINGTON, June 22 — A bipartisan Senate report released on Thursday documented more than $5.3 million in payments to Ralph Reed, the former director of the Christian Coalition and a leading Republican Party strategist …

Peace deal offers Iraq insurgents an amnesty  —  From Ned Parker in Baghdad and Tom Baldwin  —  THE Iraqi Government will announce a sweeping peace plan as early as Sunday in a last-ditch effort to end the Sunni insurgency that has taken the country to the brink of civil war.

Lieberman Goes It Alone  —  Senator Breaks With Democrats In Otherwise Partisan Debate On Plans To Pull Troops From Iraq  —  WASHINGTON — A somber Sen. Joseph I. Lieberman stood alone on the Democratic side of the Senate Wednesday and broke with his colleagues on the Iraq war …

Global Warming Surpassed Natural Cycles in Fueling 2005 Hurricane Season, NCAR Scientists Conclude  —  BOULDER—Global warming accounted for around half of the extra hurricane-fueling warmth in the waters of the tropical North Atlantic in 2005, while natural cycles were only a minor factor …

Besieged Kentucky Governor Draws Fire From a New Quarter  —  As if there were not already enough problems for Gov. Ernie Fletcher of Kentucky, who has been indicted in a political patronage case, he now has political bloggers and First Amendment lawyers after him too.

BLOG THIS:  —  In response to Jason Zengerle's most recent post on The Plank—"Hope you're not tired of this Kos stuff"—no, I for one am definitely not tired of Zengerle's artful and honest exposure of someone who, more and more, seems to represent the purest, most classical strain of hypocrisy.

New Fuel Source Grows on the Prairie  —  With Oil Prices Up, Biomass Looks More Feasible  —  IMPERIAL, Neb. — Just outside this town in the middle of the great American prairie, 37 miles from the nearest traffic light, stands a huge pile of cornstalks and leaves.

Eye of the Storm: Kuwait makes history  —  Next week, Kuwaitis will go to the polls to elect a new National Assembly which will, in turn, approve a new prime minister and cabinet.  —  The Kuwaitis will be making history for a number of reasons.  This is the first election in which women …

Poll shows Muslims in Britain are the most anti-western in Europe  —  Public opinion in Britain is mostly favourable towards Muslims, but the feeling is not requited by British Muslims, who are among the most embittered in the western world, according to a global poll published yesterday.