C.I.A. Closes Unit Focused on Capture of bin Laden  —  WASHINGTON, July 3 — The Central Intelligence Agency has closed a unit that for a decade had the mission of hunting Osama bin Laden and his top lieutenants, intelligence officials confirmed Monday.  —  The unit, known as Alec Station …

A Dissident's Holiday  —  Have you ever noticed a certain hesitant quality to the expressions of patriotism by progressives or left-wingers?  —  The patriotism of the conservative goes unquestioned.  It's assumed that every politician on the right will wear a flag on his lapel …

Christopher Hitchens: This July Fourth, ignore polls on America's image  —  WASHINGTON - Here's what I want to know, and here's why I want to know it.  At what point in history, exactly, did the Pew Center decide that it knew how to measure world opinion?  —  I ask this because almost every week …

Senator's Plan B Creates Quandary for Democrats  —  Six years ago Joseph I. Lieberman came within a hairbreadth of the vice presidency after the Democratic Party chose him as a moderate face whose support for family values and a stronger military might attract Reagan Democrats and independents.

Ex-Soldier Charged in Killing of Iraqi Family  —  Coverup Is Alleged; Four Others Implicated  —  A former U.S. Army soldier was charged yesterday with the rape and murder of a young Iraqi woman and the slayings of three of her family members in their home south of Baghdad in March, federal prosecutors said.

NASA Gives Green Light for Shuttle Launch  —  CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) - NASA officials decided a crack in Discovery's fuel tank insulating foam wasn't enough of a threat to stop the countdown Tuesday to their first Independence Day shuttle launch.  The launch is set for 2:38 p.m. EDT.

US stars align in anti-Iraq war hunger strike  —  Star Hollywood actor-activists including Sean Penn and Susan Sarandon and anti-war campaigners led by bereaved mother Cindy Sheehan plan to launch a hunger strike, demanding the immediate return of US troops from Iraq.

IDF troops find bomb-laden car, searching for second near Jenin  —  By Avi Issacharoff (in Ramallah) and Amos Harel, Haaretz Correspondents, Haaretz Service and Agencies  —  Israel Defense Forces soldiers from the Golani Brigade's elite Egoz anti-guerilla unit tracked down a bomb-laden car in the Jenin refugee camp on Tuesday morning.

Al-Qaeda 'bid to infiltrate MI5'  —  Al-Qaeda sympathisers have been trying to infiltrate the British security service MI5, the BBC has learned.  —  Whitehall officials confirmed what some had long suspected, says BBC security correspondent Frank Gardner.  —  But those with al-Qaeda sympathies …

House GOP leaders say vote on minimum wage now likely  —  Cite the pressure of Nov. elections  —  WASHINGTON — With Democrats plotting to make the minimum wage a major issue in this fall's congressional races, House Republican leaders are conceding that they may have to yield to pressure …

Dirty wars, dirty bombs  —  Plus, Slacker Friday letters  —  I am taking an extra day because I love my country, sooo much.  If people really miss me, I'll be on Al Franken's show around 1:30 p.m. ET.  —  I've got a new Think Again: The Best of Times . here.  —  We're not yet a police state.

No News Allowed  —  News has always been a tough nut for Communist dictators.  It happens unexpectedly, giving bureaucrats precious little time to prepare the correct ideological explanation; it often undermines whatever propaganda line the state is pushing, and if it happens …

Switzerland: Israel violating int'l law  —  GENEVA  —  Switzerland said Monday that Israel has been violating international law in its Gaza offensive by heavy destruction and endangering civilians in acts of collective punishment banned under the Geneva conventions on the conduct of warfare.

Docs: Comatose Man's Brain Rewired Itself  —  Doctors have their first proof that a man who was barely conscious for nearly 20 years regained speech and movement because his brain spontaneously rewired itself by growing tiny new nerve connections to replace the ones sheared apart in a car crash.