Russia kills most-wanted warlord  —  MOSCOW, Russia — Russia's most wanted man, Chechen warlord Shamil Basayev, has been killed in an operation by special forces, the state security chief told President Vladimir Putin on Monday.  —  FSB chief Nikolai Patrushev said Basayev …

Japan considers strike against N. Korea  —  TOKYO - Japan said Monday it was considering whether a pre-emptive strike on the North's missile bases would violate its constitution, signaling a hardening stance ahead of a possible U.N. Security Council vote on Tokyo's proposal for sanctions against the regime.

Baghdad Erupts in Mob Violence  —  BAGHDAD, July 9 — A mob of gunmen went on a brazen daytime rampage through a predominantly Sunni Arab district of western Baghdad on Sunday, pulling people from their cars and homes and killing them in what officials and residents called a spasm of revenge …

New York building collapses, burns  —  Eleven injured; gas explosion appears to be cause  —  NEW YORK (CNN) — An explosion and fire leveled a residential building on New York's Upper East Side Monday morning, fire officials told CNN.  Eleven people were injured.

The Kos Campaign  —  Liberal blogs like Daily Kos have made Joe Lieberman their first domino.  But without a bigger vision, they may be the ones who fall.  —  M  —  arkos Moulitsas Zúniga, founder and chief firebrand of the liberal blog Daily Kos, sounded weary in a post …

Congressman Says Program Was Disclosed by Informant  —  WASHINGTON, July 9 — The chairman of the House Intelligence Committee said Sunday that the Bush administration briefed the panel on a "significant" intelligence program only after a government whistle-blower alerted him to its existence and he pressed President Bush for details.

HPD, airport security at odds over incident  —  Man allowed to board aircraft appeared to have bomb components  —  Houston police and the federal Transportation Security Administration disagree over who is responsible for allowing a man with what appeared to be bomb components board an aircraft at Hobby Airport last week.

U.N. Nuclear Chief Pulled Inspector at Iran's Request  —  The Nobel Peace Prize-winning chief of the International Atomic Energy Agency effectively fired his lead Iran investigator this spring at the request of the Iranians, according to a new report in the German newspaper Die Welt am Sonntag.

Well-Paid Benefit Most As Economy Flourishes  —  Wages are rising more than twice as fast for highly paid workers in the Washington area as they are for low-paid workers, an analysis of federal data by The Washington Post shows.  —  That means the spoils of the region's economic expansion …

Crossing a Line  —  "I enjoy writing things that inflame, mock and infuriate the right," Deborah Frisch said in an e-mail interview Sunday in response to a question about her online activities.  By any measure, she's achieving her goals — and she's also out of a job.

Two dead soldiers, eight more to go, vow avengers of Iraqi girl's rape  —  The American soldiers accused of raping an Iraqi girl and then murdering her and her family may have provoked an insurgent revenge plot in which two of their comrades were abducted and beheaded last month, it has been claimed.

GOP Husband, Democratic Wife Vie for Seat  —  The candidates say they offer legitimate political differences.  Their conservative critics say it's a campaign dirty trick.  —  Jeff Ippel is a Republican, involved in a three-way primary race for a seat in the Kansas House.

As Israel fights, Europe starts to squirm  —  While Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni told the cabinet Sunday that Israel has maintained "a level of understanding and support" abroad for its military actions, the words "disproportionate use of force" and "collective punishment" …

States try to block illegal workers  —  At least 30 states have passed laws or taken other steps this year to crack down on illegal immigrants, often making it harder for undocumented workers to find jobs or receive public services.  —  STATES TAKE ACTION: A state-by-state look