Air America Radio Files for Chapter 11  —  Air America Radio, a liberal talk and news radio network that features the comedian Al Franken, has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, a network official told The AP.  —  The network had denied rumors just a month ago that it would file for bankruptcy.

Rep. Ney pleads guilty; GOP vows ouster  —  WASHINGTON - Rep. Bob Ney (news, bio, voting record) pleaded guilty Friday in the Jack Abramoff influence-peddling investigation, the first lawmaker to confess to crimes in an election-year scandal that has stained the Republican-controlled Congress and the Bush administration.

Feds probe trip that Kolbe made with pages  —  NBC exclusive: Congressman alleged to have been inappropriate on '96  —  WASHINGTON - Federal prosecutors in Arizona have opened a preliminary investigation of a camping trip Congressman Jim Kolbe, R-Ariz., took 10 years ago that included …

North Korea might now have The Bomb, but it doesn't have much electricity  —  As the world grapples with how to rein in the "axis of evil" state which this week conducted a nuclear test, this spectacular satellite photo unveiled yesterday by US Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld shows …

The Sounds of Silencing  —  Why do Americans on the left think only they have the right to dissent?  —  Four moments in the recent annals of free speech in America.  Actually annals is too fancy a word.  This all happened in the past 10 days:  —  At Columbia University, members of the Minutemen …

600,000 Iraqis Killed By War, Credible?  —  Johns Hopkins demographers, who this week released a study of Iraqi deaths since 2003, probably knew they'd need their flak jackets here in the United States as well: a war with endless controversy, a study released a month before an election …

Nobel for anti-poverty pioneers  —  Bangladesh's Muhammad Yunus and the Grameen Bank have been awarded the 2006 Nobel Peace Prize.  —  Mr Yunus, an economist, founded the bank, which is one of the pioneers of micro-credit lending schemes for the poor in Bangladesh.

The Alternative to Empire  —  The author of The American Way of Strategy responds to James Lindsay. … James M. Lindsay thinks that George W. Bush's foreign policy may be as good as, or better than, the alternatives put forth by me and by Anatol Lieven and John Hulsman …

Mr. Reid's Nondisclosure  —  The Senate minority leader's incomplete financial filings  —  THE BEST CASE for Senate Minority Leader Harry M. Reid (D-Nev.) is that he was sloppy about financial disclosure rules in accounting for a real estate deal on which he made a $700,000 profit.

UK army head in Iraq pullout storm  —  LONDON, England (CNN) — The chief of the British Army, who triggered a political storm by calling for troops to withdraw from Iraq "soon," has denied attacking government policy, insisting he meant a phased pullout of British forces over two or three years.

Texas School Tells Classes to Fight Back  —  BURLESON, Texas (AP) — Youngsters in a suburban Fort Worth school district are being taught not to sit there like good boys and girls with their hands folded if a gunman invades the classroom, but to rush him and hit him with everything they got - books, pencils, legs and arms.

Montana Senate: Burns Still Down by 7  —  Burns (R) 42% Tester (D) 49%  —  As November 7 looms, the reelection bid of Republican U.S. Senator Conrad Burns continues to stall.  State Senate President and wheat farmer Jon Tester (D) now leads 49% to 42% (see crosstabs).

China Drafts Law to Boost Unions and End Labor Abuse  —  SHANGHAI, Oct. 12 — China is planning to adopt a new law that seeks to crack down on sweatshops and protect workers' rights by giving labor unions real power for the first time since it introduced market forces in the 1980's.

Armey: On Christians and Big Government  —  Dick Armey: "When it comes to James Dobson, my personal experience has been that the man is most interested in political power."  —  In the midst of this big fight with Evangelical leader Dr. James Dobson, Dick Armey has released a truly remarkable letter.

Republican uses animals, mariachi band to critique border security  —  Reports of an elephant crossing the river or people trying to smuggle an elephant across were rampant Tuesday while an elaborate political stunt was taking shape near the mouth of the Rio Grande.

Vive la France!  —  You have to love the French.  Well, I do, anyway, and I'm serious.  They've just passed a law making it illegal to deny the Turkish genocide perpetrated against the Armenians from 1915 to 1917.  The American Congress can't even pass a resolution admitting that this historical fact …

Majority leader: Democrats endangered pages  —  DES MOINES, IA - House Majority Leader John Boehner today accused Democrats of endangering House pages for political gain.  —  Boehner, speaking at a campaign event for 3rd District Republican candidate Jeff Lamberti, said Democratic operatives …