Sheik's Lawyer Gets Nearly 2 1/2 Years  —  NEW YORK (AP) — A firebrand civil rights lawyer who has defended Black Panthers and anti-war radicals was sentenced Monday to nearly 2 1/2 years in prison - far less than the 30 years prosecutors wanted - for helping an imprisoned terrorist sheik communicate with his followers on the outside.

Homes Raided In Rep. Weldon Influence Probe  —  FBI Looks at Business Run By Daughter, Political Ally  —  Federal agents raided the homes of Rep. Curt Weldon's daughter and one of his closest political supporters yesterday as part of an investigation into whether the veteran Republican congressman used …

Families Flee Iraqi River Towns On 4th Day of Sectarian Warfare  —  Families fled in search of safety Monday as open warfare raged for a fourth day between Shiite militias and armed Sunni men in Tigris River towns north of Baghdad.  Militias allied with Iraq's Shiite-led government held sway in Balad city …

North Korean Fuel Identified as Plutonium  —  American intelligence agencies have concluded that North Korea's test explosion last week was powered by plutonium that North Korea harvested from its small nuclear reactor, according to officials who have reviewed the results of atmospheric sampling since the blast.

Venezuela Is Denied Security Council Seat  —  New Vote Scheduled Today as Intensive Campaign Fails to Win Two-Thirds of Ballots  —  Venezuela was stymied Monday in its bid to win a seat on the U.N. Security Council, a result that shocked diplomats who had expected President Hugo Chavez's leftist …

Can You Tell a Sunni From a Shiite?  —  FOR the past several months, I've been wrapping up lengthy interviews with Washington counterterrorism officials with a fundamental question: "Do you know the difference between a Sunni and a Shiite?"  —  A "gotcha" question?  Perhaps.

Cheney Hits Heartland, and He Can Feel the Love  —  Grace Mosier lives with her mom and dad, goes to birthday parties, takes ballet classes and is just like a lot of other 6-year-old girls.  Except that she happens to be obsessed with Dick Cheney.  —  "I really, really like him," says Grace …

In Close House Races, GOP Incumbents Hold Advantage in Funds  —  Despite a rush of campaign donations to Democrats earlier this year, Republican incumbents in highly competitive races in the House have a substantial cash advantage going into the final weeks before the midterm elections.

Bush to sign law on terror suspects  —  WASHINGTON - President Bush is signing into law today new standards expediting interrogation and prosecution of terror suspects, a bill the White House says strengthens his hand in a time of war.  —  Bush's plan becomes law just six weeks after he acknowledged …

U.S. Faces Obstacles To Freeing Detainees  —  BERLIN — British Foreign Secretary Margaret Beckett last week issued the latest European demand to close down the U.S. military prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.  The existence of the prison is "unacceptable" and fuels Islamic radicalism around the world …

Ex-FDA chief to plead guilty  —  WASHINGTON — Former FDA chief Lester Crawford has agreed to plead guilty to charges of failing to disclose a financial interest in PepsiCo Inc. and other firms regulated by his agency, his lawyer said Monday.  —  The Justice Department accused the former head …

How Dare You Attack Me, And By The Way, Here Are A Couple More Disclosures  —  Harry Reid went on offense yesterday ... of a sort.  Claiming that his failure to properly disclose his partnership with Jay Brown — an attorney with ties to a zoning-commission bribery case and reported links …

Poll: Support for Iraq war at all-time low  —  WASHINGTON (CNN) — A poll conducted for CNN over the weekend suggests support among Americans for the war in Iraq is dwindling to an all-time low.  Just 34 percent of those polled say they support the war, while 64 percent say they oppose it.

A Secret in the Line of Succession  —  House Speaker J. Dennis Hastert (R-Ill.) shows no sign of resigning over the Mark Foley-House page scandal.  But the mere suggestion that he might do so raises an intriguing political and constitutional question: Who would replace him while Congress is in recess?

Minnesota Poll: Wetterling is ahead of Bachmann 48% to 40%  —  The congressional page scandal might have influenced some respondents for the DFLer.  —  DFLer Patty Wetterling leads Republican Michele Bachmann 48 to 40 percent in the hot race for Congress in Minnesota's Sixth Congressional District …