Lawyer, Facing 30 Years, Gets 28 Months, to Dismay of U.S.  —  Lynne F. Stewart, the radical defense lawyer, was sentenced yesterday to two years and four months in prison on charges that she smuggled messages from an imprisoned terrorist client to his violent followers in Egypt.

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.

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 …

Giant-Killer Lamont Stumbles  —  Democrat Will Need Republican Help to Unseat Lieberman  —  Democratic Senate nominee Ned Lamont and Sen. Joseph I. Lieberman (D-Conn.) met here Monday for their first general election debate, and the insurgent candidate did not get one direct question …

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 …

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 …

President Bush Signs Military Commissions Act of 2006  —  Fact Sheet: The Military Commissions Act of 2006  —  THE PRESIDENT: Welcome to the White House on an historic day.  It is a rare occasion when a President can sign a bill he knows will save American lives.  I have that privilege this morning.

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 …

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.

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 …

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.

Cubin holds lead over Trauner  —  CHEYENNE — With Election Day less than a month away, Dixie Bradley of Green River still isn't sure which candidate she'll choose in the race for Wyoming's lone U.S. House seat.  —  She sided with Republican Rep. Barbara Cubin in the past …

MATIER AND ROSS  —  Has the mayor's new girlfriend, who is only 20, been drinking?  —  San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom's new squeeze, Brittanie Mountz, just turned 20 last month — and that raises a couple of questions about the couple's nights on the town.

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 …

Hamas official: Is violence Palestinian "disease?"  —  GAZA (Reuters) - A senior figure in Hamas, the Islamist group that heads the Palestinian government, published an article on Tuesday condemning internal violence and questioning whether it had become a "Palestinian disease."