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 …

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 blames fierce U.S. lobbying as Chavez government fails to win U.N. seat  —  CARACAS, Venezuela Venezuelan diplomats blamed heavy-handed U.S. lobbying for their country's failure to muster enough votes to win a U.N. Security Council seat in ten rounds of voting Monday.

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 …

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 …

Reid Decides to Amend Ethics Reports  —  Senate Democratic leader Harry Reid announced Monday he is amending his ethics reports to Congress to more fully account for a land deal that allowed him to collect $1.1 million for property he hadn't personally owned for three years.

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.

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 …

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.

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 …

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 …

Bono, Preacher on Poverty, Tarnishes Halo With Irish Tax Move  —  Oct. 16 (Bloomberg) — Bono, the rock star and campaigner against Third World debt, is asking the Irish government to contribute more to Africa.  At the same time, he's reducing tax payments that could help fund that aid.

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.

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."