Can 'Magazines' of The Times Subsidize News Coverage?  —  A PERFUME critic?  Yes, The Times now has one.  Chandler Burr's Scent Strip column appears in the high-gloss T: The New York Times Style Magazine, where the often-fluffy lifestyle coverage is a world apart from the kind of journalism in the daily sections of the paper.

Lamont Questions Lieberman's Spending  —  HARTFORD, Conn. — Ned Lamont's campaign says Sen. Joe Lieberman has failed to account for $387,000 in petty cash his campaign spent days before the state's August Democratic primary.  —  "Whenever this much cash is floating around it certainly raises suspicions …

Sen. Obama says he's weighing 2008 run  —  WASHINGTON - Sen. Barack Obama acknowledged Sunday he was considering a run for president in 2008, backing off previous statements that he would not do so.  —  The Illinois Democrat said he could no longer stand by the statements he made after his 2004 election …

How I Came to Love the Veil  —  I used to look at veiled women as quiet, oppressed creatures — until I was captured by the Taliban.  —  In September 2001, just 15 days after the terrorist attacks on the United States, I snuck into Afghanistan, clad in a head-to-toe blue burqa …

Bush: 'We've Never Been Stay The Course'  —  During an interview today on ABC's This Week, President Bush tried to distance himself from what has been his core strategy in Iraq for the last three years.  George Stephanopoulos asked about James Baker's plan to develop a strategy for Iraq that is …

FDL Book Salon: Anntichrist, Superstar  —  (Today's book salon guest is Joe Maguire, who is a) author of Brainless and b) a former Reuters employee.  His activities in "a" seem to have played a role in liberating him from "b."  Please stop by in the comments section and welcome him — JH.

US in secret truce talks with insurgency chiefs  —  AMERICAN officials held secret talks with leaders of the Iraqi insurgency last week after admitting that their two-month clampdown on violence in Baghdad had failed.  —  Few details of the discussions in the Jordanian capital Amman …

Sweden's Muslim minister turns on veil  —  THE latest media darling of Scandinavian politics is not only black, beautiful and Muslim; she is also firmly against the wearing of the veil.  —  Nyamko Sabuni, 37, has caused a storm as Sweden's new integration and equality minister by arguing …

What the Dems Would Do  —  They've waited 12 long years to reclaim the steering wheel.  How the party out of power would rule if they retake the House.  —  Khue Bui for Newsweek  —  Whose House?  The Dems could take the Capitol next month  —  John Dingell likes to reminisce about the days when Democrats ruled Capitol Hill.

Fighting for The Spoils  —  Lawmaker and Rainmaker Rahm Emanuel Wants a Nov. 7 Victory For the Democrats So Bad He Can Almost Taste It.  If Only He Had Time to Eat.  —  CHICAGO  —  This must be how Machiavelli ate his corned beef sandwiches.  —  Sitting in a South Side deli …

French Police Face 'Permanent Intifada'  —  On a routine call, three unwitting police officers fell into a trap.  A car darted out to block their path, and dozens of hooded youths surged out of the darkness to attack them with stones, bats and tear gas before fleeing.  One officer was hospitalized, and no arrests made.

In the Land of the Taliban  —  One afternoon this past summer, I shared a picnic of fresh mangos and plums with Abdul Baqi, an Afghan Taliban fighter in his 20's fresh from the front in Helmand Province in southern Afghanistan.  We spent hours on a grassy slope under the tall pines of Murree …