Baghdad Braces For More Reprisals  —  Cellphones and Web Spread Threats, Fear  —  In the aftermath of one of the deadliest spasms of violence, a new level of fear and foreboding has gripped Baghdad, fueled in part by sectarian text messages and Internet sites, deepening tensions in an already divided capital.

A Matter of Definition: What Makes a Civil War, and Who Declares It So?  —  Is Iraq in a civil war?  —  Though the Bush administration continues to insist that it is not, a growing number of American and Iraqi scholars, leaders and policy analysts say the fighting in Iraq meets the standard definition of civil war.

Spy death linked to nuclear thefts  —  An investigation was under way last night into Russia's black market trade in radioactive materials amid concern that significant quantities of polonium 210, the substance that killed former spy Alexander Litvinenko, are being stolen from poorly protected Russian nuclear sites.

EXPANDED HOURS, DISCOUNTS LURE SHOPPERS  —  It was cold, it was dark and in some places it was foggy.  None of that would stop millions of bargain-seekers from climbing into their cars for a pre-dawn raid on their local malls, electronics retailers and discounters for the official start to the holiday season.