Jefferson swarms back to win re-election  —  Confounding political pundits and a slew of rivals who had become confident of his defeat, U.S. Rep. William Jefferson, D-New Orleans, neatly sidestepped a roiling federal corruption probe to win re-election on Saturday to his ninth term in Congress.

Secret American talks with insurgents break down  —  SECRET talks in which senior American officials came face-to-face with some of their most bitter enemies in the Iraqi insurgency broke down after two months of meetings, rebel commanders have disclosed.  —  The meetings, hosted by Iyad Allawi …

Dairy Industry Crushed Innovator Who Bested Price-Control System  —  In the summer of 2003, shoppers in Southern California began getting a break on the price of milk.  —  A maverick dairyman named Hein Hettinga started bottling his own milk and selling it for as much as 20 cents a gallon less …

ISG must stand for, uh, Inane Strategy Guesswork  —  Well, the ISG — the Illustrious Seniors' Group — has released its 79-point plan.  How unprecedented is it?  Well, it seems Iraq is to come under something called the "Iraq International Support Group."

Aide: Democrat leader heard of Foley e-mails in 2005 … WASHINGTON (CNN) — The head of the House Democrats' campaign committee, Rep. Rahm Emanuel, had heard of former Rep. Mark Foley's inappropriate e-mails to a former male page a year before they became public, a campaign committee aide told CNN.

What Would Jimmy Do?  —  Simon & Schuster.  264 pp.  $27  —  Jimmy Carter tells a strange and revealing story near the beginning of his latest book, the sensationally titled Palestine Peace Not Apartheid.  It is a story that suggests that the former president's hostility to Israel is, to borrow a term, faith-based.

US bugged Diana's phone on night of death crash  —  The American secret service was bugging Princess Diana's telephone conversations without the approval of the British security services on the night she died, according to the most comprehensive report on her death, to be published this week.

Top Air Force Lawyer Had Been Disbarred  —  A top Air Force lawyer who served at the White House and in a senior position in Iraq turns out to have been practicing law for 23 years without a license.  —  Col. Michael D. Murphy was most recently commander of the Air Force Legal Operations Agency …

UN downgrades man's impact on the climate  —  Richard Gray, Science Correspondent, Sunday Telegraph  —  Mankind has had less effect on global warming than previously supposed, a United Nations report on climate change will claim next year.  —  The UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change …

Sen. Gordon Smith (R-OR) Calls Bush's Iraq Policy a 'Dereliction' and 'Deeply Immoral'  —  On the Senate floor Thursday night, Sen. Gordon Smith (R-OR) said Bush's Iraq policy "may even be criminal."  This morning on ABC's This Week, Smith elaborated on his criticism of Bush, calling his Iraq policy a …

How to Avoid Iraq Syndrome  —  Viewpoint: Richard Haass, president of the Council on Foreign Relations, warns against letting the failure in Iraq cause America to lose sight of its global role  —  Not much about Iraq can be predicted with confidence, but this much can: for the foreseeable future …

POISON SPY: IT WAS IN HIS TEA  —  Cups were 'nuked'  —  POISONED former KGB spy Alexander Litvinenko WAS murdered by radioactive tea, it was revealed yesterday.  —  Scotland Yard detectives have quarantined cups and saucers which show signs of being heavily contaminated with polonium 210 …