Rodriguez defeats Bonilla  —  U.S. Rep. Henry Bonilla conceded defeat to former congressman Ciro Rodriguez in a stunning upset that completed the Democratic takeover of Congress.  —  The Republican incumbent lost Bexar County for the first time in his political career Tuesday night …

Saudis Give a Grim What If Should U.S. Opt to Leave Iraq  —  Saudi Arabia has told the Bush administration that it might provide financial backing to Iraqi Sunnis in any war against Iraq's Shiites if the United States pulls its troops out of Iraq, according to American and Arab diplomats.

Israel Fading, Iran's Leader Tells Deniers of Holocaust  —  A two-day gathering of Holocaust deniers and white supremacists ended Tuesday with President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad welcoming participants in his office and telling them Israel would not survive long.  —  "The Zionist regime …

Muslim pilgrims urged to complain  —  American Muslims making a religious pilgrimage to Mecca are being encouraged to file civil rights complaints if they feel discriminated against by airlines.  —  The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), citing what it called the "airport profiling" …

Pentagon's plan: More U.S. troops in Iraq  —  Boosting presence and aid, and an anti-Sadr offensive, carry risks but offer the best path to victory, military officials say.  —  WASHINGTON — As President Bush weighs new policy options for Iraq, strong support has coalesced in the Pentagon behind …

Point of personal privilege  —  (CNN) — "Humor is the nitroglycerin of politics," a political analyst wrote long ago.  "Very powerful, but if it's not handled carefully, it can explode in your face."  —  Actually, I wrote those words in a widely un-read book.

Army, Marine Corps To Ask for More Troops  —  The Army and Marine Corps are planning to ask incoming Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates and Congress to approve permanent increases in personnel, as senior officials in both services assert that the nation's global military strategy has outstripped their resources.

Democrats Consider Outside Ethics Panel  —  House Democrats are seriously exploring the creation of an independent ethics arm to enforce new rules on travel, lobbying, gifts and other issues that Democrats intend to put in place on taking power next month.  —  Senior party officials …

Majority say history won't be kind to Bush  —  WASHINGTON — History's view of George W. Bush will be harsh, Americans predict.  —  In a USA TODAY/Gallup Poll taken Friday through Sunday, a 54% majority says Bush will be judged as a below-average or poor president, more than double …

More Journalists Join Political News Venture  —  Mike Allen, a reporter who covers the White House for Time magazine, and Roger Simon, the chief political correspondent for Bloomberg News, are joining the new multimedia political news venture being overseen by two former Washington Post journalists.

Ukraine babies in stem cell probe  —  Healthy new-born babies may have been killed in Ukraine to feed a flourishing international trade in stem cells, evidence obtained by the BBC suggests.  —  Disturbing video footage of post-mortem examinations on dismembered tiny bodies raises serious questions about what happened to them.

Just Call Him Tony 'I Don't Know' Snow  —  To paraphrase Howard Baker's immortal question: What didn't Tony Snow know, and when didn't he know it?  —  The answer: A lot, and frequently.  —  When will President Bush roll out his new Iraq policy?  "We do not know," Snow said at yesterday's White House briefing.

Clinton hires faith guru  —  Burns Strider, one of the Democratic Party's leading strategists on winning over evangelicals and other values-driven voters, will join Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-N.Y.) as she prepares to launch her 2008 presidential campaign.

Lobbying the Jury  —  We are disappointed that the Supreme Court has upheld a defendant's conviction even though spectators at his trial put prejudicial material in sight of the jury.  Fortunately, the court made clear that its ruling this week was based only on the unusual way the issue was raised …