House Democrats Extend '06 Gains to 30 Seats  —  House Democrats increased their 2006 election gains to 30 seats Tuesday, with former Rep. Ciro Rodriguez's (D) surprisingly convincing victory over Rep. Henry Bonilla (R) in a runoff election in Texas's massive 23rd District.

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 …

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.

Democrats shopped Foley story to papers  —  Democratic campaign operatives pushed newspapers to write about then-Rep. Mark Foley's e-mails to teenage pages in the hope that a scandal would emerge before the midterm elections, according to a House ethics report.

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" …

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 …

Union: DHS Raids Grabbed Legal Workers  —  Union officials are outraged over a massive immigration sweep yesterday, which sent 1,000 Homeland Security Department agents — some in riot gear — to meatpacking plants in six states to round up immigrant workers suspected of using fake identification …

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.

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 …

Oregon senator prepares universal health coverage plan  —  WASHINGTON (AP) — A dozen years after Congress rejected a Clinton administration plan for universal health care, Oregon Sen. Ron Wyden is readying a proposal to provide health care coverage to all Americans through a pool of private insurance plans.

`Raymond' dad Peter Boyle dies in NYC  —  NEW YORK - Peter Boyle, the actor who transformed from an angry workingman in "Joe" to a tap-dancing monster in "Young Frankenstein" and finally the comically grouchy father on "Everybody Loves Raymond," has died.  He was 71.

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.

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.

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.