The Choice on Iraq  —  "I appeal to my colleagues in Congress to step back and think carefully about what to do next."  —  Two months into the 110th Congress, Washington has never been more bitterly divided over our mission in Iraq.  The Senate and House of Representatives are bracing …

U.S. Says Raid in Iraq Supports Claim on Iran  —  A raid on a Shiite weapons cache in the southern city of Hilla one week ago is providing what American officials call the best evidence yet that the deadliest roadside bombs in Iraq are manufactured in Iran, but critics contend …

Gore's Oscar Fuels Call for Late Run  —  Former Vice President Al Gore's triumph at the Oscars is already stoking activists' pleas for him to make a dramatic late entry into the fractious presidential race, and some key strategists insist he could announce as late as September or October and still win the nomination.

Meanwhile, Back at the Courthouse...  I'm at the courthouse, and as Christy said in her update, one of the jurors was exposed to media coverage of the trial.  Nobody really expected anything early this morning, so everyone is scrambling into the media room to try and figure out what's going on.

More Americans Trust Congress Over Bush on Iraq, Poll Finds  —  Congressional Democrats still hold a sizeable advantage over President Bush in who the public trusts to handle the Iraq war, though the gap has narrowed somewhat since Bush's State of the Union speech, according to a new Washington Post-ABC News poll.

Cheney Warns Pakistan to Act on Terror  —  Vice President Dick Cheney made an unannounced trip to Pakistan on Monday to deliver what officials in Washington described as an unusually tough message to Gen. Pervez Musharraf of Pakistan, warning him that the newly Democratic Congress could cut aid …

Growing A Third Party  —  Somewhere in America, there are 35,000 people looking at the preliminaries to the 2008 presidential race from a different perspective than that of millions of their fellow citizens.  —  They are the people who have signed up so far to participate in Unity08 …

Interview With Mitt Romney  —  (Editor's note: I sat down with Governor Romney at this headquarters in Boston on Friday.  I asked to record the interview and Governor Romney agreed without hesitation, and as I turn the recorder on Romney is in the middle of commenting on the fact …

Film's View of Islam Stirs Anger on Campuses  —  When "Obsession: Radical Islam's War Against the West," a documentary that shows Muslims urging attacks on the United States and Europe, was screened recently at the University of California, Los Angeles, it drew an audience of more than 300 — and also dozens of protesters.

How mean for chow mein!  —  Restaurant hit over menu with higher charges for non-Chinese  —  The price you pay for your beef with string beans depends entirely on whether or not you are Chinese - at least according to the menus at one restaurant in Chinatown, city officials say.

Hezbollah regroups in a new mountain stronghold  —  Hezbollah, the militant Shia organisation, is building a new line of defences just north of the United Nations-patrolled zone in south Lebanon ahead of a potential resumption of war with Israel.  —  The military build-up …

Bloggers failing to out-Fox Democrats  —  Party leaders defend televising candidate debate on GOP 'propaganda outlet'  —  The battle between the Nevada Democratic Party and online liberal activists continues to rage, with MoveOn.org saying Friday it had collected 135,000 signatures …