Obama now virtually tied with Clinton, poll shows  —  WASHINGTON — Hillary Rodham Clinton and Barack Obama are essentially tied for the Democratic presidential nomination, according to a USA TODAY/Gallup Poll, the first time that the New York senator hasn't clearly led the field.

Senator Craig Thomas of Wyoming Dies at 74  —  Senator Craig Thomas, a three-term Republican from Wyoming, died Monday evening, just hours after his staff reported that the treatment he was receiving for leukemia was no longer working.  He was 74.  —  Under Wyoming's election laws …

Democrats Fear a Wider Black Caucus-Pelosi Rift  —  Democratic leaders fear that Rep. William J. Jefferson's indictment yesterday on racketeering and bribery charges, coming exactly one year after House Speaker Nancy Pelosi engineered his ouster from the powerful Ways and Means Committee …

Libby Faces Sentencing in CIA Leak Case  —  U.S. District Judge Reggie B. Walton this morning began the sentencing phase in the trial of I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby, former chief of staff to Vice President Cheney, who has been convicted of lying to investigators about his role in leaking the identity of an undercover CIA officer.

Cheated of Future, Iraqi Graduates Want to Flee  —  They started college just before or after the American invasion with dreams of new friends and parties, brilliant teachers and advanced degrees that would lead to stellar jobs, marriage and children.  Success seemed well within their grasp.

A war that never ends  —  Forty years ago tomorrow, Israel wielded its terrible swift sword against the attack-poised armies of Egypt, Syria and Jordan - and saved the Jewish state from destruction.  —  It was the Six-Day War, and the fledgling state's stunning victory over enemies determined …

A Cuban death rehearsal  —  135 » Witness » A Cuban death rehearsal  —  With Fidel Castro apparently on the verge of death, I returned to Cuba to visit old friends.  Little has changed over recent years and life for most Cubans remains harsh.  Yet western visitors continue to romanticise the place

Realists on Iraq  —  Democratic presidential candidates should listen to the "experts" they so often cite.  —  During Sunday night's Democratic presidential debate, the candidates cited an oft-repeated source of the mess in Iraq: The White House's refusal to heed knowledgeable advice.

Congressman Sought Bribes, Indictment Says  —  Representative William J. Jefferson, the Louisiana Democrat at the center of an investigation that included an F.B.I. raid at his Congressional office and accusations that he hid $90,000 in bribe money in his home freezer, was indicted Monday …

McCain urges rivals to avoid divisive issue  —  Sen. John McCain yesterday pleaded with his fellow candidates for the Republican presidential nomination not to take political advantage of the immigration fight within the party.  —  "I would hope they wouldn't play politics for their own interests …

US graduates suffer income inequality  —  Earnings of the average US worker with an undergraduate degree have not kept up with gains in productivity in recent decades, according to research by academics at MIT that challenges traditional explanations of why income inequality is rising.

An Unacceptable Nominee  —  President Bush's latest appeals court nominee, Leslie Southwick, has a disturbing history of insensitivity to blacks and other minority groups.  The Senate should reject this nomination and make clear to the White House that it will reject all future nominees …

In Tennessee, Goats Eat the 'Vine That Ate the South'  —  CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. — Summer is settling onto Missionary Ridge overlooking this southeast Tennessee city.  Swallows glide on the warm breeze rustling the hackberry trees, kudzu vines sprout along the hillside and the goats are back at work.