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 …

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.

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 …

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.

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.

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 …

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 …

Justice Department actions expected to draw congressional scrutiny  —  WASHINGTON - Saying it was out to combat widespread voter fraud, the Justice Department in recent years has stepped up enforcement of election laws to ease the purging of ineligible voters from state registration rolls.

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

Video: 60% of UK Muslims Deny 7/7 Bombings  —  A new survey of British Muslims by Channel 4 shows that nearly 60% believe that Muslims were not responsible for the 7/7 London bombings—and nearly a quarter believe the UK government was behind them.  LGF operative Kasper has a disturbing 8-minute clip …

Peril!  —  In the course of a post with which I otherwise agree, Ed Kilgore remarks "Edwards' efforts to separate himself from Clinton and Obama by deriding the 'war on terror' (accurate as it is with respect to the terminology involved) is politically perilous, to say the least."

PM aides fear talks with Syria could harm U.S. ties  —  Some of Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's advisors are concerned that an initiative to renew peace talks with Syria might undermine Israel's relations with the United States.  —  The Bush administration is not keen on reviving the Syrian track …