U.S. Arming Sunnis in Iraq to Battle Old Qaeda Allies  —  With the four-month-old increase in American troops showing only modest success in curbing insurgent attacks, American commanders are turning to another strategy that they acknowledge is fraught with risk: arming Sunni Arab groups …

Immigration Judges Often Picked Based On GOP Ties  —  Law Forbids Practice; Courts Being Reshaped  —  The Bush administration increasingly emphasized partisan political ties over expertise in recent years in selecting the judges who decide the fate of hundreds of thousands of immigrants …

Lieberman for Secretary of State  —  On Face the Nation, he just called for military strikes against terrorist training camps inside Iran, echoing, ahem, myself lo these several years.  He put it perfectly, for my money: … Meanwhile, the appeasers over at the State Department …

5 questions for journalist and author David Sirota  —  Al Franken calls him "My Sirota - the sexy, sexy wonk."  —  The late columnist Molly Ivins said he "is a new-generation populist who instinctively understands that the only real questions are 'Who's getting screwed?' and 'Who's doing the screwing?' "

Romney's Run Has Mormons Wary of Scrutiny  —  LOGAN, Utah — In this wide valley where the twin spires of the Mormon temple dominate the landscape and some neighborhoods have a Mormon chapel every few blocks, Mitt Romney's bid for president is both a proud sign of progress and a cause of trepidation.

Studies say death penalty deters crime  —  Anti-death penalty forces have gained momentum in the past few years, with a moratorium in Illinois, court disputes over lethal injection in more than a half-dozen states and progress toward outright abolishment in New Jersey.

'Political meddling' ruining learning in schools  —  The curriculum in state schools in England has been stripped of its content and corrupted by political interference, according to a damning report by an influential, independent think-tank.  —  It warns of the educational apartheid opening …

From the Local News To a Higher Calling  —  When the three top Democratic presidential candidates talked about faith last week at a forum moderated by CNN's Soledad O'Brien, David Brody recalls being "flabbergasted."  —  "For the next hour I sat in my seat in awe," the television correspondent wrote on his blog.

U.S. relies on Sudan despite condemning it  —  The nation accused of aiding the killings in Darfur provides spies in Iraq.  In return, it gets access in Washington.  —  WASHINGTON — Sudan has secretly worked with the CIA to spy on the insurgency in Iraq, an example of how the U.S …

Outrage as child sex offenders avoid jail  —  Thousands of sex offenders including paedophiles and rapists have escaped with cautions rather than being jailed over the past five years.  —  A nationwide survey of police forces conducted by the BBC found that 1,600 sex offences involving children …

The Sopranos Finale: will Tony live or will he get whacked?  —  Will Tony Soprano live or will he get whacked in tonight's final episode of The Sopranos?  Momentum is building up among the popular TV series "aficionados", so is the betting frenzy surrounding the last episode of The Sopranos.