Thompson, as a lobbyist, took abortion rights assignment  —  A spokesman for the presidential hopeful denies he did the work, a claim an ex-colleague calls "bizarre."  —  Former Tennessee Sen. Fred D. Thompson, who is campaigning for president as a "pro-life" Republican …

Senate Floor To Be a Stage For '08 Race  —  Antiwar Candidates Seeking the Spotlight  —  The four Senate Democrats seeking their party's presidential nomination will take their campaigns to the chamber's floor next week, pushing new limits on U.S. involvement in Iraq in an attempt to burnish their antiwar credentials.

Jihadists On Defense  —  On July 4, Zawahiri released a new video tape.  The production values are pretty good, and Zawahiri is intercut with other footage, including television clips.  What is striking about Zawahiri's message, however, is how defensive it is.  And what Zawahiri is defensive about, is events in Iraq.

Lindsey Graham: Escalation 'Is Working Beyond My Expectations'  —  Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC), returning from a visit this week to Iraq along with his pro-escalation partner Sen. John McCain (R-AZ), offered the following assessment of the situation in Iraq:

Will Her Face Determine His Fortune?  —  AS the election of 2008 approaches with its cast of contenders who bring unprecedented diversity to the quest for the White House, the voting public has been called on to ponder several questions: Is America ready for a woman to be president?  What about a black man?

Live Aid is promoting green to save the planet - what planet are they on?  —  As Madonna bounds on to the huge Wembley stage to save the planet, how the assembled Greenies will cheer.  —  The superstar is today fronting the massive Live Earth event, with nine concerts played …

Live Earth non-update  —  I don't know about the rest of the gang but I was kinda looking forward to spending the weekend doing cracks about rock stars taking their private jets halfway round the world to tell the little people why they need to sell the second-hand Honda Civic and get back on the bus.

Al Qaeda fanatics working in police (but they don't dare sack them)  —  Up to eight police officers and civilian staff are suspected of links to extremist groups including Al Qaeda.  —  Some are even believed to have attended terror training camps in Pakistan or Afghanistan.

Glasgow Suspect Angered by Iraq War, Relative Says  —  Bilal Abdulla, one of the two doctors arrested after a blazing Jeep Cherokee rammed into the Glasgow Airport terminal on Saturday, is a deeply religious Iraqi who was angry that his prominent Sunni family "lost everything" …

FACTBOX-Security developments in Iraq, July 7  —  Source: Reuters  —  July 7 (Reuters) - Following are security developments in Iraq at 1230 GMT on Saturday:  —  * Denotes new or updated item:  —  * BAGHDAD - Two U.S. soldiers killed by a roadside bomb while on foot patrol south of Baghdad on Friday …

New battery packs powerful punch  —  Batteries have long been vital to laptops and cellphones.  They are increasingly supplying electricity to an unlikely recipient: the power grid itself.  —  Until recently, large amounts of electricity could not be efficiently stored.

Bomb proof  —  Terrorism is no longer much of a "black swan" event for markets  —  CAR bombs are placed in London and Glasgow airport is attacked; Britain's terrorism-alert status moves briefly to the highest level, suggesting another attack is imminent.  So how does the stockmarket react?

Wormeries 'may add to greenhouse gases'  —  Worms may not be as environmentally friendly as the growing number of gardeners who use them to help compost their kitchen scraps and grass clippings believe, say scientists.  —  In fact, the greenhouse gases emitted by a large commercial worm composting plant …

Online community flocks to Ron Paul  —  Former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani may lead the polls and former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney might have the most money among GOP presidential candidates, but Rep. Ron Paul (Texas) clearly leads his Republican colleagues in online support …