Iran Is Found To Be a Lair of Al Qaeda  —  Intelligence Estimate Cites Two Councils  —  WASHINGTON — One of two known Al Qaeda leadership councils meets regularly in eastern Iran, where the American intelligence community believes dozens of senior Al Qaeda leaders have reconstituted …

Democrats Maneuver To Force Iraq Votes  —  Senate Democratic leaders are planning a rare all-night session tonight, employing theatrics and scheduling votes that they hope will chip away at Republican resolve to back President Bush's Iraq war strategy.  —  Majority Leader Harry M. Reid …

On Tour to Highlight Poverty, Edwards Tries to Shift Race's Focus  —  From the Lower Ninth Ward of New Orleans to the Mississippi Delta to this town where Martin Luther King Jr. began his Poor People's Campaign almost four decades ago, John Edwards's message has been the same …

Romney spent $300 on makeup 'consulting'  —  What kinds of things do you think of when you hear "communications consulting"?  —  Speechwriting?  Message strategy?  —  Well, "communications consulting" is how presidential candidate Mitt Romney recorded $300 in payments to a California company …

2008 Nomination Contests Holding Steady With Clinton and Giuliani on Top  —  No further decline in McCain's support despite rough patch on campaign trail  —  PRINCETON, NJ — A new Gallup survey, conducted July 12-15, 2007, finds little change from earlier this month in public preferences …

The Hand That Controls the Sock Puppet Could Get Slapped  —  Correction Appended  —  On the Internet nobody knows you're a dog — or the chief executive of a Fortune 500 company.  —  Or so thought John Mackey, the chief executive of Whole Foods Market, who used a fictional identity …

Iraq Report: Major offensive underway in Babil  —  Iraqi and U.S. forces have launched a multi-brigade operation south of Baghdad as the pursuit of al Qaeda in Iraq continues in Diyala and the north.  Al Qaeda in Iraq and allied insurgent groups conducted multiple mass casualty attacks …

AP Poll: GOP pick is 'none of the above'  —  WASHINGTON - And the leading Republican presidential candidate is ... none of the above.  —  The latest Associated Press-Ipsos poll found that nearly a quarter of Republicans are unwilling to back top-tier hopefuls Rudy Giuliani, Fred Thompson …

Dow Jones, News Corp. Set Deal  —  Tentative $5 Billion Pact  —  Gets Board Vote Tonight;  —  Family to Meet Thursday  —  News Corp. reached a tentative agreement for the purchase of Dow Jones & Co. at its original $5 billion offer price.  The deal will be put to the full Dow Jones board …

Belabor the Point  —  Democrats find one government office they want to cut back.  It's the one that exposes union corruption.  —  The new Democratic Congress has finally found a government agency whose budget It wants to cut: an obscure Labor Department office that monitors the compliance of unions with federal law.

Habeas Restoration: Down To The Razor Thin Wire  —  I am told by a source who knows the head count that we are within a slim margin on the habeas restoration amendment — and that the vote could still go either way.  It is a razor thin margin right now, which means there is no Senator whose vote can be taken for granted.

Islamic Creationist and a Book Sent Round the World  —  In the United States, opposition to the teaching of evolution in public schools has largely been fueled by the religious right, particularly Protestant fundamentalism.  —  Now another voice is entering the debate, in dramatic fashion.

Georgia Board Grants Stay Of Execution to Consider Case  —  One day before he was to die by lethal injection, convicted cop killer Troy Davis received a 90-day stay of execution Monday from a Georgia clemency board, allowing him time to press his case that he has been the victim of mistaken identity.

No Magic Bullets For Iraq  —  Leave Washington in the winter, return in midsummer.  First you'll be surprised by the heat, then by the humidity.  Then you'll be surprised by the certainty.  —  Out in the world, there are shades of gray.  Here inside the Beltway, there are black-and-white solutions.