A Dying Al-Zarqawi Tried to Get Away  —  BAGHDAD, Iraq (AP) - Abu Musab al-Zarqawi could barely speak, but he struggled and tried to get away from American soldiers as he lay dying on a stretcher in the ruins of his hideout.  —  The U.S. forces recognized his face, and knew they had the leader of al-Qaida in Iraq.

Gingrich May Run in 2008 If No Front-Runner Emerges  —  Former House speaker Newt Gingrich (R-Ga.) expects to run for president in 2008 if the contest for the Republican nomination still seems wide open late next year, he said yesterday.  —  In remarks that were critical of both parties' recent performance …

Iraq War Critic Surprises Democrats  —  Murtha Says He Will Run for Majority Leader if Party Wins  —  Rep. John P. Murtha (Pa.), one of the Democrats' leading antiwar voices, startled his political colleagues yesterday by announcing he would seek a senior leadership position if the Democrats win control of the House in November.

Senate Candidate Webb Caught In Bigotry Web  —  Yes, Virginia, in Virginia you should file this one in your Reprehensible Department File: … THEN READ MORE: … True.  And he didn't show him with horns, cutting a pound of flesh from a Christian child, or digging a new Grand Canyon …

9/11 Commissioner Criticizes Coulter  —  A member of the Sept. 11 commission on Friday lashed out at conservative pundit Ann Coulter for a "hate-filled attack" in saying the widows whose husbands died in the World Trade Center used the deaths for their own political gain.

Are Left-leaning Bloggers Ready for Their Close-up?  —  Dispatch: Inside the Yearly Kos fest in Las Vegas, progressives get lessons in going mainstream  —  Las Vegas has a slightly tinny feel, a bitter metallic tang that stems partially from the heat, partially from the over-oxygenated air …

Poop prank has Musgrave staff fuming  —  A UNC emeritus professor is charged with returning the congresswoman's mailer - with interest.  —  A former professor of French at the University of Northern Colorado has been cited for allegedly making a special delivery to U.S. Rep. Marilyn Musgrave that reeked of political partisanship.

Councilman asks Geno's to lose 'Speak English' sign  —  PHILADELPHIA -  —  At a City Council meeting Thursday, Councilman Jim Kenney asked Geno's Steaks to take down its sign that says, "This Is AMERICA: WHEN ORDERING SPEAK ENGLISH."  —  That's just the latest example of how an English …

Secret report brands Muslim police corrupt  —  Fury over internal Met study which says Asians need special training  —  A secret high-level Metropolitan police report has concluded that Muslim officers are more likely to become corrupt than white officers because of their cultural and family backgrounds.

Teacher witnessed transformation of some bomb-plot suspects  —  A Muslim religious leader in Toronto who knows some of those charged in the suspected bomb plot says the young men underwent rapid transformations from normal Canadian teenagers to radicalized introverts.

Pilot with 9/11 links found in NZ  —  EXCLUSIVE - A Saudi Arabian linked to one of the September 11 hijackers spent four months in New Zealand before being expelled as a national security risk.  —  The United States-qualified pilot, Rayed Mohammed Abdullah Ali, was admitted to New Zealand …

Record meteorite hit Norway  —  As Wednesday morning dawned, northern Norway was hit with an impact comparable to the atomic bomb used on Hiroshima.  —  At around 2:05 a.m. on Wednesday, residents of the northern part of Troms and the western areas of Finnmark could clearly see a ball …