Report: N. Korean Leader Regrets Test  —  North Korean leader Kim Jong Il expressed regret about his country's nuclear test to a Chinese delegation and said Pyongyang would return to international nuclear talks if Washington backs off a campaign to financially isolate the country, a South Korean newspaper reported Friday.

GOP to Air Ad Warning of Terror Attacks  —  The Republican Party will begin airing a hard-hitting ad this weekend that warns of more cataclysmic terror attacks against the U.S. homeland.  —  The ad portrays Osama bin Laden and quotes his threats against America dating to February 1998.

Major Change Expected In Strategy for Iraq War  —  The growing doubts among GOP lawmakers about the administration's Iraq strategy, coupled with the prospect of Democratic wins in next month's midterm elections, will soon force the Bush administration to abandon its open-ended commitment to the war …

House Intel Chair Suspends Staff Member  —  WASHINGTON — The Republican chairman of the House Intelligence Committee has suspended a Democratic staff member pending an investigation into whether he leaked a high-level intelligence assessment to the news media.

Republican Woes Lead to Feuding by Conservatives  —  Tax-cutters are calling evangelicals bullies.  Christian conservatives say Republicans in Congress have let them down.  Hawks say President Bush is bungling the war in Iraq.  And many conservatives blame Representative Mark Foley's sexual messages to teenage pages.

Court Told It Lacks Power in Detainee Cases  —  Moving quickly to implement the bill signed by President Bush this week that authorizes military trials of enemy combatants, the administration has formally notified the U.S. District Court here that it no longer has jurisdiction to consider hundreds …

Top US general says Rumsfeld is inspired by God  —  MIAMI (AFP) - The top US general defended the leadership of Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, saying it is inspired by God.  —  "He leads in a way that the good Lord tells him is best for our country," said Marine General Peter Pace, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

Calif. Campaign in Turmoil Over Letters  —  Aide to GOP Candidate Sent Mailing Saying Immigrants Are Barred From Voting  —  A California Republican's congressional campaign went into meltdown Thursday after he said a staff member was responsible for sending thousands of letters to new voters …

The Exceptional Nation  —  If demography is destiny, then news of America's decline is (like Mark Twain's death) decidedly premature.  —  Statisticians tell us Oct. 17 (at 7:46 a.m. EDT, according to the Census Bureau's estimate) was the day America's population reached, then surpassed, 300 million people.

Carson trails Dickerson  —  With virtually no help from GOP, Dickerson is in tight congressional race with incumbent  —  A new poll shows Democratic U.S. Rep. Julia Carson narrowly trailing Republican Eric Dickerson — an outcome that, if it holds on Election Day, would be one of the biggest upsets in Indiana politics.

America's Next Top Pundit  —  What does it take to be a talking head?  —  Whenever news breaks — on the fall campaign trail, in North Korea, in the most trivial corners of Hollywood — thousands of pundits have something to say.  What most of them don't have is somewhere to say it.

AL QAEDA'S "WORKING PAPER FOR A MEDIA INVASION OF AMERICA" - THE MEDIA RESPONDS  —  I really didn't expect to see the American media even acknowledge the existence of al Qaeda's "Working Paper for a Media Invasion of America", much less to see them openly embrace it.  They've done both.  (Live and learn.)

Border-fence bill awaits signing  —  The White House is pleading with Congress to send over the bill authorizing 700 miles of fence on the U.S.-Mexico border so the president can sign it immediately, but Republican leaders on Capitol Hill want to wait until closer to the election and to have a public signing ceremony.

Remains from WTC site found in manhole  —  NEW YORK - Human remains that appear to be from World Trade Center victims were found by utility workers in a manhole at the northern edge of the site, a Port Authority official said Thursday.  —  A Consolidated Edison crew doing excavation …