Pentagon Releases Grim Report on Iraq  —  Iraqi casualties soared by more than 50 percent during the roughly three-month period ending in early August, the product of spiraling sectarian clashes and a Sunni-based insurgency that remains "potent and viable," the Pentagon noted today in an comprehensive assessment of security in Iraq.

Number of Republicans declines to 32-month low  —  The number of Americans calling themselves Republican has fallen to its lowest level in more than two-and-a-half years.  Just 31.9% of American adults now say they're affiliated with the GOP.  That's down from 37.2% in October 2004 and 34.5% at the beginning of 2006.

British anti-terror police probing 'thousands' of suspects  —  LONDON (AFP) - British police are currently trying to monitor "thousands" of potential security suspects, the head of the anti-terrorism unit at London's Metropolitan Police said in an interview to be broadcast Sunday.

New Questions About Inquiry in C.I.A. Leak  —  An enduring mystery of the C.I.A. leak case has been solved in recent days, but with a new twist: Patrick J. Fitzgerald, the prosecutor, knew the identity of the leaker from his very first day in the special counsel's chair …

The Path to 9/11  —  Starring Harvey Keitel, Donnie Wahlberg, Michael Benyaer, Shirley Douglas, Patricia Heaton  —  The miniseries will take viewers behind closed doors at the CIA, the FBI and the White House and into the world of Richard Clarke, Madeleine Albright, Condoleezza Rice …

Saudi gets long sentence  —  Man was convicted of sexual assaults on housekeeper  —  CENTENNIAL - Sniffles and sobs resonated in a packed courtroom Thursday as a Saudi man convicted of sexually assaulting his Indonesian housekeeper was sentenced Thursday to 20 years to life in prison.

Israel Finds and Collapses Tunnel Beneath Gaza  —  KARNI TERMINAL, ISRAEL-GAZA BORDER — The Israeli Defense Forces found and collapsed a 200 meter-long and 12 meter-deep tunnel one kilometer inside the Gaza Strip that terrorists intended to reach all the way into Israel.

Mexican Lawmakers Block Fox's Speech  —  MEXICO CITY (AP) — Vicente Fox was forced to forego the last state-of-the-nation address of his presidency Friday after leftist lawmakers stormed the stage of Congress to protest disputed July 2 elections.  —  It was the first time in modern Mexican history …

Nightmare Mortgages  —  They promise the American Dream: A home of your own — with ultra-low rates and payments anyone can afford.  Now, the trap has sprung  —  For cash-strapped homeowners, it was a pitch they couldn't refuse: Refinance your mortgage at a bargain rate and cut your payments in half.

GEORGE BUSH: THE LAST BARRIER AGAINST FASCISM!  —  We haven't commented on the new movie, Death of a President, which pretends to be a retrospective look at the assassination of President George Bush and its consequences over the ensuing years.  Tonight, though, I caught up with this account …

Interceptor downs missile in test over Pacific  —  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. military shot down a target ballistic missile over the Pacific on Friday in the widest test of its emerging antimissile shield in 18 months, the Defense Department announced.  —  The Pentagon's Missile Defense Agency …

Joe Wilson responds to WaPo hatchet job  —  Joe Wilson responds to WaPo hatchet job  —  Via email:  —  You may have seen this morning's editorial in the Post.  It manages to recycle pretty much every lie and smear over the past three years in a last ditch effort to divert attention from the facts …

Ned Lamont Is No Clare Boothe Luce  —  The year was 1942.  —  After more than a decade of losing elections to Democrats, after three straight presidential losses to Franklin D. Roosevelt — the man conservative Republicans loved to hate — the scent of victory was at last in the air for the GOP.

Top scientist's fears for climate  —  One of America's top scientists has said that the world has already entered a state of dangerous climate change.  —  In his first broadcast interview as president of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, John Holdren told the BBC …