China may back coup against Kim  —  THE Chinese are openly debating "regime change" in Pyongyang after last week's nuclear test by their confrontational neighbour.  —  Diplomats in Beijing said at the weekend that China and all the major US allies believed North Korea's claim that it had detonated a nuclear device.

Agents raid homes of Rep. Curt Weldon's daughter, close friend  —  Federal agents raided the home of the daughter of U.S. Rep. Curt Weldon (R., Pa.) and his longtime friend Charlie Sexton this morning.  —  The agents departed Karen Weldon's three-story brick home on Queen Street in Philadelphia with arms loaded with boxes.

Saddam prosecutor's brother shot dead in Iraq  —  Gunmen ambush kin in front of his wife; Saddam verdict to be read Nov. 5  —  BAGHDAD, Iraq - The brother of the chief prosecutor in Saddam Hussein's second trial was shot dead in front of his wife at his home in the capital Monday …

Lawyer Is Due for Sentencing in Terror Case  —  Lynne Stewart in her former law office.  She was convicted in 2005 of aiding a high-profile terrorist.  —  Lynne F. Stewart, the firebrand lawyer known for defending unsavory criminals, now faces the possibility of living out her life like many of them …

Reality checks: some responses to the latest Lancet estimates  —  Hamit Dardagan, John Sloboda, and Josh Dougherty  —  Summary … - On average, a thousand Iraqis have been violently killed every single day in the first half of 2006, with less than a tenth of them being noticed by any public surveillance mechanisms;

Schlesinger Steals The Show  —  The ghost of Crazy Eddie was channeled Monday by a man who would be Connecticut's next senator — and whose name is neither Lieberman nor Lamont.

Jihadists and Jews  —  Democratic strategist and former Michael Dukakis campaign manager Susan Estrich, and the former American Civil Liberties Union president in Massachusetts, Harvey Silvergate, recently joined the attorneys representing two alleged Boston al Qaeda funders.

Inexplicably upbeat  —  The White House is reportedly "almost inexplicably upbeat" about the mid-terms.  Why?  —  Is it because Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice just compared the Palestinians to America's founding fathers?  And then compared the Palestian war centered on attacking innocent men …

Congressman Defends Provision That Would Cut Oil Shale Royalties  —  Tucked into a massive energy bill that would open the outer continental shelf to oil drilling are provisions that would slash future royalties owed to the federal government by companies prospecting in Rocky Mountain oil shale deposits.

Doubts over Iraq drive a volatile U.S. campaign  —  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - With three weeks left in a volatile U.S. election campaign, growing public unhappiness with the Iraq war has become the top obstacle for Republicans in their fight to keep control of Congress, pollsters and analysts said.

Bush's Press Secretary Is Raising Money, and Some Eyebrows  —  Tony Snow draped his lanky frame across a wooden lectern, leaned forward and gazed out at 850 adoring Republicans who had paid $175 apiece to hear him speak.  There was a conspiratorial gleam in his eye, as if he was about to reveal …

What's That Smell?  —  The GOP is stinking up the joint.  —  LIKE OTHER DEEP-THINKING people, I'm full of principled, idealistic, high-minded indignation at the GOP.  What a stampede of sleaze.  Jack Abramoff is the world's best lobbyist—for the Federal Penitentiary System.

5 Americans Killed in Iraq, Bringing Month's Toll to 53  —  Two marines were killed by insurgents in Anbar Province on Sunday, the American military command said, and three American soldiers died a day earlier in a bombing in southern Baghdad, bringing the total of American troop deaths in Iraq …

BBC mounts court fight to keep 'critical' report secret  —  The BBC has spent thousands of pounds of licence payers' money trying to block the release of a report which is believed to be highly critical of its Middle East coverage.  —  The corporation is mounting a landmark High Court action …

Iraq will wait to disarm militias  —  BAGHDAD — Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki said in an interview with USA TODAY that his government will not force militias to disarm until later this year or early next year, despite escalating violence in Baghdad fueled by death squads and religious warfare.

Reuters opens virtual news bureau in Second Life  —  SAN FRANCISCO/NEW YORK (Reuters) - Reuters is opening a news bureau in the simulation game Second Life this week, joining a race by corporate name brands to take part in the hottest virtual world on the Internet.

INTERIOR DIALOGUE: AN INVESTIGATIVE REPORT  —  When PJM learned last week that certain web sites were being blocked at the US Department of the Interior, we asked Baron Bodissey to take an up-close and personal look at what was going on.  What he found does not increase trust in the transparency of big government —