New Poll Finds That Young Americans Are Leaning Left  —  Young Americans are more likely than the general public to favor a government-run universal health care insurance system, an open-door policy on immigration and the legalization of gay marriage, according to a New York Times/CBS News/MTV poll.

Elizabeth Edwards Confronts Coulter During Live Television Appearance  —  Elizabeth Edwards confronted right-wing pundit Ann Coulter during a live interview on MSNBC this afternoon, charging that Coulter's "personal attacks" on former senator John Edwards and others were based on "the language of hate."

Leaving No Tracks  —  Sue Ellen Wooldridge, the 19th-ranking Interior Department official, arrived at her desk in Room 6140 a few months after Inauguration Day 2001.  A phone message awaited her.  —  "This is Dick Cheney," said the man on her voice mail, Wooldridge recalled in an interview.

GOP Skepticism On Iraq Growing  —  Key Republican senators, signaling increasing GOP skepticism about President Bush's strategy in Iraq, have called for a reduction in U.S. forces and launched preemptive efforts to counter a much-awaited administration progress report due in September.

Protests rage over petrol rationing in Iran  —  Angry Iranians have torched petrol stations in protests against the sudden imposition of fuel rationing in one of the world's most oil rich nations.  —  The rationing was announced on Tuesday only three hours before it was due to begin at midnight …

GOP preps for talk radio confrontation  —  House Republican lawmakers are preparing to fight anticipated Democratic efforts to regulate talk radio by reviving rules requiring stations to balance conservative hosts such as Rush Limbaugh with liberals such as Al Franken.

Bowling With Our Own  —  Robert Putnam's sobering new diversity research scares its author.  —  Harvard political scientist Robert Putnam, author of Bowling Alone, is very nervous about releasing his new research, and understandably so.  His five-year study shows that immigration …

Richardson leads Oropeza in race for Congress  —  The candidates seek to represent the 37th Congressional District.  —  Assemblywoman Laura Richardson pulled ahead of her closest Democratic rival, state Sen. Jenny Oropeza, and was leading a field crowded with 16 other candidates in early returns …

Giuliani Slams Bill Clinton on Terrorism  —  VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. (AP) - Republican presidential candidate Rudy Giuliani on Tuesday accused former President Clinton of not responding forcefully enough to the 1993 World Trade Center bombing or later terrorist attacks.

Files on Illegal Spying Show C.I.A. Skeletons From Cold War  —  Long-secret documents released Tuesday provide new details about how the Central Intelligence Agency illegally spied on Americans decades ago, including trying to bug a Las Vegas hotel room for evidence of infidelity and tracking …

Cheney Aide Explains Stance on Classified Material  —  Vice President Cheney's office offered its first public written explanation yesterday for its refusal to comply with an executive order regulating the handling of classified material, arguing that the order makes clear that the vice president …

Weeds and wasted lives on the farm run by UN's rural kingpin  —  The Environment Minister and world authority on sustainable development has let his once-thriving land go to rack and ruin  —  It looks as if no one has lived here for years.  Tall, dense elephant grass grows everywhere.

Israel lets Hamas member enter Gaza  —  Despite Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency) opposition and per the request of the BBC, the coordinator of government activities allowed a Hamas member who works for the BBC to enter the Gaza Strip last week to assist in efforts to release kidnapped journalist Alan Johnston.