Israel strikes back [AP photo] JERUSALEM -- Assaulting the symbols of Yasser Arafat's authority, Israeli warplanes, helicopter gunships, tanks and bulldozers struck in the West Bank and Gaza Strip on Monday evening and before dawn today as the Israeli prime minister, Ariel Sharon, accused the Palestinian leader of provoking war by pursuing "the path of terrorism." Bush, Sharon sound similar When declaring war on terrorism Monday, Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon echoed some of the language President Bush has used.

Court takes up Fla. age bias case
The U.S. Supreme Court agreed Monday to set a standard for age discrimination cases, using a case involving widespread layoffs at Florida Power in the mid 1990s.

Bin Laden note: no to fighting Muslims
JALALABAD, Afghanistan -- The provincial security chief on Monday said two Afghan elders in the region had received a message from Osama bin Laden saying he did not want to fight fellow Muslims.

Fighting rages at Kandahar airport
KABUL, Afghanistan -- Tribal fighters battled the Taliban at Kandahar airport Monday as U.S. warplanes pounded the city and took aim at Mullah Mohammed Omar, the Taliban's supreme leader.

U.S. bombs hitting civilians, not terrorists, villagers say
KAMA ADO, Afghanistan -- Children's shoes, bits of charred carpet and cooking pots litter what is left of this hamlet, along with dead cows and sheep. Here and there are craters, some 20 feet wide. One holds the tail fin from a Mk83 1,000-pound bomb.

Police divided over federal questioning
More police departments are breaking ranks over Justice Department efforts to interview 5,000 Middle Eastern men, with officers far beyond Oregon concerned about racial profiling. Others are astounded that their colleagues wouldn't cooperate with federal agents.

Contaminated letters may number tens of thousands
WASHINGTON -- Tens of thousands of letters mailed around the country could have picked up trace amounts of anthrax while passing through a contaminated Trenton, N.J., postal facility, the nation's top anthrax investigator said Monday.

4 offered as post-Taliban leadership
KOENIGSWINTER, Germany -- Afghan factions meeting in Germany pushed forward with talks on post-Taliban rule Monday after the Northern Alliance named four prominent figures it said should be considered to lead an interim administration.

Key to victory? Clean hands
SOUTHERN AFGHANISTAN -- For U.S. Marines in the Afghan desert, one of the secrets of waging war is a lesson most learned from their mothers: Wash your hands.