Unaware as Levees Fell, Officials Expressed Relief  —  WASHINGTON, March 1 — A newly released transcript of a government videoconference shows that hours after Hurricane Katrina made landfall, federal and state officials did not know that the levees in New Orleans were failing …

High Court Tackles Political Boundry Case  —  WASHINGTON - A key Supreme Court justice said Wednesday that Texas Republicans appeared to hurt minority voters when they redrew congressional boundaries that helped the GOP entrench its power in Congress.  —  But despite Justice Anthony M …

India, U.S. reach landmark nuclear deal  —  Leaders agree on civilian nuclear cooperation  —  President Bush and Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh discuss the nuclear agreement just announced between their two countries during a pres conference in New Delhi on Thursday.

BREAKING: Al-Qaeda Infiltrated UAE Government, According To 2002 Letter  —  New evidence has emerged that key agencies of the United Arab Emirates may have been infiltrated by al-Qaeda.  In May or June of 2002, al Qaeda officials wrote a letter to the UAE government claiming the emirates were "well aware" of the infiltration.

Rhetoric of Unreality  —  When late in the spring of 1940 people of southeastern England flocked across the Channel in their pleasure craft and fishing boats to evacuate soldiers trapped on Dunkirk beaches, euphoria swept Britain.  So Prime Minister Winston Churchill sternly told the nation …

U.S. Is Reducing Safety Penalties for Mine Flaws  —  CRAIGSVILLE, W.Va. — In its drive to foster a more cooperative relationship with mining companies, the Bush administration has decreased major fines for safety violations since 2001, and in nearly half the cases, it has not collected the fines …

Black Flight  —  The exodus to charter schools.  —  MINNEAPOLIS—Something momentous is happening here in the home of prairie populism: black flight.  African-American families from the poorest neighborhoods are rapidly abandoning the district public schools, going to charter schools …

Head High, Hamas Member Returns From Israeli Jail  —  DEIR GHASSANA, West Bank, Feb. 26 — On Sunday, Mahmoud Youssef Barghouti came home to a different kind of reception.  —  His family and friends traveled to a rainy checkpoint to greet him, pale and bearded in new black jeans and silvery running shoes …

Saudi Group Alleges Wiretapping by U.S.  —  Defunct Charity's Suit Details Eavesdropping  —  Documents cited in federal court by a defunct Islamic charity may provide the first detailed evidence of U.S. residents being spied upon by President Bush's secret eavesdropping program …

Telling the Truth About the War on Drugs  —  As anchorman of the CBS Evening News, I signed off my nightly broadcasts for nearly two decades with a simple statement: "And that's the way it is."  —  To me, that encapsulates the newsman's highest ideal: to report the facts as he sees them …

What's wrong with this picture?  —  Some observations from Tim Blair: … Commentary  —  I think the real reason for the reluctance among Anglospheric publications to print the Danish cartoons was less timidity than the fear of tacitly repudiating the underlying assumption of the President Bush's War …

U.S. Reviewing 2nd Dubai Firm  —  The Bush administration, stung by the public outcry over the Dubai port deal, has launched a national security investigation of another Dubai-owned company set to take over plants in Georgia and Connecticut that make precision components used in engines for military aircraft and tanks.

S.F. supervisors ask lawmakers to impeach Bush  —  San Francisco's supervisors jumped into national politics Tuesday, passing a resolution asking the city's Democratic congressional delegation to seek the impeachment of President Bush for failing to perform his duties by leading the country into war in Iraq …

Atlantic Monthly Selects Times Reporter as New Editor  —  After a lengthy search, The Atlantic Monthly today named a new editor — James Bennet, a reporter for The New York Times, who will be following a long line of storied editors from James Russell Lowell and William Dean Howells to Michael Kelly.

OBAMA'S ENERGY PLAN....Knight Ridder reports that Barack Obama has proposed a deal with the auto industry: … That's a little cryptic, though.  What exactly does "more fuel-efficient cars" mean?  —  A quick hop over to Obama's website provides a transcript of his speech …

Prisons Often Shackle Pregnant Inmates in Labor  —  Shawanna Nelson, a prisoner at the McPherson Unit in Newport, Ark., had been in labor for more than 12 hours when she arrived at Newport Hospital on Sept. 20, 2003.  Ms. Nelson, whose legs were shackled together and who had been given nothing stronger …