Senate Approves Patriot Act Renewal  —  WASHINGTON - The Senate on Thursday gave its blessing to the renewal of the USA Patriot Act after adding new privacy protections designed to strike a better balance between civil liberties and the government's power to root out terrorists.

New Video Shows Blanco Saying Levees Safe  —  WASHINGTON (AP) — In the hectic, confused hours after Hurricane Katrina lashed the Gulf Coast, Louisiana's governor hesitantly but mistakenly assured the Bush administration that New Orleans' protective levees were intact, according to a new video obtained …

Poll Finds Americans Overwhelmingly Disapprove of Port Deal  —  WASHINGTON — Americans, by a greater than 3 to 1 margin, oppose the proposed deal that would allow a state-owned Arab firm to assume control of operations at several U.S. ports, a Times/Bloomberg poll has found.

Oscars for Osama  —  Nothing tells you more about Hollywood than what it chooses to honor.  Nominated for best foreign-language film is "Paradise Now," a sympathetic portrayal of two suicide bombers.  Nominated for best picture is "Munich," a sympathetic portrayal of yesterday's fashion in barbarism: homicide terrorism.

Bush goes on 'trial' in Morris  —  Parsippany students confront issues of terrorism and war  —  DAILY RECORD  —  PARSIPPANY — President Bush is being tried for "crimes against civilian populations" and "inhumane treatment of prisoners" at Parsippany High School, with students arguing …

U.S. Intel: Qaeda Plotting 'Big Bang'  —  (CBS/AP) U.S. officials tell CBS News that intelligence has picked up reports that al Qaeda in Iraq is planning what one source calls the "Big Bang," a spectacular terrorist attack in Iraq against either a single high-profile target or multiple targets simultaneously.

Oscar nominee: People hate Israelis for a reason  —  Hany Abu-Assad, Israeli-born director of Oscar-nominated film 'Paradise Now,' which has stirred controversy for its depiction of two young Palestinian suicide bombers, says in interview with Yedioth Ahronoth terror derives from another terror …

Cartoonist's Daughter Hunted by 12 Jihadists  —  Update: I have now posted the transcript of the interview with Jens Rohde at the bottom of this post.  —  Update: See below for comments from the Police Intelligence Service  —  Update: Independent translation from aftenposten.no here.

Italian Panel: Soviets Behind Pope Attack  —  An Italian parliamentary commission concluded "beyond any reasonable doubt" that the Soviet Union was behind the 1981 attempt to kill Pope John Paul II _ a theory long alleged but never proved, according to a draft report made available Thursday.

Clinton Challenger Pulled From Reagan-Era Hat  —  It was supposed to be a marquee Republican campaign of the 2006 elections — a fusillade-style effort to defeat Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton, which, even if it did not succeed, would excite donors nationally, raise millions for the party …

Bush Likely to Face Opposition on Atomic Deal With India  —  WASHINGTON, March 2 — In concluding its nuclear deal with India, the Bush administration faces significant opposition in Congress and tough questions from its allies on whether the arrangement could set a precedent encouraging …

Iraqi WMD Mystery Solved  —  Frontpage Interview's guest today is Ryan Mauro, who spoke at the recent 2006 International Intelligence Summit on Iraq.  He is the 19-year old author of Death to America: The Unreported Battle of Iraq and founder of WorldThreats.com.

Ethics Office For Hill Rejected  —  Bipartisan Defeat For Independent Lobbying Overseer  —  A Senate committee yesterday rejected a bipartisan proposal to establish an independent office to oversee the enforcement of congressional ethics and lobbying laws, signaling a reluctance in Congress …

Harper's Publishes AIDS Denialist  —  The latest issue of Harper's Magazine contains a stunning 15-page article by well-known AIDS denialist Celia Farber (formerly of Spin magazine) that extensively repeats UC Berkeley virologist Peter Duesberg's discredited theory that HIV does not cause AIDS.