Bill Frist threatens to re-structure the Intelligence Committee in order to block NSA hearings  —  (updated below)  —  The Senate Intelligence Committee was created in 1976 and, from the beginning, it has been unique in its structure and operation.  Due to the urgency of ensuring …

Caught on Tape  —  ON THE DAY before Hurricane Katrina hit the Gulf Coast, federal emergency officials warned President Bush that the hurricane could be "the big one," the storm the region had long feared; that the Superdome, the shelter of last resort in New Orleans, was below sea level …

Blair: 'God will be my judge on Iraq'  —  Tony Blair has proclaimed that God will judge whether he was right to send British troops to Iraq, echoing statements from his ally George Bush.  —  Contradicting warnings from advisers not to mix politics and religion, the Prime Minister …

Aide's role in mosque deal eyed  —  BRA official raised funds, priced land  —  A top Boston Redevelopment Authority official who previously downplayed his role in the Roxbury mosque project of the Islamic Society of Boston assisted in the city's reduction of the price the mosque backers paid …

Bush Says Pakistan Cannot Expect Nuclear Deal Like One With India  —  ISLAMABAD, March 4 — President Bush made clear today that Pakistan should not expect anytime soon a civilian nuclear agreement like the one the United States reached only days ago with India, and he bluntly …

A JIHADIST IN NORTH CAROLINA  —  Mohammed Reza Taheriazar, lone jihadist  —  New details from ABC 11 in Raleigh, N.C., about the Muslim man who plowed into students on the UNC-Chapel Hill campus today: … Taheriazar is a native of Iran and a December 2005 UNC graduate, according to the Raleigh News and Observer.

Pomp and punch-ups in Belarus  —  Being in Minsk this week is like being back in the USSR.  —  At the giant Palace of the Republic, 2,500 delegates are attending a lavish Soviet-style congress.  —  Among them are tractor drivers and priests, factory directors and soldiers.

U.S. commander says Iraqi 'crisis has passed'  —  The top U.S. commander in Iraq yesterday declared an end to a 10-day wave of sectarian violence that killed an estimated 350 civilians, asserting that many reports of violence were "exaggerated."  —  "It appears that the crisis has passed …

U.S. Reveals Identities of Detainees  —  GUANTÁNAMO BAY NAVAL BASE, Cuba, March 3 (AP) — After four years of secrecy, the Pentagon released documents on Friday that have the names of detainees at the American military prison at Guantánamo Bay.

Bush Plan Would Raise Deficit by $1.2 Trillion, Budget Office Says  —  WASHINGTON, March 3 — President Bush's budget would increase the federal deficit by $35 billion this year and by more than $1.2 trillion over the next decade, the Congressional Budget Office reported on Friday.

Pakistan blocks blogs on cartoons  —  Pakistan telecom authorities have blocked several websites inviting people to draw cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad, it has emerged.  —  Instructions were issued to internet service providers across Pakistan on 27 February to block about a dozen websites of various origins.

Chavez prepares his people's army to confront US  —  Venezuela begins training a vast army of civilian reserves today to fight off the attack its Left-wing president, Hugo Chavez, says the United States is plotting against it.  —  The oil-rich state aims to teach up to two million volunteers …

E-mails undermine Reed claim  —  Ralph Reed has said he didn't know it until last year, but emails suggest he was informed that eLot — a firm then in the online lottery business — was behind his effort to fend off a ban against internet gambling in 2000.  —  The e-mails passed between Reed …