Bush's Troubles Weigh Heavily as Republicans Meet to Showcase Candidates  —  MEMPHIS, March 11 — Republicans gathered here this weekend acutely concerned with the elections ahead and distressed by the White House's performance since President Bush's re-election.

Virginian Taken Hostage in Iraq Is Found Dead  —  Peace Activist Was Missing From Video That Showed Fellow Captives This Week  —  Tom Fox, the Virginia peace activist who was taken hostage last year in Iraq, has been found dead, a State Department spokesman said last night.

Even as U.S. Invaded, Hussein Saw Iraqi Unrest as Top Threat  —  As American warplanes streaked overhead two weeks after the invasion began, Lt. Gen. Raad Majid al-Hamdani drove to Baghdad for a crucial meeting with Iraqi leaders.  He pleaded for reinforcements to stiffen the capital's defenses …

Milosevic: Architect of Balkans carnage  —  Serb leader presided over ethnic cleansing in Bosnia  —  (CNN) — Former Serbian strongman Slobodan Milosevic was regarded as the chief architect of the carnage unleashed during the breakup of Yugoslavia.  —  Milosevic, who died at the age …

Internet blows CIA cover  —  It's easy to track America's covert operatives.  All you need to know is how to navigate the Internet.  —  WASHINGTON — She is 52 years old, married, grew up in the Kansas City suburbs and now lives in Virginia, in a new three-bedroom house.

Former White House Aide Is Arrested on Theft Charges  —  WASHINGTON, March 10 — A former top White House aide was arrested on Thursday in the Maryland suburbs on charges that he stole merchandise from a number of retailers, the police in Montgomery County, Md., said Friday.

Muslims Express Anger and Hope at Danish Conference  —  COPENHAGEN, March 10 — Denmark sought Friday to tamp down the fierce Muslim protests over cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad at a conference with Muslim preachers and scholars that produced calls for dialogue but also fresh protests …

Kerry takes another look at presidency  —  Says loss in 2004 made him tougher  —  Senators John F. Kerry and Edward M. Kennedy were in Boston yesterday at an event promoting a construction job training program for veterans.  (AP Photo)  —  WASHINGTON — As Senator John F. Kerry prepared …

Michelman Drops Potential Indie Bid in PA-Sen  —  Last week, rumors began to swirl surrounding the possibility that long time pro-choice activist Kate Michelman would enter the Pennsylvania Senate race as an independent, potentially making Democrat Bob Casey's challenge to GOP Sen. Rick Santorum more difficult.

Cantankerous Conservatism  —  PATRICK BUCHANAN, COMMENTATOR AND former presidential candidate, looked over the issues on the political agenda in 2006 and liked what he saw.  It was a paleoconservative's delight.  There was the Dubai ports deal, rejected by a congressional uprising part nationalistic, part isolationist.

Faces  —  I hate cameras.  I don't think I have more than a dozen pictures of myself taken in the past twenty years, and not many more before that, because I hate posing, and hate looking at myself.  So I sympathize with Bettie Page, the old pinup, who is stretching her '50s fame …