Groundswell of Protests Back Illegal Immigrants  —  When members of the Senate Judiciary Committee meet today to wrestle with the fate of more than 11 million illegal immigrants living in the United States, they can expect to do so against a backdrop of thousands of demonstrators …

Bush Was Set on Path to War, Memo by British Adviser Says  —  LONDON — In the weeks before the United States-led invasion of Iraq, as the United States and Britain pressed for a second United Nations resolution condemning Iraq, President Bush's public ultimatum to Saddam Hussein was blunt: Disarm or face war.

Shiite Fighters Clash With G.I.'s and Iraqi Forces  —  BAGHDAD, Iraq, March 26 — American and Iraqi government forces clashed with Shiite militiamen in Baghdad on Sunday night in the most serious confrontation in months, and Iraqi security officials said 17 people had been killed in a mosque, including its 80-year-old imam.

Detainee Case Will Pose Delicate Question for Court  —  WASHINGTON, March 26 — The Supreme Court's announcement four months ago that it would rule on the validity of the military commission by which the Bush administration wants to try Osama bin Laden's former driver, on charges of conspiracy …

Mr. Levin, Meet Ms. Rohbar  —  If Yale's president wants to educate a deserving Afghan, I've got just the woman for him.  —  NEW HAVEN, Conn.—The BBC calls Malalai Joya the most famous woman in Afghanistan.  On Thursday the 27-year-old women's rights activist, a member of the Afghan Parliament …

Evangelical teens rally in S.F.  —  More than 25,000 evangelical Christian youth landed Friday in San Francisco for a two-day rally at AT&T Park against "the virtue terrorism" of popular culture, and they were greeted by an official city condemnation and a clutch of protesters who said their event amounted to a "fascist mega-pep rally."

The Battle of the Borders  —  What we have now — and would with guest workers — is a conscious policy of creating poverty in the United States while relieving it in Mexico.  By and large, this is a bad bargain for the United States.  It stresses local schools, hospitals and housing; it feeds social tensions (witness the Minutemen).

Proposals Call For Disclosure of Ties to Lobbyists  —  Lawmakers May Be Forced to Detail Contacts, Cash Received  —  In October 2001, executives from a small start-up with a promising technology approached their congressman, Rep. Thomas M. Reynolds (R-N.Y.), for help getting Pentagon notice.

In an Election Year, a Shift in Public Opinion on the War  —  ALBUQUERQUE, March 25 — Neil Mondragon watched with approval at an auto repair shop recently as Representative Heather A. Wilson, a New Mexico Republican visiting her district, dropped into the pit and drained the oil from a car.

Vague Law and Hard Lobbying Add Up to Billions for Big Oil  —  WASHINGTON, March 26 — It was after midnight and every lawmaker in the committee room wanted to go home, but there was still time to sweeten a deal encouraging oil and gas companies to drill in the Gulf of Mexico.

In Iran, Even Some On Right Warning Against Extremes  —  TEHRAN — Nine months after the election of hard-liner Mahmoud Ahmadinejad as president, Iranian politics has shifted so sharply to the right that some traditional conservatives are warning of the dangers of radicalism.

Let me be buried on this spot!  —  Guillermo Fariñas Hernandez doesnt have any RBI's.  He's hit no fastballs out of the park and he doesnt play shortstop, second base, center field or otherwise.  He's never been on the pitching mound and has never struck out a soul.

Judicial intemperance - Scalia flips message to doubting Thomases  —  Minutes after receiving the Eucharist at a special Mass for lawyers and politicians at Cathedral of the Holy Cross, U.S. Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia had a special blessing of his own for those who question …

Republicans On The Run  —  As midterm campaigns gear up, Bush's party fears a backlash that could end its 12-year hold on the House  —  [This article consists of a complex diagram.  Please see hardcopy of magazine.]  Considering that Vice President Dick Cheney had come a long …

Clinton Keeps Focus on '06, and That Could Be a Strategy for '08  —  MELVILLE, N.Y., March 23 — Taking the stage in a ballroom here to address a group of Realtors on Thursday, Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton faced a familiar battery of comments and questions about her future.