Nine killed, dozens hurt in Tel Aviv suicide bombing  —  A Palestinian suicide bomber killed nine people and wounded at least 40 others, six of them seriously, in an explosion near the old central bus station in southern Tel Aviv on Monday afternoon.  —  Two of the victims died after they had arrived at Ichilov Hospital in Tel Aviv.

Widen The Net  —  Jason Leopold, writing in TruthOut, and Josh Gerstein of the NY Sun both break news in the Plame investigation.  Evidently the State Department was quite casual about Ms. Plame's CIA role, describing her in one set of notes as "CIA WMD managerial type and the wife of Amb.

No indictments in Duke lacrosse case  —  DURHAM — A Durham grand jury issued a list of indictments this afternoon that did not include members of the Duke University lacrosse team.  —  District Attorney Mike Nifong had been widely anticipated to seek charges today from the grand jury …

Ryan found guilty on all counts  —  Co-defendant Warner also guilty  —  A federal jury convicted former Gov. George Ryan today on all charges that as secretary of state he steered state business to cronies in return for vacations, gifts and other benefits for himself and his family.

Washington Post Wins Four Pulitzers  —  The Washington Post won four Pulitzer Prizes today, including awards for breaking open the Jack Abramoff lobbying scandal and disclosing the existence of secret CIA prisons overseas, while two newspapers whose regions were devastated by Hurricane Katrina shared the prize for public service.

Blame Builds More Barriers in Immigration Debate  —  Does chutzpah translate into Spanish?  —  It's a reasonable question after the joint statement House Speaker J. Dennis Hastert (R-Ill.) and Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-Tenn.) issued last week about the impasse blocking congressional action …

Congress Approval at 12-Year Low  —  Rating slipped four percentage points since March  —  PRINCETON, NJ — Public approval of the job Congress is doing has dipped to its lowest level of 2006, and is now the worst Gallup has recorded since the closing days of the Democratic majority in the U.S. House of Representatives in 1994.

Anger at Bush May Hurt GOP At Polls  —  Intense and widespread opposition to President Bush is likely to be a sharp spur driving voters to the polls in this fall's midterm elections, according to strategists in both parties, a phenomenon that could give Democrats a turnout advantage over Republicans for the first time in recent years.

April 17, 1961 (Updated)  —  The invasion that could have saved Latin America  —  Introduction  —  My father in law was a member of La Brigada 2506 and fought in the Bay of Pigs in what was called Operation Mongoose by the US Government.  He has a million stories to tell …

Future Imperfect  —  I know I'm not supposed to, but I pity Michelle Malkin.  Really, I do.  Punditry is a game of incentives, encouragement, luck.  You write a hundred articles before striking paydirt with one.  That zeitgeisty dispatch activates an eruption of applause and adulation, so you try to repeat it.

Descent into anger and despair  —  LAST WEEK, the rattling of sabers filled the air.  Various published reports, most notably one from Seymour M. Hersh in The New Yorker, indicated that Washington is removing swords from scabbards and heightening the threat aimed at Iran, which refuses to suspend its nuclear project.

Reporters In Glass Houses  —  From Washington, Page Six Is Just a Stone's Throw Away  —  They traffic in whispered gossip, charming the big shots, working the party circuit.  They gravitate toward boldface names who make good copy.  They reward sources who cooperate and can be rougher on those who don't play the game.

Vice Squad  —  They terrorize other government officials, and they're so secretive that their names aren't even revealed to a harmless federal employee directory.  And they've helped ruin the country.  Meet Dick Cheney's staff.  —  Bad heart, errant shotgun, and Halliburton stock options in tow …