Grand Jury Gets Rove Testimony Over C.I.A. Leak  —  WASHINGTON, April 26 — Karl Rove, the senior counselor to President Bush, testified for several hours on Wednesday before the federal grand jury in the C.I.A. leak case, in an appearance that was a sign of renewed attention by the special prosecutor …

Visit by Rumsfeld, Rice Sets Off Criticism in Iraq  —  Some leaders worry that the Americans' surprise trip could hurt talks on forming a government.  Analysts see an effort to shore up U.S. opinion.  —  BAGHDAD — Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld paid …

Pain at Pumps May Be Felt at Polls  —  As Gas Prices Soar, Voters Want to Send a Message to Lawmakers  —  FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla., April 26 — One of the soaring bridges to the beach here is named for longtime Republican congressman E. Clay Shaw Jr., and at its foot is a gas station where drivers …

A Different Press Secretary  —  WASHINGTON, April 26 — In formally naming the Fox News commentator Tony Snow to be his press secretary on Wednesday, President Bush completed a decade-long transformation of the role of the presidential spokesman from behind-the-scenes functionary to daily on-camera personality.

Prosecutors May Widen Congressional-Bribe Case  —  Cunningham Is Suspected  —  Of Asking for Prostitutes;  —  Were Others Involved?  —  Federal prosecutors are investigating whether two contractors implicated in the bribery of former Rep. Randall "Duke" Cunningham supplied him with prostitutes …

Senators to push for $100 gas rebate checks  —  Under proposal, every U.S. taxpayer would get one  —  WASHINGTON (CNN) — Every American taxpayer would get a $100 rebate check to offset the pain of higher pump prices for gasoline, under an amendment Senate Republicans hope to bring to a vote Thursday.

Joe Klein's Turnip Day  —  Politics Lost: How American Democracy Was Trivialized by People Who Think You're Stupid, by Joe Klein.  Doubleday, 256 pages, $23.95.  —  Joe Klein is the flower of American political journalism, a sharp raconteur who shows traces of the gonzo style that was in vogue …

Solidarity without sentimentality  —  The power of one (woman) over history  —  But first, Tony Snow: The fun starts here and here and a few free comments from me, here on "Comment is Free."  (I'm not responsible for the "Yellow Snow" hed, for goodness sakes.)

Projected Iraq War Costs Soar  —  Total Spending Is Likely to More Than Double, Analysis Finds  —  The cost of the war in Iraq will reach $320 billion after the expected passage next month of an emergency spending bill currently before the Senate, and that total is likely to more than double …

Senate Panel Urge FEMA Dismantling  —  WASHINGTON, April 26 —The Federal Emergency Management Agency was so fundamentally dysfunctional during Hurricane Katrina that Congress should abolish it and create a new disaster response agency from scratch, according to a draft of bipartisan recommendations proposed by a Senate committee.

CIA warns ex-agents over talking to media  —  The Central Intelligence Agency has warned former employees not to have unapproved contacts with reporters, as part of a mounting campaign by the administration to crack down on officials who leak information on national security issues.

United 93  —  The filmmakers got it right.  —  The calendar says it's April 25, 2006.  At noon, my wife, Peggy, and I are walking around Battery Park—near the Tribeca area—in New York.  It is our first time.  The flowers are blooming; kids are fishing; people boarding the ferry to Ellis Island and the Statue of Liberty.

'Jesus with erection' ignites outrage  —  Student newspaper publishes drawings in response to Muhammad 'toons  —  A Catholic activist organization has written to Oregon's governor and state lawmakers to protest a University of Oregon student newspaper for having published cartoons showing Jesus Christ naked and with an erection.

Republicans Sag in New Poll  —  Bush and Congress  —  Get Perilously Low Marks  —  As Gas Prices Rise  —  Rising gas prices have intensified discontent with Washington and handed Congress a frightening midterm election backdrop: a deeply pessimistic electorate, despite a robust economy.

In iTunes War, France Has Met the Enemy.  Perhaps It Is France.  —  THE French take pride in their revolutions, which are usually hard to miss — mass uprisings, heads rolling and such.  So, with the scent of tear gas in the air this past month from the giant protests against a youth labor law …

Because K's are Funny — Counterattacking My Eternally Friendly Saudi Hackers  —  Backstory on the Saudi's hacking my blog.  —  The title of this post is a reference to a line spoken by Walter Matthau (who deserved the Oscar more than George Burns) in The Sunshine Boys.  —  Search Google images for koran.

No Outcry About Lobby Scandal, Lawmakers Say  —  Republicans See Little Risk In Pushing Modest Ethics Bill  —  The scandal surrounding disgraced lobbyist Jack Abramoff has been a Washington obsession for months, but Republican lawmakers who returned from a two-week recess this week …

Understanding Mobility in America  —  Executive Summary  —  This report discusses two aspects of economic mobility in the United States.  The first is the question of intergenerational mobility, or the degree to which the economic success of children is independent of the economic status of their parents.

Press Briefing by Scott McClellan  —  MR. McCLELLAN: Good afternoon, everyone.  I want to begin with tomorrow's trip to the Gulf Coast.  Let me just give you a little bit of a preview of the President's visit.  —  The President is looking forward to going back to the Gulf Coast region tomorrow.