W.H. Correspondents Dinner: Bush Kills, Colbert Bombs  —  Turns out comedy is best left to the amateurs.  —  Tough night for Colby, who must have regarded this gig as a chance to play the Super Bowl on his home field.  Watch the clip and see for yourself whom the crowd ended up rooting for.

Bush challenges hundreds of laws  —  President cites powers of his office  —  WASHINGTON — President Bush has quietly claimed the authority to disobey more than 750 laws enacted since he took office, asserting that he has the power to set aside any statute passed by Congress when it conflicts …

Economist John Kenneth Galbraith Dies at 97  —  John Kenneth Galbraith, the author, scholar, diplomat and presidential adviser, who was a preeminent symbol and source of liberal political thought, died last night in Cambridge, Mass. He was 97.  —  His son Alan said his father died …

Where's the dissent about source of quote?  —  John Kerry announced this week's John Kerry Iraq Policy of the Week the other day: "Iraqi politicians should be told that they have until May 15 to deal with these intransigent issues and at last put together an effective unity government or we will immediately withdraw our military."

Al-Qaeda leader plans an Iraq army  —  THE leader of Al-Qaeda in Iraq, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, is attempting to set up his own mini-army and move away from individual suicide attacks to a more organised resistance movement, according to US intelligence sources.

Ayaan Hirsi Ali Loses Her Home  —  Via Peaktalk, the story of Ayaan Hirsi Ali just gets worse.  Hirsi Ali is the Somali-born Dutch parliamentarian whose outspokenness on the rights of women under Islam has made her a marked woman.  Islamists have issued a fatwa calling for her death.

League of Dictators?  —  Why China and Russia Will Continue to Support Autocracies  —  Ever since liberalism emerged in the 18th century, its inevitable conflict with autocracy has helped shape international politics.  What James Madison called "the great struggle of the epoch between liberty …

Iran 'attacks Iraq Kurdish area'  —  Iraq has accused Iranian forces of entering Iraqi territory and shelling Kurdish rebel positions in the north.  —  Iranian troops bombed border areas near the town of Hajj Umran before crossing into Iraq, the defence ministry in Baghdad said on Sunday.