NSA has massive database of Americans' phone calls  —  The National Security Agency has been secretly collecting the phone call records of tens of millions of Americans, using data provided by AT&T, Verizon and BellSouth, people with direct knowledge of the arrangement told USA TODAY.

Hard-Core Republicans Are Fleeing President  —  Conservatives Point to Spending, Immigration  —  Disaffection over spending and immigration have caused conservatives to take flight from President Bush and the Republican Congress at a rapid pace in recent weeks, sending Bush's approval ratings …

Democrats Are Fractured Over Strategy, Funds  —  Democratic National Committee Chairman Howard Dean and the leader of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee have clashed angrily in recent days in a dispute about how the party should spend its money in advance of this fall's midterm elections.

A. M. Rosenthal Is Dead at 84; Innovative Editor of The Times  —  A. M. Rosenthal, a Pulitzer Prize-winning foreign correspondent who became the executive editor of The New York Times and led the paper's global news operations through 17 years of record growth, modernization and major journalistic change, died yesterday in Manhattan.

HUD chief says story on contract cancellation was not true  —  Alphonso Jackson, secretary of the Housing and Urban Development Department, told a Dallas audience last month that he personally canceled a minority businessman's contract award in response to negative comments about President Bush.

Bush: Brother Jeb would be 'great president'  —  Sen. Trent Lott tells Hardball he would 'not be supportive' of the candidacy  —  ORLANDO, Fla. - President Bush suggested Wednesday that he'd like to see his family's White House legacy continue, perhaps with his younger brother Jeb as the chief executive.

Leaving the Wild, and Rather Liking the Change  —  SAN JOSÉ DEL GUAVIARE, Colombia — Since time immemorial the Nukak-Makú have lived a Stone Age life, roaming across hundreds of miles of isolated and pristine Amazon jungle, killing monkeys with blowguns and scouring the forest floor for berries.

We Will Decisively Win in Iraq...in 2008  —  The Brookings Institute has the latest Iraq Progress Report, which All Things Conservative has summarized nicely.  Let's look at the data a bit more closely to see where key inflection points may emerge, and where Iraq will be in the next few years.

Alaa blogging from his Prison  —  Today it hit me, I am really an idiot.  I'm not sure how I feel.  I thought I was OK but I took forever to wake up.  The way fellow prisoners look at me tells me I do not feel well but I can't really feel it.  —  I'd say prison is not like I expected, but I had no expectations.

Lewis Surfaces in Probe of Cunningham  —  Federal prosecutors have begun an investigation into Rep. Jerry Lewis, the Californian who chairs the powerful House Appropriations Committee, government officials and others said, signaling the spread of a San Diego corruption probe.

Juan Williams: An Interview  —  I am very excited to share my interview with Fox News Contributor and Senior NPR Political Correspondent Juan Williams with you today.  Mr. Williams is one of my favorite pundits on the liberal side of the aisle.  You may not always agree with his arguments or reasoning but you do have to respect him.

Judge in Enron Case Delivers a Serious Blow to the 2 Defendants  —  HOUSTON, May 10 — The judge in the Enron trial dealt a serious blow on Wednesday to the two former chief executives accused of defrauding investors by agreeing to allow jurors to find both men guilty for consciously avoiding knowing about wrongdoing at the company.

Abramoff's White House visits  —  Secret Service records released today under court order show that convicted lobbyist Jack Abramoff made only two visits to the White House since President Bush took office in January 2001.  —  On March 6, 2001, Abramoff entered at 4:23 p.m. and left at 4:49 p.m. On Jan. 20 …

Murdoch Defends Plan to Host Hillary Fundraiser; Calls Her 'Effective, Good Senator'  —  News Corp. Chairman Rupert Murdoch, owner of Fox News and the New York Post, said today that he his standing by his decision to host a political fundraiser for Sen. Hillary Clinton later this year.

Coin Dealer Asks to Change Guilty Pleas  —  TOLEDO, Ohio (AP) — A major GOP fundraiser accused in a state rare-coin investment scandal is asking to change his not guilty pleas on federal charges that he illegally funneled donations to President Bush's re-election campaign.