F.B.I. Raid Divides G.O.P. Lawmakers and White House  —  WASHINGTON, May 23 — After years of quietly acceding to the Bush administration's assertions of executive power, the Republican-led Congress hit a limit this weekend.  —  Resentment boiled among senior Republicans for a second …

Senate Panel Endorses C.I.A. Nominee  —  WASHINGTON, May 23 — The Senate Intelligence Committee strongly endorsed Gen. Michael V. Hayden on Tuesday to be the next director of the Central Intelligence Agency, with all but three members, all Democrats, voting to send General Hayden's nomination to the Senate floor.

Senate Backs Job Verification for Immigrants  —  WASHINGTON, May 23 — The Senate voted on Tuesday to require employers to use a vast new employment verification system that would allow businesses to distinguish between legal and illegal workers.  —  Employers would be required to enter …

STOP THE LIES  —  Iowahawk Guest Commentary  —  by Jesse Macbeth  —  Iraq War Veterans Against Google  —  Breakfast Shift Associate, Wendys of Tacoma  —  As a decorated combat veteran of Bush's Iraq misadventure, I am all too familiar with the saying "the first casualty of war is truth."

Iran Requests Direct Talks on Nuclear Program  —  TEHRAN, May 23 — Iran has followed President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's recent letter to President Bush with explicit requests for direct talks on its nuclear program, according to U.S. officials, Iranian analysts and foreign diplomats.

Iran test-fires long-range missile  —  Iran conducted a test launch Tuesday night of the Shihab-3 intermediate-range ballistic missile, which is capable of reaching Israel and US targets in the region, Israel Radio reported.  The test came hours before Prime Minister Ehud Olmert met …

Former Sen. Lloyd Bentsen dies at 85  —  He also served as treasury secretary, ran for vice president  —  HOUSTON - Former Senator and Treasury Secretary Lloyd Bentsen, a courtly Texan who as the Democrats' vice presidential nominee in 1988 famously told rival Dan Quayle he was "no Jack Kennedy," died Tuesday.

U.S. praises Israeli West Bank plan  —  WASHINGTON - In a policy shift, the White House is praising Israel's plan to set its borders with the Palestinians and is convinced those boundaries could create side-by-side states if a negotiated solution proves elusive.

Armed Groups Propel Iraq Toward Chaos  —  Haider Hamid was arrested in Baghdad on April 15 by officers wearing Interior Ministry uniforms, according to Mr. Hamid's brother, Majid.  Majid Hamid found his brother's body, above, showing signs of torture, five days later in the city morgue.

John Kerry's encore  —  JOHN KERRY may just be charting his path back to the future.  —  The man who cast a vote he now acknowledges was a mistake on the Iraq war resolution, and then spent two years awkwardly confronting the fallout as he ran for president, has finally come to a position where he seems comfortable.

A.C.L.U. May Block Criticism by Its Board  —  The American Civil Liberties Union is weighing new standards that would discourage its board members from publicly criticizing the organization's policies and internal administration.  —  "Where an individual director disagrees with a board position …

Defense Sources: Duke Accuser Gave Conflicting Stories About Alleged Rape  —  DURHAM, N.C. — The woman who has accused three members of the Duke University lacrosse team of raping her at an off-campus party told investigators several different stories about the night of the alleged incident …

Avoiding Another 'Slam-Dunk'  —  Amid all the debate about intelligence, there has been surprisingly little focus on the question the average citizen (and average policymaker, too) would probably have at the top of the list: Will these guys get it wrong again?

Extremism Isn't Islamic Law  —  For a few days this year the world's media focused an intense spotlight on the drama of a modern-day inquisition.  Abdul Rahman, a Muslim convert to Christianity, narrowly escaped the death penalty for apostasy when the Afghan government …

Harry Reid & The End of Liberal Thought  —  The highest-ranking Democrat in America, Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid, described the Senate bill making English the national language of the American people as "racist."  And the New York Times editorial page labeled the bill "xenophobic."

ABC News Experiment Ends With Return to Solo Anchor  —  Charles Gibson Moves To Evening Newscast  —  ABC News said yesterday that it is replacing Elizabeth Vargas as anchor of its struggling nightly newscast with Charles Gibson, a move that at once abandons a dual-anchor experiment …