House-Senate Battle On Immigration Likely  —  With the Senate marching toward completion of an immigration bill that is more generous to illegal immigrants than the House-passed version, House leaders said yesterday that it will be difficult to reach a compromise and enact a measure.

Bill Frist: A Doctor at Heart  —  The houses were dark on Bill Frist's street.  A morning bird chirped; the others were waiting for dawn.  But Frist was awake, and his bedroom light was on.  "I'm going to take a shower," the Senate majority leader said brightly.  Ten minutes later, the blow dryer roared.

Officials Defend Raid on Lawmaker's Office  —  Amid Uproar on Capitol Hill, Gonzales Says Jefferson Search Was Done Carefully  —  Justice Department and FBI officials yesterday vigorously defended a weekend raid on the Capitol Hill office of Democratic Rep. William J. Jefferson (La.) …

Pelosi asks congressman snared in bribery probe to resign post  —  House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) has formally asked Rep. William Jefferson (D-LA) to resign from the powerful Ways and Means Committee.  —  Jefferson wrote Pelosi quickly in reply, refusing to surrender his seat.

In need of moral clarity  —  "I was aiming to follow in the footsteps of one of my role-models, Muhammad Atta." … Do you remember Taheri-azar?  The 25-year-old Iranian graduate of the University of North Carolina rented an SUV in March and drove it into The Pit, a campus gathering place for UNC students.

West Bank Pullout Gets a Nod From Bush  —  WASHINGTON, May 23 — President Bush offered conditional support on Tuesday for Israeli ideas for a substantial withdrawal of settlers from the West Bank, but insisted that the new prime minister, Ehud Olmert, first exhaust all possibilities for a negotiated solution.

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 …

Senator McCain Worked Blue  —  On New York Stage  —  Behind Closed Doors, Republican Works in Material: 'I'd Tell Shiites and Sunnis, "Stop the Bulls**t"'; Fresh From Falwell, Attacks Right-Wing Nativism  —  For all the national attention surrounding John McCain's two highly anticipated …

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.

Crashing the Gates of Congress — And Action Request for Everyone  —  Some of our Roots Project members crashed the gates of Congress yesterday — delivering a copy of Markos and Jerome's Crashing the Gate to every Democratic member of the House and the Senate.

Ex-'Inky' Editor: New Ownership Of Philly Papers Could Be 'Dangerous'  —  NEW YORK Former Philadelphia Inquirer Editor Robert Rosenthal, who spent 22 years at the paper, said the sale to a local investors group could prove problematic.  —  "It is a unique situation and I don't think it is necessarily …

Keep 'America' in Michigan schools  —  State bureaucrats want to do what Stalin, Osama could only dream about  —  C ensoring the word "America" from our own schools is something Josef Stalin, Adolf Hitler and Osama bin Laden would never have thought possible.  Michigan has done it without a whimper.

Inconvenient Truths Indeed  —  Al Gore's "An Inconvenient Truth" opens around the country this week.  In the film Gore pulls together evidence from every corner of the globe to convince us that climate change is happening fast, we are to blame, and if we don't act immediately, our Earth will be all but ruined.

Any differences between Democrats in 2003 and today?  —  (updated below)  —  Democrats on the Senate Intelligence Committee yesterday essentially assured that President Bush's nominee to head the CIA, Gen. Michael Hayden, would not only be confirmed by the full Senate, but confirmed overwhelmingly.

Desperate Telcos: When the Going Gets Tough, the Absurd Rumors Get Going  —  Opponents of Internet freedom seem shocked that Google, MoveOn, the Christian Coalition, and 700 other diverse organizations are fighting on the same side to preserve the Internet that has revolutionized democratic participation …

Gonzales Defends Phone-Data Collection  —  Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales said yesterday that the government can obtain domestic telephone records without court approval under a 1979 Supreme Court ruling that authorized the collection of business records.

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 …

Intelligence Czar Can Waive SEC Rules  —  Now, the White House's top spymaster can cite national security to exempt businesses from reporting requirements  —  President George W. Bush has bestowed on his intelligence czar, John Negroponte, broad authority, in the name of national security …

Lloyd Bentsen Dies at 85; Senator Ran With Dukakis  —  Lloyd Bentsen, former congressman and senator from Texas, onetime secretary of the Treasury and the Democratic nominee for vice president in 1988, died yesterday at his home in Houston.  He was 85.  The cause was complications of a stroke he suffered in 1998, his family said.

Pentagon Finds China Fortifying Its Long-Range Military Arsenal  —  China's military buildup is increasingly aimed at projecting power far beyond its shores into the western Pacific to be able to interdict U.S. aircraft carriers and other nations' military forces, according …