At least 1,000 UK soldiers desert  —  More than 1,000 members of the British military have deserted the armed forces since the start of the 2003 Iraq war, the BBC has discovered.  —  It comes as Parliament debates a law that will forbid military personnel refusing to participate in the occupation of a foreign country.

Cheney aide is screening legislation  —  Adviser seeks to protect Bush power  —  WASHINGTON — The office of Vice President Dick Cheney routinely reviews pieces of legislation before they reach the president's desk, searching for provisions that Cheney believes would infringe on presidential power …

At West Point, Bush Draws Parallels With Truman  —  WEST POINT, N.Y., May 27 — President Bush implicitly compared himself to Harry S. Truman in a commencement address at the United States Military Academy on Saturday, saying Truman acted boldly against the "fanatic faith" …

Congress Isn't Above the Law  —  And bribery isn't "speech or debate."  —  How strong is the case against Louisiana's Rep. William Jefferson?  —  According to numerous press accounts, after videotaping Mr. Jefferson receiving a $100,000 bribe from an FBI informant, the government executed …

Can Bloggers Get Real?  —  Las Vegas, as the ad campaign likes to remind us, is a place people go to untether themselves from reality — to become, if only for a weekend, anonymous and uncensored.  It's odd, then, that Vegas is about to play host to a gathering of ordinary Americans whose objective is precisely the reverse.

In Chicago, New Pay Law Is Considered for Big Stores  —  CHICAGO, May 27 — Chicago may become the first city in the nation to require "big box" retailers like Wal-Mart or Home Depot to pay employees a "living wage" of at least $10 an hour plus $3 an hour in benefits.

Ahmadinejad threatens Europe  —  Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad warned Europe that it should support his country's nuclear program or "suffer the consequences."  —  In an interview to be published in the German Der Spiegel on Sunday, Ahmadinejad also expressed his doubt regarding the Holocaust …

Immigration Deal at Risk as House GOP Looks to Voters  —  Republican House members facing the toughest races this fall are overwhelmingly opposed to any deal that provides illegal immigrants a path to citizenship — an election-year dynamic that significantly dims the prospects that President Bush …

New Bush appointee caught changing and distorting his own quotes  —  Several days ago, the Bush administration announced that Karl Zinsmeister, the long-time Editor of the right-wing American Enterprise magazine, would become its new Domestic Policy Advisor.

A Union Tested by War  —  Military Couples Recast Future in Face of the Unthinkable  —  A few weeks after an explosion tore off his legs and part of his right arm, Army Sgt. Joseph Bozik felt the time had come to tell his girlfriend she no longer was bound by their plans for marriage.

Springtime for Killing in Afghanistan  —  DECEPTIVE The beauty of the Afghan opium poppies belies the conflict they feed.  Col. Paul Calbos survived a suicide attack days after this visit, part of a drive to curb the trade.  —  WASHINGTON  —  TO most Americans, Afghanistan has been a war …

Hamas militia returns to streets of Gaza  —  GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip - The Hamas-led government's private militia returned to the streets of Gaza Saturday after a one-day absence, complicating efforts to end an increasingly bloody standoff with President Mahmoud Abbas' rival Fatah movement.

'Gunfire' false alarm sparks panic in the US Capitol  —  WASHINGTON (AFP) - Tactical teams wearing flak jackets and police sniffer dogs swarmed through several US Congress buildings after an erroneous report of gunfire forced a lockdown of the sprawling Capitol office complex.

Back in the Limelight, Gore Insists He's Over Politics  —  WASHINGTON, May 27 — "I wanted it, and it was not to be," said Al Gore, the former vice president and two-time presidential candidate.  "I am not pursuing it.  I have been there, and I have done that."