Privately Funded Trips Add Up on Capitol Hill  —  Over 5 1/2 years, Republican and Democratic lawmakers accepted nearly $50 million in trips, often to resorts and exclusive locales, from corporations and groups seeking legislative favors, according to the most comprehensive study to date on the subject of congressional travel.

666 sucks sucks sucks  —  With its devilish "666" date-stamp, today should be hell, but if you crunch the numbers it's apparently more about hugs than human sacrifice.  —  For those of an apocalyptic bent, the sixth day of the sixth month of the sixth year is the ideal date for an anti-Christ …

The ties that bind 17 suspects?  —  SURYA BHATTACHARYA, NASREEN GULAMHUSEIN AND HEBA ALY  —  In investigators' offices, an intricate graph plotting the links between the 17 men and teens charged with being members of a homegrown terrorist cell covers at least one wall.

Ex-President Wins in Peru in Stunning Comeback  —  LIMA, Peru, June 4 — Sixteen years after his presidency ended in economic collapse and heightened guerrilla violence, Alan García was elected president again on Sunday, completing one of Latin America's most astonishing political resurrections.

The Real Iraq  —  Spending time in the United States after a tour of Iraq can be a disorienting experience these days.  Within hours of arriving here, as I can attest from a recent visit, one is confronted with an image of Iraq that is unrecognizable.  It is created in several overlapping ways …

The wrong target  —  Terrorism, not America, is a real and present threat to our freedoms  —  Al-Haditha, a town on the Euphrates northwest of Baghdad, is still a place where fighters blend into the populace and literally use civilians as cover.  Coalition forces may shoot only when threatened …

Fitzgerald, Scooter and Us  —  The special prosecutor wants to use our editorial as evidence.  Sorry. … Those words appeared in this column on July 17, 2003, under the headline "Yellowcake Remix."  Three years later they show we were right about Joe Wilson and his false allegation …

Court to Weigh Race as Factor in School Rolls  —  WASHINGTON, June 5 — The Supreme Court agreed on Monday to rule on what measures, if any, public school systems may use to maintain racial balance in individual schools.  —  The eventual decision on whether they can take race into account …

In Brazen Roundup, 56 Vanish From Baghdad  —  BAGHDAD, June 5 — "Turn back," a friend told Haji Abu Shamaa as he walked Monday morning toward his money-changing shop in the Karkh neighborhood of central Baghdad, a mile north of the heavily guarded Green Zone.  "The Interior Ministry police are rounding up people."

Chill out over global warming  —  You'll often hear the left lecture about the importance of dissent in a free society.  —  Why not give it a whirl?  —  Start by challenging global warming hysteria next time you're at a LoDo cocktail party and see what happens.  —  Admittedly, I possess virtually no expertise in science.

Inside the Cult of Kos  —  What makes the political blogger so mesmerizing to his followers?  —  "If I cared what commenters said, I'd kill myself."  In the high-octane non-stop flame war that is the political blogosphere, Markos Moulitsas Zuniga knows how to get attention.  He's kidding, of course.

Date With the Devil  —  Those Who Seek 'the Number of the Beast' Need Look No Further Than Today's Calendar  —  Satan's spawn are having a lucrative old time today.  The calendar says this is the 6th day of the 6th month of the millennium's 6th year.  —  According to the King James version …

The Hell of War  —  Why Haditha isn't My Lai.  —  Unjust though the assumption may prove to be, let us imagine that the Marines of Kilo Company did indeed crack up and cut loose in Haditha that day.  Something like this has certainly been waiting to happen.

Ex-Official Testifies He Provided 'Insight and Advice' to Abramoff  —  WASHINGTON, June 5 — A former White House budget official acknowledged Monday that he had provided "a lot of insight and advice," including government information not available to the public, to the lobbyist Jack Abramoff in 2002.

Iraqis Believe Violence Will Abate, New Report Says  —  Pentagon Finds Hope Is Tied to New Government  —  Attacks and casualty levels against civilians and military personnel in Iraq have risen "substantially" since the December elections, but Iraqis have confidence the new Baghdad government …

Bush Throws Support to Marriage Amendment; Senate Debate Begins  —  President Bush spoke today in support of the Marriage Protection Amendment (MPA) as debate began on the Senate floor for the second time in two years — with a vote to come this week.  —  In brief remarks at the White House …

Somali Islamists Declare Victory; Warlords on Run  —  NAIROBI, Kenya, June 5 — After months of fierce fighting, Islamic militias declared Monday that they had taken control of Somalia's capital, Mogadishu, defeating the warlords widely believed to be backed by the United States and raising questions …

U.S. Is Offering Deals on Trade to Entice Iran  —  WASHINGTON, June 5 — The European Union's foreign policy director, Javier Solana, arrived in Tehran on Monday night with incentives intended to resolve the nuclear crisis with Iran, including a proposal to allow Iran to upgrade …