Surveillance and Betrayal Ended Hunt  —  BAGHDAD, Iraq, June 8 —Muhammad Ismael, a 40-year-old Iraqi taxi driver, was standing outside his home in the tiny village of Hibhib on Wednesday evening when something unusual caught his eye.  —  Three GMC trucks, each with blackened windows …

DeLay Bids the House a Torrid Goodbye  —  WASHINGTON, June 8 — Representative Tom DeLay personifies the word "unapologetic."  —  Leaving Congress on Friday under indictment in Texas and under a cloud in Washington for his relationships with a lobbyist and two former senior aides …

Apologise or we'll cut your funding, US envoy tells UN  —  From James Bone in New York and Richard Beeston  —  AMERICA'S bitter dispute with the United Nations escalated last night when John Bolton, the US envoy to the UN, threatened to withhold funding to the organisation unless it apologised …

G.O.P. Fails in Attempt to Repeal Estate Tax  —  WASHINGTON, June 8 — Senate Republicans failed on Thursday to muster the votes needed to abolish the estate tax on inherited wealth, but supporters of a compromise held out hope for a deal this year that could attract enough Democrats to pass.

FDA Approves Vaccine That Should Prevent Most Cervical Cancers  —  In what officials called a major public health breakthrough, the Food and Drug Administration yesterday approved the first vaccine developed to protect women against cervical cancer.  —  The vaccine, which works by building immunity …

Israeli air strike kills Gaza security chief  —  Source: Reuters  —  GAZA, June 8 (Reuters) - A senior Palestinian security official in the Hamas government was killed on Thursday in an Israeli aerial attack on a militant camp in the southern Gaza Strip, witnesses and medics said.

Dog Feces Left at Congresswoman's Office  —  Republican U.S. Rep. Marilyn Musgrave's re-election campaign was already heated, and it just got smelly as well: Her staff accused a Democratic activist Thursday of leaving an envelope full of dog feces at Musgrave's Greeley office.

Black Caucus opposes Jefferson treatment  —  WASHINGTON - A drive by the Democratic leadership to strip embattled Rep. William Jefferson (news, bio, voting record) of his committee post triggered a backlash Thursday as the Congressional Black Caucus opposed the move and said the Louisiana lawmaker deserves a "presumption of innocence."

GRADING ON A CURVE: A recent comment brought up the traditional criticism of grading on curves — what if 80% of a particular class did really well, and deserves As? what if 80% did badly, and deserves Fs? why not grade objectively rather than comparatively? — so I thought I'd repost my paean to curves from 2002.

Our Strategy for a Democratic Iraq  —  BAGHDAD — The completion of the national unity government Thursday in Iraq marks the starting point for repaying Iraqis' commitment to and thirst for democracy.  We are at this juncture thanks to the bravery of the soldiers, police and citizens …

Pentagon sets its sights on social networking websites  —  "I AM continually shocked and appalled at the details people voluntarily post online about themselves."  So says Jon Callas, chief security officer at PGP, a Silicon Valley-based maker of encryption software.