Exclusive Book Excerpt: How an Al-Qaeda Cell Planned a Poison-gas Attack on the N.Y. Subway  —  The plot was called off by Bin Laden's No. 2 only 45 days from zero hour, according to a new book by Ron Suskind  —  Al-Qaeda terrorists came within 45 days of attacking the New York subway system …

2 Missing U.S. Soldiers Are Sought in Iraq  —  BAGHDAD, Iraq, June 17 — American soldiers on Saturday went house to house, scanned the streets from helicopters and dove into irrigation canals to try to find two of their comrades who had been reported captured by insurgents in an ambush south of the capital.

Obama's Profile Has Democrats Taking Notice  —  Popular Senator Is Mentioned as 2008 Contender  —  EAST ORANGE, N.J. — Barack Obama was standing before a packed high school auditorium when he noticed a familiar face in the crowd — none other than singer Dionne Warwick.

U.S. Muslim Clerics Seek a Modern Middle Ground  —  Every seat in the auditorium at the University of Houston was taken, and the crowd was standing in the back and spilling out into the lobby, straining to hear.  The two men onstage began to speak to the crowd in Arabic …

My Unwitting Role in the Rove 'Scoop'  —  The May 13 story on the Web site Truthout.org was explosive: Presidential adviser Karl Rove had been indicted by Special Counsel Patrick J. Fitzgerald in connection with his role in leaking CIA officer Valerie Plame's name to the media, it blared.

Along Part of the Border, A Zero-Tolerance Zone  —  Tough Program Is Discouraging Illegal Crossings  —  DEL RIO, Tex. — On June 1, the three Ordaz-Valtierra brothers from Mexico illegally crossed the Rio Grande with the same dream that so many other Latin American immigrants have …

A hurricane of fraud?  —  FEMA did mismanage Katrina relief, but it's wrong to blame victims for spending irresponsibly.  —  MOVE OVER, RECKLESS CONSUMERS.  The Federal Emergency Management Agency has outdone your irresponsible spending by racking up a debit card bill so outrageous it could have been created using Mad Libs.

HOMELAND SECURITY INC.  —  Contractor Pay Lures Counterterror Officials  —  WASHINGTON, June 17 — Dozens of members of the Bush administration's domestic security team, assembled after the 2001 terrorist attacks, are now collecting bigger paychecks in different roles …

Bush: Iraq must know it won't be abandoned  —  CRAWFORD, Texas - President Bush, reminding listeners of his surprise trip to Baghdad, said Saturday it was important for the Iraqi people to know after three years of war that "America will not abandon them after we have come this far."

Democrats offer a 'new direction'  —  Congressional Democrats announced "a new direction for America" yesterday, outlining a litany of promises to raise the minimum wage and lower gas prices, college tuition and the cost of health care.  —  "Democrats are united in presenting a new direction for America …

'Star Trek' Fans, Deprived of a Show, Recreate the Franchise on Digital Video  —  MASON NECK STATE PARK, Va. — Paul Sieber was wearing a "Star Trek" uniform in the deep Virginia woods when he found himself surrounded by a leathery-looking gang.  —  Fortunately, the ruffians were dressed up as Klingons …

Bad Advice Blamed For Banned Tactics  —  A secretive military Special Operations group in Iraq used several unauthorized interrogation tactics on detainees in early 2004 after it erroneously received an outdated policy from commanders in Baghdad, according to a high-level military investigative report released yesterday at the Pentagon.

Newspaper Clients, and Syndicate, Stick With Coulter  —  NEW YORK Ann Coulter hasn't lost any of her 100-plus newspaper clients, or the support of her syndicate, Universal Press Syndicate, despite her nasty remarks in her new book about 9/11 widows and her comment in an online interview implying that …

Lieberman: Put National Interest Above Partisan Interest  —  David Broder's column in tomorrow's Washington Post reviews the conundrum of Joe Lieberman, a leader in a Democratic Party that has largely stopped following him.  Lieberman knows why his party, especially the state party …