Pardon talk for Libby begins  —  WASHINGTON — Now that top White House aide Karl Rove is off the hook in the CIA leak probe, President George W. Bush must weigh whether to pardon former vice presidential aide I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby, the only one indicted in the three-year investigation.

In 2003, U.S. Spurned Iran's Offer of Dialogue  —  Just after the lightning takeover of Baghdad by U.S. forces three years ago, an unusual two-page document spewed out of a fax machine at the Near East bureau of the State Department.  It was a proposal from Iran for a broad dialogue with the United States …

U.S. Airstrikes Rise In Afghanistan as Fighting Intensifies  —  In Response to More Aggressive Taliban, Attacks Are Double Those in Iraq War  —  As fighting in Afghanistan has intensified over the past three months, the U.S. military has conducted 340 airstrikes there …

Al-Qaeda Cell Planned to Attack Subway With Poison Gas, Says New Book  —  Exclusive Excerpt: Author Ron Suskind reveals how officials learned about a cell that came within weeks of striking New York City  —  Two months had passed since 9/11, and at the highest levels of government …

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.

Kicked out of Gitmo  —  A Times reporter's struggle to get the truth about America's island prison just got tougher.  —  IN THE BEST of times, covering Guantanamo means wrangling with a Kafkaesque bureaucracy, with logistics so nonsensical that they turn two hours of reporting into an 18-hour day …

Horror show reveals Iraq's descent  —  A morgue's grim scenes testify to a disintegrating nation, says Hala Jaber in Baghdad  —  THE morning rush had begun at the health ministry's morgue in Baghdad, and by 9.30am last Thursday 36 coffins already lined the street outside.

Ayatollah's grandson calls for US overthrow of Iran  —  The grandson of Ayatollah Khomeini, the inspiration of Iran's 1979 Islamic Revolution, has broken a three-year silence to back the United States military to overthrow the country's clerical regime.  —  Hossein Khomeini's call …

In New Orleans, Money Is Ready but a Plan Isn't  —  It is unclear which areas of New Orleans will get city services.  Adam Hutton, 11, on Friday added to piles of garbage in Central City.  —  NEW ORLEANS, June 17 — Billions of federal dollars are about to start flowing into this city …

Humpback whales: Licence to kill  —  Endangered humpback whales to be hunted for the first time in 30 years as Japan defies ban  —  Humpback whales - the best loved and one of the most endangered of all the giant mammals - are to be slaughtered for the first time in more than 30 years, in defiance of an international ban.

Bill Clinton decries 'divisive' politics  —  LITTLE ROCK (AP) — Former President Bill Clinton said Saturday that, if he returns to the White House in 2008 because his wife becomes president, his role would be to "do whatever she wants" because that's what a good citizen would do.

German paper doubts Gaza beach reports  —  German newspaper casts doubt on Palestinian claims that IDF shell killed seven family members on Gaza beach.  How come Hadil Ghalia was seen wearing dry clothes after the Gaza beach attack when she was reported to have been swimming?  —  Ynet

Kurdish Defendants Find Support in Town's Clasp  —  Refugees in Va. Hamlet Arrested in Oct.  —  HARRISONBURG, Va. — There is a Kurdish section at a cemetery in this Shenandoah Valley town.  Four Kurdish babies were born in one recent week.  And nearly a decade after the first Kurdish refugees settled …

Biden in N.H.: 'I'm running for president'  —  DOVER, N.H. — Calling the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks a greater shock to the American psyche than Pearl Harbor, Sen. Joe Biden said Saturday that Democrats must demonstrate they can provide for national security to win back the presidency.

Poll: Bush's unpopularity could hurt GOP candidates  —  WASHINGTON (CNN) — President Bush's continued unpopularity could present a challenge for Republican candidates in this fall's mid-term elections, according to a new CNN poll released Friday.  —  The poll results weren't all bad news for Bush.