U.S. weighs shootdown of N. Korea missile  —  WASHINGTON - The Bush administration is weighing responses to a possible North Korean missile test that include attempting to shoot it down in flight over the Pacific, defense officials told The Associated Press on Tuesday.

New Details on Al Masri  —  Guest post by Alexis Debat, terrorism consultant for ABC News, a senior fellow at The Nixon Center and a contributing editor to The National Interest  —  The mystery man named again today by US authorities as a successor to Abu Musab al Zarqawi is an Egyptian …

GOP leaders: No immigration bill this year  —  WASHINGTON - In a defeat for President Bush, Republican congressional leaders said Tuesday that broad immigration legislation is all but doomed for the year, a victim of election-year concerns in the House and conservatives' implacable opposition …

Kerry extends troop withdrawal date  —  Pushes 2007 deadline in proposal to remove US soldiers from Iraq  —  WASHINGTON — Senator John F. Kerry is pushing back by six months the deadline he wants to set for removing combat troops from Iraq, as he seeks to build support in the Senate for his plan for troop withdrawal.

Pray For Pfc. Thomas Lowell Tucker & Pfc. Kristian Menchaca  —  ** Update: US Soldier's Bodies Found.  They had been tortured! (more below) **  —  Outside the Beltway goes further.  The soldiers were "Barbarically Killed!"  —  Even knowing what little we know at this point …

Santorum plays catch-up, tries to woo female voters  —  Latest poll shows he trails Democrat Casey among women.  —  | U.S. Sen. Rick Santorum, who has some ground to catch up on when it comes to female voters, made a concerted effort Monday to pull more women into his flock of supporters.

Soldiers of fortune go free as judge denounces Chirac over island coup  —  COVERT attempts by President Chirac to exert influence over Africa were exposed by a French court yesterday, when it denounced his secret services for conniving with a band of mercenaries in a coup in the tiny Comoros Islands.

Merrill Apparently Shot Himself On the Bay  —  Philip Merrill, the prominent publisher and former diplomat whose body was found floating in the Chesapeake Bay on Monday, suffered from a heart condition and apparently took his own life, his family said last night.

Army Cancels Contract for Iraqi Prison  —  BAGHDAD, Iraq, June 19 — The Army Corps of Engineers said Monday that it had canceled a $99.1 million contract with Parsons, one of the largest companies working in Iraq, to build a prison north of Baghdad after the firm fell more than two years behind schedule …

Vice President's Remarks at the Gerald R. Ford Journalism Prize Luncheon Followed by Q&A  —  Washington, D.C.  —  THE VICE PRESIDENT: Thank you.  (Applause.)  Thank you all very much.  I appreciate the warm welcome.  It's good to be here this afternoon.

New Yorkers Don't Let a Few Laws Get in the Way  —  NEW YORK — Banker Ernest Aning has grabbed a sandwich and he's in a hurry to get back to his office and — what?  He should walk to the corner and wait at the light?  —  Right.  —  Aning cuts across the middle of 34th Street (four lanes …

National Guard Called In to Fight Big Easy Crime  —  City Has Seen 53 Killings This Year  —  NEW ORLEANS, June 20, 2006 — Louisiana Gov. Kathleen Blanco has pledged to dispatch the National Guard and state police to the beleaguered city.  —  The move answers a plea from New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin …

Resolution from Cox and Authentium  —  I just spent a lot of time talking to the folks at both, and things look good; in brief, the problem involves a genuine bug, but was made much worse by lack of communication.  It was not deliberate, just communication issues that are pretty human.

Democrats Look to Keep Minimum Wage on Table  —  Republicans Likely to Face  —  Election-Year Fight on Calls  —  To Raise the Federal Rate  —  WASHINGTON — Democrats aim to make the minimum wage a maximum political problem for Republicans this election year.