Japan pushes for sanctions on N. Korea  —  UNITED NATIONS - Over Chinese and Russian objections, Japan introduced a draft Security Council resolution Friday that would impose sanctions on North Korea for its series of rocket test-launches and also order a halt to its development of ballistic missiles.

Plot to Attack N.Y. Foiled  —  A terrorist plot to attack transit tunnels under New York's Hudson River was broken up in its early planning stages, U.S. authorities said yesterday, with three suspects arrested overseas, including a Lebanese man the FBI said was an al-Qaeda follower.

New Links Between Abramoff, White House  —  Lobbyist Jack Abramoff had a half-dozen White House appointments in the early months of the Bush administration, according to logs released yesterday by the U.S. Secret Service.  —  The appointments included a meeting with a domestic policy aide …

Safe at Any Speed  —  With higher speed limits, our highways have been getting safer.  —  It's another summer weekend, when millions of families pack up the minivan or SUV and hit the road.  So this is also an apt moment to trumpet some good, and underreported, news: Driving on the highways is safer today than ever before.

G.O.P. Agenda in House Has Moderates Unhappy  —  WASHINGTON, July 7 — Moderate Republicans say a planned summer push by the House leadership on conservative causes like gun rights and new abortion restrictions threatens the re-election prospects of embattled centrists, who are key to the party's drive to hold Congress.

General Faults Marine Response to Iraq Killings  —  WASHINGTON, July 7 — The second-ranking American commander in Iraq has concluded that some senior Marine officers were negligent in failing to investigate more aggressively the killings of 24 Iraqi civilians by marines in Haditha last November …

Ahmadinejad warns of Islamic 'explosion'  —  TEHRAN, Iran - Iran's hard-line president warned Friday that continued Israeli strikes against Palestinians could lead to an Islamic "explosion" targeting Israel and its Western supporters.  —  Mahmoud Ahmadinejad told thousands of demonstrators gathered …

Whither the Women?  —  After Decades on Rise, Labor Participation Rate Is Down  —  The trend was clear and consistent.  Since the end of World War II and stretching to the start of the current millennium, the percentage of American women entering the labor force rose steadily …

N.Y. GAY-MARRIAGE RULING:  —  ... & BLUEPRINT FOR VICTORY  —  July 7, 2006 — SUPPORTERS of gay marriage won a resounding victory yesterday - even if they don't know it yet.  —  In a 4-2 decision, New York state's Court of Appeals made a simple, but firm, declaration …

Justices Tacitly Backed Use of Guantánamo, Bush Says  —  WASHINGTON, July 7 — In his most detailed comments to date on the Supreme Court's rejection of his decision to put detainees on trial before military commissions, President Bush said Friday that the court had tacitly approved …

The Thursday Night Fights  —  I haven't read anyone else's coverage or analysis yet, so forgive me if I'm repeating here.  —  Joe: I wasn't surprised by his pugnacious style.  You can't really disguise where you are, emotionally, in a situation like that, and his handlers were probably urging him to come out swinging, anyway.

Parliament Tells Europeans to Explain What They Knew About U.S. Tracking of Bank Data  —  BRUSSELS, July 6 — The European Parliament demanded Thursday that European institutions in Brussels and European governments disclose how much they knew about a secret American program to tap into international banking data.

Another Day, Another Terror Plot  —  The Daily News wants you to know that FEAR is BACK, exclusively reporting that the FBI has uncovered a serious terrorist plot to bomb the Holland Tunnel "in hopes of causing a torrent of water to deluge lower Manhattan."  (And disrupt all that progress down at the WTC?

Media Matters asks Random House to investigate Coulter plagiarism allegations  —  Tina Constable, Vice President, Executive Director of Publicity  —  Dear Mr. Olson, Mr. Applebaum, Ms. Frost, and Ms. Constable:  —  I am writing to bring to your attention troubling evidence that one of your authors …