Were the Qana Bodies Staged?  —  These questions and others are beginning to mount as the discrepancies in Hezbollah's versions of events start to fall apart: … Assuredly, Hezbollah's supporters will accuse those questioning the Qana attacks as conspiracy theorists, so I simply advise …

The Next Steps With Iran  —  Negotiations Must Go Beyond the Nuclear Threat to Broader Issues  —  The world's attention is focused on the fighting in Lebanon and the Gaza Strip, but the context leads inevitably back to Iran.  Unfortunately, the diplomacy dealing with that issue is constantly outstripped by events.

Key Republican breaks with Bush on Mideast  —  Nebraska's Sen. Hagel calls for immediate cease-fire  —  WASHINGTON (CNN) — Urging President Bush to turn all U.S. efforts toward "ending this madness," a leading Republican senator Monday broke with the Bush administration and called for an immediate cease-fire in the Mideast.

Israel's Olmert Rules Out Cease-Fire  —  U.N. Postpones Meeting on Multinational Force for Southern Lebanon  —  Israel rejected the prospect of a cease-fire in the coming days in its war with Lebanon's Hezbollah militia, launching new ground and air operations against the radical Shiite Muslim group …

Ned Lamont on the Colbert Report  —  Stephen Colbert interviewed Ned Lamont tonight about the upcoming Connecticut primary.  —  Some rough transcript quotes from Ned: … Ned did an outstanding job at handling the tough interviews Stephen Colbert gives.  He was quick with the responses and presented his platform very well.

Mel Gibson's Meltdown  —  HE IS SICK TO HIS EMPTY CORE WITH JEW-HATRED.  —  I was just in the middle of writing a long and tedious essay, about how to tell a real anti-Semite from a person who too-loudly rejects the charge of anti-Semitism, when a near-perfect real-life example came to hand.

Castro relinquishes power before surgery  —  HAVANA - Fidel Castro temporarily relinquished his presidential powers to his brother Raul on Monday night and told Cubans he underwent surgery.  —  The Cuban leader said he had suffered gastrointestinal bleeding, apparently due to stress …

Democrats Unite on Iraq Withdrawal Demands  —  Twelve Democratic leaders of the House and Senate have urged President Bush in a strongly worded letter to begin withdrawing the 130,000 U.S. troops from Iraq by year's end, a sign that Democrats may be uniting on a key election-year issue that has divided the party.

Gitmo Guards Often Attacked by Detainees  —  The prisoners held at Guantanamo Bay during the war on terror have attacked their military guards hundreds of times, turning broken toilet parts, utensils, radios and even a bloody lizard tail into makeshift weapons, Pentagon reports say.

Dear Mr. President, Simply Staying the Course in Iraq is Not Working  —  Washington, DC—With violence exploding in Iraq, there is little evidence that the Bush Administration and Congressional Republicans have a coherent strategy to stabilize Iraq.  Thousands have been killed in sectarian …

Appeals court hears from lawyers in DeLay ballot battle  —  NEW ORLEANS — A federal appeals panel indicated today that the ability of Republicans to replace former U.S. Rep. Tom Delay on the ballot rests on whether there was "conclusive" evidence that he had moved to Virginia.

Fla. Republicans won't back Rep. Harris  —  TALLAHASSEE, Fla. - The state Republican Party bluntly told Rep. Katherine Harris (news, bio, voting record) that she couldn't win this fall's Senate election and that the party wouldn't support her campaign, a letter obtained Monday by The Associated Press shows.

AMATEUR HOUR  —  On the Internet, everybody is a millenarian.  Internet journalism, according to those who produce manifestos on its behalf, represents a world-historical development—not so much because of the expressive power of the new medium as because of its accessibility to producers and consumers.

Statewide poll: Without key exceptions, more South Dakotans oppose abortion ban  —  Amid the often hostile rhetoric that pierces South Dakota's closely watched abortion debate, a new survey shows that more residents of the largely conservative state oppose a ban on the pregnancy-ending procedure …