German Suitcase Bombs Were Primed to Go Off, Kill (Update2)  —  Aug. 18 (Bloomberg) — Two suitcases containing bottles of gasoline, propane gas and a detonating device that were found abandoned in German regional trains last month were bombs primed to go off and kill a ``high number'' of people, police said.

Bush Vows to Fight Wiretapping Ruling  —  President Bush said today that he is confident that a federal court ruling against his administration's electronic surveillance program will be overturned, and he described those who hailed the ruling as naïve.  —  "I would say that those who herald …

John Bolton Won't Talk to Me  —  updated— … Okay, so let me get this straight.  —  John Bolton will give several interviews to drunken wingnut blogger of Atlas Shrugged, Pam Geller Oshry.  Her web bio states that "her publishing career at The New York Daily News and subsequently took …

Photojournalism in Crisis  —  The Israeli-Hezbollah war has left many dead bodies, ruined towns, and wobbling politicians in its wake, but the media historian of the future may also count as one more victim the profession of photojournalism.  In twenty years of researching and teaching …

Israel alarm at UN force members  —  Israel says it would be "difficult if not inconceivable" to accept nations which do not recognise its right to exist as part of a UN force in Lebanon.  —  Israeli UN envoy Dan Gillerman was speaking after Indonesia and Malaysia, which do not recognise Israel, pledged troops for the UN deployment.

Officials: U.S. blocked missiles to Hezbollah  —  WASHINGTON — The United States blocked an Iranian cargo plane's flight to Syria last month after intelligence analysts concluded it was carrying sophisticated missiles and launchers to resupply Hezbollah in southern Lebanon, two U.S. intelligence officials say.

Young Quits As Walmart Spokesman Amid Racial Comments Flap  —  Just in case you thought Virginia Senator George Allen was the only person who seems tolerance-challenged and suffers from foot-in-mouth disease, think again: … So let's get this straight for a second: Young has been someone who has been working for racial tolerance?

Lieberman's New Consultants: 1 R, 1D  —  Joe Lieberman's indie CT SEN campaign sent out a release to announce the hiring of two new consultants: media/direct mail consultant Josh Isay and pollster Neil Newhouse.  Isay mostly works with Dems, with his most prominent former employer being Sen. Chuck Schumer …

It's art, says the naked woman who'll hug a dead pig on stage  —  After pickled sheep, unmade beds and painting with elephant dung, some questioned where modern art could go next.  —  Kira O'Reilly will provide her own answer today by spending four hours naked, hugging a dead pig - at the taxpayer's expense.

Supporters Scuffle At Candidate Forum  —  The increasingly contentious race between U.S. Rep. Albert R. Wynn and his main Democratic primary challenger, Donna Edwards, led to a police call during a forum Wednesday night when a member of Wynn's team allegedly hit a volunteer for Edwards's campaign.

'Cane Mutiny  —  What a difference one year makes.  With the anniversary of Hurricane Katrina's landfall (August 29, 2005) rapidly approaching, who would have predicted that we would now be in the middle of a near-normal Atlantic hurricane season?  Weren't the global warming pundits' predictions …

President Bush Meets with Economic Advisors  —  THE PRESIDENT: Thank you all for coming.  We've just finished a really informative meeting with my economic team.  I want to thank them for their service to the country.  I'm really proud to be serving the American people alongside them.

Terror police find 'martyr tapes'  —  Police investigating an alleged plot to bring down airliners have found several martyrdom videos in the course of their searches, the BBC has learned.  —  Unofficial police sources said the recordings - discovered on laptop computers …