Pakistan Denies Bin Laden Gets a Pass  —  Brian Ross Reports:  —  The government of Pakistan today denied it would allow Osama bin Laden to avoid capture under terms of a peace agreement it signed with Taliban leaders in the country's North Waziristan area.

Republican Rift Over Wiretapping Widens  —  Party at Odds on Surveillance Legislation  —  Deepening Republican divisions over the future of President Bush's warrantless wiretapping program may jeopardize GOP leaders' hopes of making terrorism surveillance legislation a centerpiece of their final legislative push this month.

Romney bars state security for Iranian's Harvard visit  —  Cites unacceptable use of funds on `a terrorist'  —  Governor Mitt Romney declared yesterday he would not allow any state resources to be used to protect a former Iranian president during his visit to the Boston area this weekend …

Time for Answers  —  For three years, Washington has been periodically consumed with the question of who unmasked a covert C.I.A. agent to the columnist Robert Novak.  It has been a huge distraction for the White House, resulted in the unjustified jailing of one reporter …

Harris wins Fla. GOP Senate nomination  —  MIAMI - U.S. Rep. Katherine Harris (news, bio, voting record) overcame a campaign ridiculed even by her own party to easily claim the GOP nomination for the Senate on Tuesday, and Rep. Jim Davis (news, bio, voting record) won the Democratic nomination to succeed popular Gov. Jeb Bush.

Vast Oil Pool Tapped in Gulf of Mexico  —  WASHINGTON (AP) — A trio of oil companies led by Chevron Corp. has tapped a petroleum pool deep beneath the Gulf of Mexico that could boost the nation's reserves by more than 50 percent.  —  A test well indicates it could be the biggest …

Border deal threatens to close trap on Taleban  —  THE leaders of Pakistan and Afghanistan will attempt today to bury their differences and agree a joint strategy to combat Islamic militants operating on both sides of their border.  —  As Nato forces fought an estimated 700 Taleban rebels …

Lobbying Probe Looks at Payments To DeLay's Wife  —  WASHINGTON — The Justice Department's congressional lobbying-and-bribery investigation is looking into whether former House Majority Leader Tom DeLay's wife received money from a lobbying firm for a no-show job, recent FBI interviews indicate.

Once a Progressive State, Minnesota Is Now a Fief of the N.R.A.  —  A couple of weeks ago, I checked into a hotel in Bloomington, a Minneapolis suburb framed by the airport and the Mall of America.  On the hotel door was a sign: "Firearms Banned on These Premises."

Hezbollah doubtful over German role in UN force  —  BERLIN - The Shiite Hezbollah militia has expressed "reservations" about Germany's involvement in the multinational UN force deploying for Lebanon, owing to German demands that its troops be allowed to stop and search boats bound for the country.

Judge Hears Arguments on Federal Spying Program  —  In a lively oral argument lasting almost three hours, a federal judge in Manhattan indicated yesterday that he had serious reservations about the legality of a National Security Agency surveillance program that monitors the international communications of people in the United States.

Princess Kiko of Japan Has a Boy  —  Princess Kiko, the wife of the emperor's younger son, gave birth to a boy on Wednesday morning, securing the succession of Japan's imperial throne for another generation.  —  In an event that had been anticipated for months, the princess gave birth …

USC Study: Celebrities Really Are More Narcissistic Than the General Public  —  LOS ANGELES, Sept. 5 /PRNewswire/ — Celebrities have more narcissistic personality traits than the general population, and people with narcissistic tendencies seem to be attracted to the entertainment industry rather …