Ex-Texas Gov. Ann Richards dies  —  AUSTIN, Texas - Former Gov. Ann Richards, the witty and flamboyant Democrat who went from homemaker to national political celebrity, died Wednesday night after a battle with cancer, a family spokeswoman said.  She was 73.  —  She died at home surrounded by her family, the spokeswoman said.

Senate Committee Approves Wiretap Legislation  —  A Senate committee today approved a bill supported by President Bush that would enable the administration to continue a warrantless wiretapping program that the White House launched after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.

Let's quit while we're behind  —  "The trouble with our times," Paul Valéry said, "is that the future is not what it used to be."  —  This glum aperçu has been much with me as we move into the home stretch of the 2006 mid-term elections and shimmy into the starting gates of the 2008 presidential campaign.

I'm sorry Karl Rove . . .  I did not want to write this column.  —  After all, Special Counsel Patrick Fitzgerald's investigation into the public exposure of Valerie Plame Wilson's identity as a CIA operative is winding down after more than 2 1/2 years.  The trial of I. Lewis Libby …

Mother of missing boy commits suicide  —  LEESBURG, Fla. - Two weeks after telling police that her son had been snatched from his crib, Melinda Duckett found herself reeling in an interview with TV's famously prosecutorial Nancy Grace.  Before it was over, Grace was pounding her desk and loudly demanding to know: "Where were you?

In R.I., a Model for Voter Turnout  —  Employing Senate Primary Strategy May Give GOP an Edge  —  The turnout campaign that Republican operatives used to help pull Sen. Lincoln D. Chafee to victory in the Rhode Island primary was a potent demonstration of how money and manpower can transform …

The Pope Tackles Faith and Terrorism  —  In a provocative speech citing the concept of jihad and referencing the Muslim prophet by name, Benedict sends the world a signal that it's time for hard questions—not hugs and handshakes  —  This past Monday it was Sept. 11 in Bavaria too …

Air Force chief: Test weapons on testy U.S. mobs  —  WASHINGTON (AP) — Nonlethal weapons such as high-power microwave devices should be used on American citizens in crowd-control situations before being used on the battlefield, the Air Force secretary said Tuesday.  —  The object is basically public relations.

With No Ideas, The GOP Seeks to Scare  —  Wasn't it just a couple of years ago that Republicans were boasting that they were the party of ideas?  They would privatize the commonwealth and globalize democracy, while Democrats clung to the tattered banner of common security in both economics and national defense.

The ISM-Terror Connection  —  As a front group for Palestinian terrorists, the International Solidarity Movement (ISM) sends young people from all over the world to the training fields of the West Bank and Gaza to learn from terrorists and to aid them logistically.

Grim Report Out of Anbar Is Disputed by General  —  The senior Marine commander in Iraq said Tuesday that he had sufficient forces to carry out his mission but that the mission did not include defeating the insurgency.  —  "For what we are trying to achieve out here I think our force levels are about right …

ABC's 'Path' Not Taken  —  Does it matter that ABC invented and distorted history in its "warning: this is not a documentary" docudrama, "The Path to 9/11"?  After all, the first night of the faux drama was trounced by the brother-against-brother actual drama of "Sunday Night Football."

Treasury Department Cash Room  —  Washington, D.C.  —  One week from today, I will be in China to discuss the economic relationship between our two nations.  Today I will speak about China, and more broadly about the international economic system.  —  The prosperity of the United States …

GOP foe Fine says Ellison's unfit  —  DFL victor Keith Ellison is getting national attention on the chance that he could become the first Muslim member of Congress.  —  Keith Ellison's GOP foe attacked sharply Wednesday, calling him unfit for Congress and saying he was …