G.O.P. Leaders Knew in Late '05 of E-Mail  —  Top House Republicans knew for months about e-mail traffic between Representative Mark Foley and a former teenage page, but kept the matter secret and allowed Mr. Foley to remain head of a Congressional caucus on children's issues, Republican lawmakers said Saturday.

The laughing 9/11 bombers  —  Exclusive film of suicide pilots at Bin Laden's HQ  —  FILM of the ringleader of the September 11 hijackers reading his "martyrdom" will inside Afghanistan at Osama Bin Laden's headquarters has emerged five years after the Al-Qaeda outrage.

Is there blood on his hands?  —  As Kofi Annan prepares to stand down as UN secretary-general, Adam LeBor investigates the accusations made against the world's chief defender of human rights  —  THE CASE AGAINST KOFI ANNAN  —  The bodies were still warm when Lieutenant Ron Rutten found them …

Justices to Hear Abortion, Integration Cases  —  'Partial-Birth' Procedure and Schools' Race Policies to Dominate Court's Agenda  —  Abortion and race dominate the Supreme Court's agenda for the term that begins tomorrow, with the Bush administration and its conservative allies urging …

White House Lists Book's 'Five Key Myths'  —  The White House went on the offensive yesterday against a new book that reports President Bush resisted demands to boost U.S. troop numbers in Iraq and misled Americans about the level of violence there.  —  The book, "State of Denial," …

Campaign 2006: The Republicans' Secret Weapon  —  You think the GOP is sure to lose big in November?  They aren't.  Here's why things don't look so bad to them  —  The polls keep suggesting that Republicans could be in for a historic drubbing.  And their usual advantage …

THE GLENN AND HELEN SHOW: MICHAEL TOTTEN ON BLOG-JOURNALISM AND THE MIDDLE EAST  —  Michael Totten is an independent blog-journalist who has covered the Middle East with support from his blog readers.  He's reported from Libya, Tunisia, Iraq, Turkey, Lebanon, Israel, and Egypt — and he's now planning another trip.

Saudis build 550-mile fence to shut out Iraq  —  Security in Iraq has collapsed so dramatically that Saudi Arabia has ordered the construction of a 550-mile high-tech fence to seal off its troubled northern neighbour.  —  The huge project to build the barrier, which will be equipped …

Powell Tried to Warn Bush on Iraq, Book Says  —  Colin L. Powell, in his last face-to-face meeting with President Bush before stepping down as secretary of state in January 2005, tried to impress upon him one last time the dangers he saw the United States facing in Iraq, according to a new Powell biography.

Mormon with a JFK touch is right on McCain's tail  —  FOR a glimpse of the top candidates for president in 2008, the best venue last week was a fashionable bar in Washington where the favourites for the Republican and Democratic nominations gathered like show ponies for the launch of a book called The Way to Win.

Tester holds 7-point lead on Burns, poll says  —  HELENA - Democratic challenger Jon Tester is leading Republican U.S. Sen. Conrad Burns by a 47 percent to 40 percent margin, a new Gazette State Poll shows.  —  Ten percent of the voters are undecided, while 3 percent said they would vote …

It was Bush's decision.  But Rumsfeld drove the dynamic on Iraq.  How the SecDef blew it.  An exclusive excerpt.  —  Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice (left) had concerns about the 'overbearing style' of Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld (right), according to Woodward's book

Newsflash: Victor Davis Hanson, American Idiot  —  VDH on Jimmy Carter: … VDH is half right; Desert One really was the Waterloo of the Carter presidency and, had it succeeded, Carter would probably have won the 1980 election and we'd have a different America.

'08 Scrutiny Shines Unkind Light on Allen  —  It was always a tricky proposition for Sen. George Allen to balance his 2006 reelection campaign with his 2008 presidential ambitions, and now the increased scrutiny and criticism that came with his role on the national stage endanger both.

Florida Republicans angry at Foley's 'hypocrisy'  —  The congressman was known for crusading against sex predators and Internet porn.  —  FORT LAUDERDALE — At the height of the Monica Lewinsky scandal, a young Republican congressman from Florida did something that seemed ordinary at the time …

Blinded by Hindsight  —  FIVE years after the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, three years after the 9/11 commission report, and just weeks before a national election, the issues of what happened before those attacks have resurfaced.  Suddenly, we are again witnessing heated disputes …