Study Claims Iraq's 'Excess' Death Toll Has Reached 655,000  —  A team of American and Iraqi epidemiologists estimates that 655,000 more people have died in Iraq since coalition forces arrived in March 2003 than would have died if the invasion had not occurred.

Solving the Korean Stalemate, One Step at a Time  —  IN 1994 the North Koreans expelled inspectors of the International Atomic Energy Agency and were threatening to process spent nuclear fuel into plutonium, giving them the ability to produce nuclear weapons.

FBI Agents Still Lacking Arabic Skills  —  Five years after Arab terrorists attacked the United States, only 33 FBI agents have even a limited proficiency in Arabic, and none of them work in the sections of the bureau that coordinate investigations of international terrorism, according to new FBI statistics.

Across Europe, Worries on Islam Spread to Center  —  Europe appears to be crossing an invisible line regarding its Muslim minorities: more people in the political mainstream are arguing that Islam cannot be reconciled with European values.  —  "You saw what happened with the pope," …

History of Foley Messages' Release Clarified by Players  —  2 Sources Explain Motives, Citing Concern for Hill's Pages  —  Two of the news media's sources of Mark Foley's sexually explicit instant messages to former House pages said this week that they came forward to expose …

RATFINK WRITES NEW BOOK  —  Such gorgeous weather we've been enjoying in New York.  Good-to-be-alive weather, driving the blues away.  The news has also cooperated with this morale lift.  The Yankees went down in shabby defeat in the first round of the playoffs, igniting a welter of recriminations, which is always fun.

U.S. Says Blacks in Mississippi Suppress White Vote  —  The Justice Department has chosen this no-stoplight, courthouse town buried in the eastern Mississippi prairie for an unusual civil rights test: the first federal lawsuit under the Voting Rights Act accusing blacks of suppressing the rights of whites.

FBI investigating actions of Specter staff member  —  WASHINGTON — The FBI is investigating whether a member of Sen. Arlen Specter's staff broke the law by helping her husband, a lobbyist, secure almost $50 million in Pentagon spending for his clients, the senator acknowledged Tuesday.

Army plans current Iraq troop levels until 2010  —  Top officer says future planning 'is not a prediction' of how war is going  —  WASHINGTON - The U.S. Army has plans that would keep the current level of troops in Iraq — about 15 brigades — through 2010, the top Army officer said Wednesday.

Researchers See a Downside as Keyboards Replace Pens in Schools  —  Researchers See a Downside as Keyboards Replace Pens in Schools  —  The computer keyboard helped kill shorthand, and now it's threatening to finish off longhand.  —  When handwritten essays were introduced on the SAT exams …

President says Foley conduct disgusting  —  WASHINGTON — President Bush on Wednesday called ex-Rep. Mark Foley's approaches to House male pages "disgusting" and backed Speaker Dennis Hastert's efforts to learn how officials handled the problem.  —  Bush's remarks at a White House news conference came …