EXCLUSIVE: DA in Duke Rape Case Asks to Be Taken off Case  —  After Weeks of Criticism, District Attorney Mike Nifong Asked to Be Recused  —  ABC News Law & Justice Unit  —  District Attorney Mike Nifong has requested that he have himself removed from prosecuting the Duke Lacrosse rape investigation, ABC News has learned.

Bush Authorized Iranians' Arrest in Iraq, Rice Says  —  A recent series of American raids against Iranians in Iraq was authorized under an order that President Bush decided to issue several months ago to undertake a broad military offensive against Iranian operatives in the country, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said Friday.

CIA Leak Probe: Inside The Grand Jury  —  Late in the morning of July 12, 2003, Vice President Dick Cheney stood atop a pier at Naval Station Norfolk in Virginia awaiting the commissioning of the nuclear-powered aircraft carrier USS Ronald Reagan, a ship 20 stories high that took eight years to construct.

Unveiled Threats  —  A Bush appointee's crude gambit on detainees' legal rights  —  MOST AMERICANS understand that legal representation for the accused is one of the core principles of the American way.  Not, it seems, Cully Stimson, deputy assistant secretary of defense for detainee affairs.

Boneless Wonders  —  Meet the spineless members of Congress. … Today, Boneless Wonders sit on the benches of both parties in Congress.  More are to be found on the Democratic side of the aisle than the Republican.  But the herd of Boneless Wonders these days is a bipartisan one.

Bush's Best Democratic Buddy  —  Joe Lieberman gives the president a pass on Katrina.  —  Newsweek  —  Sen. Joe Lieberman, the only Democrat to endorse President Bush's new plan for Iraq, has quietly backed away from his pre-election demands that the White House turn …

Democrats in Senate Fail to Block Bill on Ethics  —  After campaigning for months on a promise to tighten ethics rules, Senate Democratic leaders tried unsuccessfully Thursday to block a measure that would shine a light on the shadowy practice of earmarking federal money for lawmakers' pet projects.

Intelligence Chiefs Pessimistic In Assessing Worldwide Threats  —  Negroponte Cites Resilience of Al-Qaeda, Iraqi Insurgency  —  Iraq is at a violent and "precarious juncture," while al-Qaeda is significantly expanding its global reach, effectively immune to the loss of leaders in battle …

Read more about the CBS News poll '08 Contenders Weigh In  —  Bush, visiting with troops at Fort Benning, Ga., cautioned that the troop increase "is not going to yield immediate results.  It's going to take a while."  —  The president's plan, outlined in a prime-time address to the nation on Wednesday …

HOW IRAQIS SEE W'S NEW PLAN  —  GREAT RELIEF - AND SOME CONCERNS  —  'A SIGH of relief!  So one resident of Haifa Street, in the heart of Baghdad's badlands, reacted to the new plan to secure the Iraqi capital with the help of thousands of additional American troops.

The Two Vacuums  —  Neither Iraqis nor Democrats seem ready to do what's required of them.  —  I had the odd and wholly unexpected experience of feeling supportive of a troop increase until I saw the president's speech arguing for it.  What a jarring, furtive-seeming thing it was.

Scientists prepare to move Doomsday Clock forward  —  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The keepers of the "Doomsday Clock" plan to move its hands forward next Wednesday to reflect what they call worsening nuclear and climate threats to the world.  —  The symbolic clock, maintained by the Bulletin …

New Arms Shipments to Iraqi Militia Detected  —  Alexis Debat Reports:  —  US military intelligence sources tell ABC News that large shipments of weapons have been smuggled to Iraqi militia over the past five weeks, including dozens of Iranian supplied EFP's , or Explosive Form Projectiles, highly effective against armored vehicles.

Cold, Snow in Parts of Southern California  —  A cold snap hit the Southland amid forecasts of record or near-record low temperatures Friday and Saturday night in metropolitan, coastal and valley areas of Los Angeles County.  —  Also on abc7.com:  —  Post-midnight lows early Friday included 16 …