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.

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.

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.

African Lion Kisses, Hugs Woman Who Saved It  —  People Shocked To See Affection Between Pair  —  People in Cali, Colombia, are shocked to see the bond between a large African lion and a woman who saved it from abuse, involving long, affectionate kisses and hugs between the pair.

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 …

The U.S.-Iran-Iraq-Israeli-Syrian War  —  At a not-for-quotation pre-speech briefing on Jan. 10, George W. Bush and his top national security aides unnerved network anchors and other senior news executives with suggestions that a major confrontation with Iran is looming.

Note from Flynt Leverett: Most Important Parts of Bush Speech About Iran — Not Iraq  —  I asked former CIA and Bush administration National Security Council senior official Flynt Leverett for a quick summary of his thoughts on President Bush's Address to the Nation.

Media Matters implores ABC not to air violent hate speech and racist fearmongering  —  President and CEO, The Walt Disney Company  —  Dear Messrs.  Iger, McPherson, and Westin:  —  We are writing to urge ABC/Disney to stop airing the violent hate speech and racist fearmongering …