Australian leader: Al-Qaida wants Obama  —  SYDNEY, Australia - Australia's conservative prime minister slammed Barack Obama (news, bio, voting record) on Sunday over his opposition to the Iraq war, a day after the first-term U.S. senator announced his intention to run for the White House in 2008.

Cosmic rays blamed for global warming  —  Man-made climate change may be happening at a far slower rate than has been claimed, according to controversial new research.  —  Scientists say that cosmic rays from outer space play a far greater role in changing the Earth's climate than global warming experts previously thought.

Cheney's To-Do Lists, Then and Now  —  RETURNING to the White House after the Memorial Day weekend in 1975, the young aide Dick Cheney found himself handling a First Amendment showdown.  The New York Times had published an article by Seymour M. Hersh about an espionage program …

McCain Taps Cash He Sought To Limit  —  Just about a year and a half ago, Sen. John McCain went to court to try to curtail the influence of a group to which A. Jerrold Perenchio gave $9 million, saying it was trying to "evade and violate" new campaign laws with voter ads ahead of the midterm elections.

Victory Is Not an Option  —  The Mission Can't Be Accomplished — It's Time for a New Strategy  —  The new National Intelligence Estimate on Iraq starkly delineates the gulf that separates President Bush's illusions from the realities of the war.  Victory, as the president sees it …

Putin Hits U.S. Over Unilateral Practices  —  Russian President Vladimir Putin, in some of his harshest criticism of the United States since he took office seven years ago, said Saturday that Washington's unilateral, militaristic approach had made the world a more dangerous place than at any time during the Cold War.

Obama Formally Enters Presidential Race  —  Senator Barack Obama of Illinois, standing before the Old State Capitol where Abraham Lincoln began his political career, announced his candidacy for the White House on Saturday by presenting himself as an agent of generational change who could transform …

U.S. officer: Iran sends Iraq bomb parts  —  BAGHDAD, Iraq - High-tech roadside bombs that have proved particularly deadly to American soldiers are manufactured in Iran and delivered to Iraq on orders from the "highest levels" of the Iranian government, a senior intelligence officer said Sunday.

Iran's Obsession with the Jews  —  Denying the Holocaust, desiring another one.  —  On December 12, 2006, Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad personally brought to a close the infamous Holocaust deniers' conference in Tehran.  A strange parade of speakers had passed across the podium …

The Build-a-War Workshop  —  It took far too long, but a report by the Pentagon inspector general has finally confirmed that Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld's do-it-yourself intelligence office cooked up a link between Iraq and Al Qaeda to help justify an unjustifiable war.

World of Fun for You!  —  Ah, Ann Althouse.  Always a delight.  —  She writes a bit of nonsense about the Pelosi/plane nonsense, gets called on it by Scott at LGM, and then gets herself into a snit because Scott was mean to her by making a perfectly legitimate criticism.

Woman Chosen to Lead Harvard  —  Collegial Historian to Follow Summers's Stormy Tenure  —  Harvard University is about to name its first woman president since its founding in 1636, tapping a Civil War historian to succeed Lawrence Summers, whose tumultuous tenure was marked by controversial remarks …

California Split  —  SOMETHING interesting is happening in California.  Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger seems to have grasped the essential truth that no nation — not even the United States — can be managed successfully from the center once it reaches a certain scale.

AN EXPLOSION OF DISBELIEF - FRESH DOUBTS OVER 9/11  —  The official story of what happened on 9/11 never fails to shock.  Four American airliners are hijacked by Osama Bin Laden's terrorists in an attack on the heart of the Western world on September 11, 2001.

Sunday's TV News Shows  —  Guest lineup for the Sunday TV news shows:  —  ABC's "This Week" (7 a.m., Channel 9, VCRplus 30817) — Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass.; former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee; actor Sean Penn.  —  CBS' "Face the Nation" (9:30 a.m., Channel 13, 7 on Comcast, 73324) …