Bush Defends Gonzales in Firing of Prosecutors  —  President Bush defended Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales today amid the furor over the firing of federal prosecutors, but he said he was troubled over the clumsy handling of the dismissals.  —  "I do have confidence in Attorney General Al Gonzales …

9/11 Mastermind Confesses in Guantanamo  —  WASHINGTON — Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the suspected mastermind of the Sept. 11 attacks, confessed to that attack and a string of others during a military hearing at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, according to a transcript released Wednesday by the Pentagon.

Zogby Poll: Voters Believe Media Bias is Very Real  —  Institute for Politics, Democracy, and the Internet/Zogby Poll shows American voters are skeptical political motivation may be behind blogs run by mainstream news organizations  —  The vast majority of American voters believe media bias …

Fitzgerald: Rove tried to limit choice  —  WASHINGTON — Former Sen. Peter Fitzgerald (R-Ill.) said Tuesday that White House political adviser Karl Rove told him in the spring of 2001 that he should limit his choice for U.S. attorney in Chicago to someone from Illinois.

Giuliani Law Firm Lobbies in Texas for Chavez-Controlled Citgo  —  Rudolph Giuliani's law firm lobbies for Citgo Petroleum Corp., a unit of the state-owned oil company controlled by Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, the U.S.'s chief antagonist in the Western Hemisphere.

MIL-IRAQ-US SOLDIERS  —  Baghdad security crackdown seriously curbs killings of US soldiers  —  The rate of killings of US troops in Iraq has been on the decline, down by 60 percent, since the launch of the new security measures in Baghdad, according to statistics revealed …

Senator Clinton, unplugged  —  This morning on Good Morning, America, we ran an interview with Sen. Hillary Clinton, D-NY, in which she called for Attorney General Alberto Gonzales's head.  —  "The buck should stop somewhere," Clinton said (CLICK HERE FOR MORE) "and the Attorney General …

Taste for Guinness wanes in changing Ireland  —  How about a glass of wine to celebrate Saint Patrick's Day in Dublin?  —  That might not sit well on the stomach of many residents of Ireland's capital this Saturday as they mark the year's biggest party with copious quantities of Guinness …

Clinton and Obama Court Jewish Vote  —  As Senators Hillary Rodham Clinton and Barack Obama compete for Jewish donors and voters, Mrs. Clinton is following a tried-and-true rule of hers from New York — support Israel to the last — while Mr. Obama is trying a more delicate strategy that hit some bumps this week.

Clinton Sees Some Troops Staying in Iraq if She Is Elected  —  Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton foresees a "remaining military as well as political mission" in Iraq, and says that if elected president, she would keep a reduced but significant military force there to fight Al Qaeda …

French High Court Rejects Gay Marriage  —  PARIS (AP) - France's highest court Tuesday rejected as unlawful the first marriage by a gay couple in France, annulling the union of the two men.  —  Stephane Charpin and Bertrand Charpentier were married in a civil ceremony on June 5, 2004 …

Pig Out  —  WITH some fanfare, the world's largest pork producer, Smithfield Foods, recently announced that it intended to phase out certain cages for its breeding females.  Called gestation crates, the cages virtually immobilize pigs during their pregnancies in metal stalls so narrow they are unable to turn around.