Edwards to Suspend Campaign  —  John Edwards is suspending his campaign for President, and may drop out completely, because his wife has suffered a recurrence of the cancer that sickened her in 2004, when she was diagnosed with breast cancer, an Edwards friend told The Politico.

Prosecutor Says Bush Appointees Interfered With Tobacco Case  —  The leader of the Justice Department team that prosecuted a landmark lawsuit against tobacco companies said yesterday that Bush administration political appointees repeatedly ordered her to take steps that weakened the government's racketeering case.

Was She Covert?  —  Republican Rep. Peter Hoekstra could hardly believe what he heard on television Friday as he watched a House Oversight and Government Reform Committee hearing.  Rep. Henry Waxman, the Democratic committee chairman, said his statement had been approved by the CIA director, Michael Hayden.

House Democrats Weigh Plan for Iraq Withdrawal  —  Representative Dan Boren is a Democrat, but after visiting Iraq last week he announced a decision that puts him at odds with his party's leaders: he intends to vote against their plan to set a deadline for troops to leave Iraq.

Calling BS on De Vellis - It Wasn't Him  —  Phil claims he made it?  I say don't buy everything you read.  —  Those who have been around the Buckeye 'sphere for a while know Mr. De Vellis well.  One of the most unscrupulous Democratic staffers to come to Ohio in quite a while, creative and talented Phil is not.

Senate panel OKs subpoenas for key aides  —  WASHINGTON - A Senate panel, following the House's lead, authorized subpoenas Thursday for White House political adviser Karl Rove and other top aides involved in the firing of federal prosecutors.  —  The Senate Judiciary Committee decided …

Florida moves to wipe out clout of smaller states with Jan. 29 presidential primary  —  Tallahassee - Hoping to muscle Florida into a pre-eminent role in picking next year's Democratic and Republican presidential candidates, the state House voted Wednesday to leapfrog almost all the other states …

What Bush is hiding  —  In the U.S. attorney scandal, Alberto Gonzales gave orders, but he also took them — from Karl Rove, who plotted to turn the federal criminal justice system into the Republican Holy Office of the Inquisition.  —  Alberto Gonzales, right, and Karl Rove at the Jan. 31 …

Some Heated Words for Mr. Global Warming  —  Al Gore, star of an Academy Award-winning film, was in town for a double feature on Capitol Hill yesterday.  But instead of giving another screening of "An Inconvenient Truth," the former vice president found himself playing the Clarence Darrow character in "Inherit the Wind."

Musharraf at the Exit  —  LAHORE, Pakistan — In the rapidly unfolding crisis in Pakistan, no matter what happens to President Pervez Musharraf — whether he survives politically or not — he is a lame duck.  He is unable to rein in Talibanization in Pakistan or guide the country toward a more democratic future.

The Year Without Toilet Paper  —  DINNER was the usual affair on Thursday night in Apartment 9F in an elegant prewar on Lower Fifth Avenue.  There was shredded cabbage with fruit-scrap vinegar; mashed parsnips and yellow carrots with local butter and fresh thyme; a terrific frittata …