U.S. Not Pushing for Attack on Iran, Rice Says  —  Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice sought today to minimize any sense of division within the Bush administration over Iran after the head of the United Nations nuclear watchdog agency delivered a pointed new warning against what he called the …

The End Of The Bushes?  —  Peggy Noonan, one of my favorite columnists and always a great read, today turns her substantial rhetorical guns on what she sees as the biggest threat to the Republican Party — George Bush.  Accusing him of following his father in squandering a great political inheritance …

Soldiering On  —  ABC News Learns of Plans to Keep Troops in Iraq Beyond 2009  —  Sgt. John Guerra, 21, from Dallas, Tex., walks with his platoon from the 3rd Stryker Brigade Combat Team during a patrol in the Shaab neighborhood of Baghdad, Iraq, Friday, Feb. 16, 2007.

Rove Linked to Prosecution of Ex-Alabama Governor  —  In the rough and tumble of Alabama politics, the scramble for power is often a blood sport.  At the moment, the state's former Democratic governor, Don Siegelman, stands convicted of bribery and conspiracy charges and faces a sentence of up to 30 years in prison.

Better Off Fred?  —  Here are just a few little-known facts about Fred Thompson:  —  Every night before going to sleep, Osama bin Laden checks under his bed for Fred Thompson.  —  Though Fred Thompson left the Senate in 2003, Harry Reid still hasn't stopped wetting his pants.

Giuliani: Worse Than Bush  —  He's cashing in on 9/11, working with Karl Rove's henchmen and in cahoots with a Swift Boat-style attack on Hillary.  Will Rudy Giuliani be Bush III?  —  >> See what people are saying about Taibbi's latest column and add your own response here.

Al Qaida suspects sue Boeing, with ACLU's help  —  WASHINGTON — Boeing has been sued by suspected Al Qaida operatives transported by the CIA to Arab countries for interrogation and torture.  —  The American Civil Liberties Union has filed a federal lawsuit against Boeing subsidiary Jeppesen Dataplan …

U.N. Team Still Looking for Iraq's Arsenal  —  Though Work Is Seen as Irrelevant, Security Council Can't Agree to End It  —  UNITED NATIONS — More than four years after the fall of Baghdad, the United Nations is spending millions of dollars in Iraqi oil money to continue the hunt …

'We Are Facing a Second Nakba'-Reactions in the Palestinian Press to the Hamas-Fatah Clashes … Introduction  —  The current wave of violent Hamas-Fatah clashes is one of the most brutal the PA has known, especially considering that it broke out only a short while after the signing of the Mecca Agreement …

Number of Republicans in U.S. Hits New Low, Number of Democrats Also Decline  —  For the fourth straight month, the number of people identifying themselves as Republicans has decreased.  For the third straight month, the number of people identifying themselves as Democrats has also decreased (see history).

Kidney-donor TV show a hoax, producers admit … AMSTERDAM, Netherlands (Reuters) — A Dutch reality television show in which a supposedly dying woman had to pick one of three contestants to whom she would donate a kidney was revealed as an elaborate hoax on Friday.

Isikoff: Congress Wants Ashcroft's Testimony  —  The House and Senate Intelligence Committees have asked the former attorney general to testify about his role in a dramatic showdown over a controversial eavesdropping program.  Will he play ball?  —  The Senate and House Intelligence Committees …

B-I-A-S: Media Largely Ignore Spelling Bee Champ's Homeschooled Status  —  (14:50 EDT) Video of Tim Russert misspelling "Iraq" at bottom of post.  —  When California homeschooler Evan O'Dorney, 13, won the National Spelling Bee on Thursday night, the nation's press reacted with a yawn.

Gays and lesbians allowed conjugal visits in prisons  —  (06-01) 04:00 PDT Sacramento — California's prison system is changing its regulations to allow conjugal visits for gay and lesbian inmates in response to a legal threat and a 2003 law that gave domestic partners many of the same rights as married couples.

Holsinger's church role scrutinized  —  HAND IN METHODIST RULINGS RAISES CONCERN IN GAY COMMUNITY  —  The nomination of University of Kentucky professor Dr. James W. Holsinger as U.S. surgeon general has come under fire from groups that fear his actions as a high-ranking official in the United Methodist Church indicate he is anti-gay.