Transcript: Third G.O.P. Debate  —  The following is a transcript of the 2008 Republican presidential candidates debate hosted by CNN, WMUR-TV and The New Hampshire Union Leader.  The participants were Senator Sam Brownback, the former Virginia Gov. James Gilmore, the former …

Turkish officials: Troops enter Iraq  —  ANKARA, Turkey - Hundreds of Turkish troops crossed into northern Iraq early Wednesday to chase Kurdish guerrillas who attack Turkey from bases there, Turkish security officials said.  One official said the troops had returned to their bases by the end of the day …

Giuliani will skip August straw poll  —  New Yorker plans "non-traditional" caucus run  —  Republican presidential candidate Rudy Giuliani plans to skip the Ames straw poll in August, but compete to win the leadoff Iowa caucuses, a gamble by the former New York Mayor on a "non-traditional" caucus campaign and a first for Iowa.

[TS] Op-Ed Columnist: Can He Unleash the Force?  —  Like all young superheroes, Barack Obama has to learn to harness his powers.

Murdoch, Ailes, Weymouth Pump Bloomberg At Breindel Awards  —  "I'm sworn to secrecy," Rupert Murdoch told The Observer as he was leaving the New-York Historical Society's auditorium last night.  But: "We're making progress," the News Corp. chief added.  —  Mr. Murdoch hosted …

Democrats Hope to Expand Rights at Guantánamo  —  A day after two military judges ruled against the Bush administration's system for trying terrorism detainees, Democrats seized on the rulings on Tuesday as evidence that Congress should restore the right of those held at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, to challenge their detentions.

Muhammad to top boys' names list  —  Muhammad is now second only to Jack as the most popular name for baby boys in Britain and is likely to rise to No 1 by next year, a study by The Times has found.  The name, if all 14 different spellings are included, was shared by 5,991 newborn boys last year …

Support for Senate Immigration Bill Falls, 49% Prefer No Bill At All  —  Public support for the Senate immigration reform bill has slipped a bit over the past week.  A Rasmussen Reports poll conducted Monday and Tuesday night found that just 23% of voters now support the bill while 50% are opposed.

Letters Cast Light on Cheney's Inner Circle  —  Dozens of Prominent Figures and Insiders Praise Libby as Fundamentally Decent  —  For nearly seven years, the office of the vice president has been a virtual black hole for information about the Bush administration.

In Saudi Arabia, a view from behind the veil  —  As a woman in the male-dominated kingdom, Times reporter Megan Stack quietly fumed beneath her abaya.  Even beyond its borders, her experience taints her perception of the sexes.  —  Riyadh, Saudi Arabia — The hem of my heavy Islamic cloak trailed over floors that glistened like ice.

Be Careful What You Sue For  —  Pursuing a libel or slander suit has long been a dangerous enterprise.  Oscar Wilde sued the father of his young lover Alfred Douglas for having referred to him as a "posing Somdomite" and wound up not only dropping his case but being tried …

Crushes  —  I honestly don't know what to make of all these men in the political establishment who insist on using their mancrushes as some sort of guideline for who is and is not "presidential."  Honestly, even Kathryn Jean Lopez's famous drooling over Mitt Romney isn't as embarrassing.

Journalists, You're in the Army Now  —  The days of the independent, neutral war correspondent, objectively reporting from a war's front lines, are quickly coming to an end.  In the future, a war correspondent will either effectively be a soldier for one faction of a conflict, or he will literally not survive in the war zone.

Iraqi Lawmakers Pass Resolution That May Force End to Occupation  —  War on Iraq: While Washington lawmakers play procedural games with an out-of-control executive branch, Iraqi legislators are working to bring an end to the occupation of their country.  —  Israel's 40 Years of Occupation: From Democratic State to Violent Oppressor

What is Rudy Giuliani talking about???  —  This is what I am denied, or spared, by being trapped in Chinese factories or hospitals and getting only intermittent glimpses of real-time Campaign 2008 rhetoric:  —  Rudy Giuliani's answer to the first substantive question of the debate.