Hamas Seizes Base In Gaza  —  Hamas gunmen wrested control of a key security base in Gaza City from the rival Fatah movement Thursday morning, further consolidating their hold over large swaths of the Gaza Strip.  —  Palestinian hospital officials said at least 14 people were killed …

No Drop in Iraq Violence Seen Since Troop Buildup  —  Three months into the new U.S. military strategy that has sent tens of thousands of additional troops into Iraq, overall levels of violence in the country have not decreased, as attacks have shifted away from Baghdad and Anbar …

Reid labels military leader 'incompetent'  —  Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid called Marine Gen. Peter Pace, the outgoing chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, "incompetent" during an interview Tuesday with a group of liberal bloggers, a comment that was never reported.

FBI Finds It Frequently Overstepped in Collecting Data  —  An internal FBI audit has found that the bureau potentially violated the law or agency rules more than 1,000 times while collecting data about domestic phone calls, e-mails and financial transactions in recent years …

Massimum Engagement  —  Caution: what you're about to read will shock you.  —  As you know, Italy's Foreign Minister Massimo D'Alema recently joined the distinguished club of diplomats who went to "talk" to Syria, got nothing, got humiliated, got their words twisted, were told one thing …

Justice Dept. Reshapes Its Civil Rights Mission  —  In recent years, the Bush administration has recast the federal government's role in civil rights by aggressively pursuing religion-oriented cases while significantly diminishing its involvement in the traditional area of race.

Research shows Hilton prison time longer than most  —  Paris Hilton will end up serving more time behind bars than the vast majority of inmates sent to Los Angeles County jail for similar offenses, according to a Los Angeles Times analysis of jail records.  —  Whether Hilton received special treatment …

For Mrs. Giuliani, Not the Usual Campaign Trail for a Candidate's Wife  —  Three months ago, as Rudolph W. Giuliani was starting his quest for the Republican nomination, his campaign sought to introduce the political world to his third wife, Judith, having her speak at a fund-raiser in New York …

The Loose Reins on U.S. Teenagers Can Produce Trouble or Entrepreneurs  —  Michael S. Dell (of Dell Inc.) sold stamps to collectors when he was 12 and Bill Gates founded Microsoft when he was 19.  Facebook, the social networking site, was the brainchild of Mark Zuckerberg, a Harvard University sophomore at the time.

DoD braces for a fight with Pelosi  —  Pentagon officials are bracing for a fight with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) over her desire to allow lawmakers' adult children to tag along on taxpayer-funded travel for free.  —  Pelosi wants them to be able to fill the role of lawmakers' spouses …

Music Video Has a 'Crush on Obama'  —  Risqué YouTube Song Takes Obama Campaign by Surprise  —  An amusing, risqué music video, featuring a nubile young woman breathlessly singing her love for presidential candidate Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., appeared on the Web this week.

Rush Limbaugh in hurricane info tempest  —  S. Florida county may drop radio station as official storm broadcast site  —  FORT LAUDERDALE — If it truly wants to be Broward County's official hurricane radio station, here's what WIOD (610 AM) needs to do:  —  Fire Rush Limbaugh.

'No Drug Smuggler Left Behind!'  —  President Bush was so buoyed by the warm reception he was given in Albania that he immediately gave all 3 million Albanians American citizenship, provided they learn Spanish.  The offer was withdrawn when Bush found out most Albanians haven't broken any U.S. laws.

Reverse the erosion  —  Karen J. Mathis, Fiona Woolf and J. Parker MacCarthy/Special to The National Law Journal  —  Of all the rights accorded by common law, perhaps none matters more — nor has endured longer — than the right of habeas corpus, which guarantees the opportunity to challenge wrongful imprisonment by the government.