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.

Key security HQ in Gaza City, last Fatah stronghold, falls  —  Hamas fighters overran Fatah-allied Preventive Security headquarters in Gaza City on Thursday, a key target in their battle to control the entire Gaza Strip, witnesses and a security agency official said.

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 …

Upper-income black donors back Obama over Clinton  —  WASHINGTON — Democrat Barack Obama is surpassing rival Hillary Rodham Clinton in campaign contributions from areas with blacks of above-average income, a USA TODAY analysis shows.  —  The Illinois senator has received more than double …

Angelina Jolie's Freedom of Press, on Her Terms  —  Odds 'n' Ends  —  Angelina Jolie's Freedom of Press, on Her Terms  —  Angelina Jolie's true colors came out Wednesday as she promoted a film about freedom of the press and then tried to censor all her interviews.

Obama aide wants Libby pardoned  —  Sen. Barack Obama's (D-Ill.) top lawyer publicly made the case yesterday for a presidential pardon for convicted White House aide I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby.  —  Obama general counsel Robert Bauer did not ask his boss, a presidential candidate …

Judge to Rule on Libby's Request to Remain Free Pending Appeal  —  The federal judge presiding over the trial of I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby is scheduled to decide today whether Vice President Cheney's former chief of staff must report to prison within weeks to begin serving a 30-month sentence …

Primary Calendar Poses Big Challenges  —  As they criss-cross the nation at a dizzying pace, Democratic and Republican presidential candidates are locked in a fast-track campaign that has forced frontrunners and the far-behind to rethink the traditional path to nomination seven months before a single vote is cast.

Court rules foreign governments not immune to some taxes  —  The Supreme Court ruled on Thursday that foreign governments are not immune to being sued to force them to pay local property taxes on residences for their diplomats at the United Nations.  "Property ownership is not an inherently sovereign function," the Court found.

Security Is Focus of Revised Effort on Immigration  —  The White House and senators from both parties mapped out possible changes in a comprehensive immigration bill on Wednesday, so they could better portray it as a way to bolster national security rather than to grant amnesty to millions of illegal immigrants.

Alito Calls Free-Speech Limits 'Dangerous' as Court Considers Cases  —  Justice Samuel A. Alito Jr. made it clear as he began taking questions at yesterday's National Italian American Foundation luncheon that he couldn't reveal any of the Supreme Court's forthcoming opinions.  —  But did he at least give a hint?