Pakistan says Rushdie knighthood may spark terrorism  —  Pakistan demanded on Monday that Britain withdraw a knighthood awarded to author Salman Rushdie, as a government minister said the honour gave a justification for suicide attacks by Muslims.  —  Angry protesters in several cities …

Brothers to the Bitter End  —  SO the masked men of Fatah have the run of the West Bank while the masked men of Hamas have their dominion in Gaza.  Some see this as a tolerable situation, maybe even an improvement, envisioning a secularist Fatah-run state living peacefully alongside Israel and a small …

Unfinished business  —  Not only is Nifong still liable to civil lawsuits from the three young men whose lives he tried to ruin, and criminal prosecution for his obstruction of justice and making false statements to a judge, there are many other people who disgraced themselves in hyping …

Be Not Afraid … [From a prayer card I found on a base in Anbar Province, Iraq.]  —  Thoughts flow on the eve of a great battle.  By the time these words are released, we will be in combat.  Few ears have heard even rumors of this battle, and fewer still are the eyes that will see its full scope.

Exclusive: Suicide Bomb Teams Sent to U.S., Europe  —  Brian Ross Reports:  —  Large teams of newly trained suicide bombers are being sent to the United States and Europe, according to evidence contained on a new videotape obtained by the Blotter on ABCNews.com.

Senator Obama Responds to the Indian American Community  —  On Monday, June 18, Senator Barack Obama issued the following statement in response to the concerns expressed by the Indian American community regarding the Hillary Clinton opposition research memo.

Iraqi Orphanage Nightmare  —  Exclusive: U.S. Troops Discover And Rescue Orphan Boys Left Starving, Chained To Beds  —  (CBS) It was a scene that shocked battle-hardened soldiers, captured in photographs obtained exclusively by CBS News.  —  On a daytime patrol in central Baghdad …

Reading Harry Reid  —  Well, you've heard by now that Senate leader Harry Reid insulted one of this country's brightest military minds, Marine Corps General Peter Pace — calling him "incompetent."  Let me take a few moments to put this in context.  —  First, Harry Reid voted for the war, like a majority of our legislators.

Embassy Staff In Baghdad Inadequate, Rice Is Told  —  Ambassador's Memo Asks for 'Best People'  —  Ryan C. Crocker, the new U.S. ambassador to Iraq, bluntly told Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice in a cable dated May 31 that the embassy in Baghdad — the largest and most expensive U.S. embassy …

Getting Lost in the Great Indoors  —  Many Adults Worry Nature Is Disappearing From Children's Lives  —  Linda Pelzman appreciates the beauty of the outdoor world, sometimes pulling her children into the yard to gaze at a full moon or peer into a dense fog.

McCain voices optimism on immigration plan  —  Says his support for measure has affected campaign  —  Senator John McCain had a wide-ranging interview yesterday with reporters and editors at the Globe.  (MICHELE McDONALD/GLOBE STAFF)  —  Senator John McCain of Arizona said yesterday that he was …

Supremes 2, Tort Bar 0  —  In a welcome 7-1 decision yesterday, the Supreme Court sent the tort bar packing for the second time in a month, dismissing an antitrust claim against investment banks in the IPO market during the dot-com days.  —  Stephen Breyer wrote the opinion of the Court, from which only Clarence Thomas dissented.

The Runaway Train That Hit Scooter Libby  —  The attorney general called a meeting.  He assembled all the U.S. attorneys in the Great Hall of the Justice Department and told them, in essence, that their chief responsibility was to decide whom not to prosecute.

As More Toys Are Recalled, the Trail Ends in China  —  China manufactured every one of the 24 kinds of toys recalled for safety reasons in the United States so far this year, including the enormously popular Thomas & Friends wooden train sets, a record that is causing alarm among consumer advocates, parents and regulators.

Gaza bits and pieces  —  Hamas has moved to restore law and order in Gaza, including putting traffic cops at busy intersections to direct traffic.  We passed a particularly tough looking bearded militant-turned-traffic cop and I couldn't help but reflect on how dreary governing must now seem to a lot of these guys.

Faith In Government  —  Obama takes the Christianist route, citing religion as the base for his old-school liberalism: … What Obama might represent is a twist on Bush's "compassionate conservatism."  That label was always a way to disguise well-meaning big government liberalism.