Skeptical of Performers' Motives, Public Tunes Out Live Earth Event  —  The Live Earth concert promoted by former Vice President Al Gore received plenty of media coverage and hype, but most Americans tuned out.  Just 22% said they followed news stories about the concert Somewhat or Very Closely.

White House Debate Rises on Iraq Pullback  —  White House officials fear that the last pillars of political support among Senate Republicans for President Bush's Iraq strategy are collapsing around them, according to several administration officials and outsiders they are consulting.

Fired McCain Aides May Be Hired by Thompson  —  WASHINGTON — The downsizing of Senator McCain's presidential campaign is coming at an opportune time for Fred Thompson, the former Tennessee senator who is likely to jump into the race officially any day now and seeking to build a campaign staff in the early primary states.

Who Runs the CIA?  Outsiders for Hire.  —  Red alert: Our national security is being outsourced.  —  The most intriguing secrets of the "war on terror" have nothing to do with al-Qaeda and its fellow travelers.  They're about the mammoth private spying industry that all but runs U.S. intelligence operations today.

Alas, Poor Couric  —  But pity her not.  —  F  —  rom outside the sleek glass chamber of the CBS Evening News set, you can see her: alone in a prim black pantsuit and pearls, shuffling a stack of papers at the wide, half-moon desk.  Sitting stiff and still, she looks dwarfed under …

Job Vacancies At DHS Said To Hurt U.S. Preparedness  —  A Fourth of Top Positions Not Filled, Report Says  —  The Bush administration has failed to fill roughly a quarter of the top leadership posts at the Department of Homeland Security, creating a "gaping hole" in the nation's preparedness …

Tunneling Near Iranian Nuclear Site Stirs Worry  —  The sudden flurry of digging seen in recent satellite photos of a mountainside in central Iran might have passed for ordinary road tunneling.  But the site is the back yard of Iran's most ambitious and controversial nuclear facility …

A Blog That Made It Big  —  The Huffington Post, Trending Up and Left  —  NEW YORK — In the high-ceilinged SoHo offices that once housed an art gallery, Rachel Sklar is juggling a slew of stories destined for the virtual pages of the Huffington Post.  —  There's her interview with author Gay Talese …

All Grown Up — and Going to War  —  July is a month I sincerely hoped would never come.  —  At the end of this month, my young son, my only child, deploys with the 22nd Marine Expeditionary Unit.  His departure had been six months away, three months; now it is a matter of weeks.

Iraqis told to arm themselves  —  Politicians frustrated amid rising violence  —  BAGHDAD — Prominent Shi'ite and Sunni politicians called on Iraqi civilians to take up arms to defend themselves after a weekend of violence that claimed more than 220 lives, including 60 who died yesterday …

Gomery considered alleging misconduct by Chretien: transcript  —  OTTAWA - Justice John Gomery's letter of warning to Jean Chretien in May, 2005, said an allegation of misconduct against the former prime minister was being considered in Judge Gomery's final report that would tie Mr. Chretien …

Muslims declare sovereignty over U.S., UK  —  Hear Islamic leaders in London: 'Queen Elizabeth, go to hell!'  —  Across town from the site of the recent attempted car-bomb attacks, several thousand Muslims gathered in front of the London Central Mosque to applaud fiery preachers prophesying …

Muqtada al Sadr back in Iran  —  Muqtada al-Sadr.  —  Mahdi Army leader leaves Iraq and goes to Iran for second time this year  —  Muqtada al Sadr, the leader of the Shia Mahdi Army and the Sadrist bloc in parliament, has left Iraq and is in Iran, military sources told Reuters.

Blackwater manager blamed for 2004 massacre in Fallujah  —  When four Blackwater USA security guards were ambushed and massacred in Fallujah in 2004, graphic images showed the world exactly what happened: four men killed, their bodies burned and dragged through the streets.

CIA leak: Now it can be told  —  Sun-Times columnist and famous Washington insider Robert Novak is one of the most controversial political reporters in America.  In the sweeping memoir The Prince of Darkness, the private man opens up for the first time about his life and career.

Kristol: Bush Timed Clemency To Get Political Cover By Attacking Clinton  —  This morning, the Weekly Standard's Bill Kristol — who accurately predicted the President's decision to commute Libby's sentence — suggested the order was timed to provide political cover for the decision by attacking President Clinton.

Edwards to announce poverty tour  —  Can JRE pull off a JFK, or an RFK (asks Politico chief political writer Mike Allen, who is sharing guestblogging duties while Ben is on vacation)?  John Edwards plans to announce Monday that he'll take a break from fund-raising and campaigning …

Three men in jail over bomb at church  —  Three Burleson men who belong to a "radical Christian activist group" were in the Johnson County Jail on Friday night after a church deacon caught two of them attempting to ignite an explosive device on Independence Day at a church under construction in north Burleson, authorities said Friday.