Gonzales Resigns as Attorney General  —  ­ Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales, whose tenure has been marred by controversy and accusations of perjury before Congress, has resigned.  A senior administration official said he would announce the decision later this morning in Washington.

US pressure forces Iraq reconciliation  —  Ian Black, Middle East editor and Ed Pilkington  —  Nuri al-Maliki, the Iraqi prime minister, and fellow leaders in the country have reached consensus on key areas of national reconciliation, under mounting US pressure to demonstrate political progress …

FINESSING THE SURGE  —  Some Democrats are scrambling to re-position themselves on the surge in Iraq, and Neo-Neocon is watching them while pondering the contrast with another war and another ending.  —  Support Pajamas Media; Visit Our Advertisers  —  Some Democrats in Congress were for the Iraq war before they were against it.

Iraqi insurgents taking cut of U.S. rebuilding money  —  BAGHDAD — Iraq's deadly insurgent groups have financed their war against U.S. troops in part with hundreds of thousands of dollars in U.S. rebuilding funds that they've extorted from Iraqi contractors in Anbar province.

Palestinians back caliphate over politics  —  By day, they are the middle class, putting in days as mild-mannered teachers, factory supervisors and office clerks.  —  But by night, the growing number of supporters of Hizb ut-Tahrir, the Islamic fundamentalists who reject modern democracy …

Pinning Hopes On Rural Voters  —  Campaign of Edwards, a Southerner, Sees an Advantage With White Men  —  BERLIN, N.H. — When a woman in the crowd shouted a question about education testing here on Saturday, former senator John Edwards made a casual farming quip.

U.S. sponsors Islamic convention  —  The Justice Department is co-sponsoring a convention held by the Islamic Society of North America (ISNA) — an unindicted co-conspirator in an ongoing federal terrorist funding case — a move that is raising concerns among the Justice's rank and file.

Change In Thompson Press Team Signals Power Of New Campaign Manager  —  The departure of Linda Rozett suggests that Bill Lacy, who managed Thompson's campaign for the Senate in 1994, is firmly in charge of his testing-the-waters committee-cum-presidential campaign.

This is where Fannie and Freddie step in  —  Over the past 20 years major financial disruptions have taken place roughly every three years, starting with the 1987 stock market crash; the Savings & Loans collapse and credit crunch of the early 1990s; the 1994 Mexican crisis …