The Associated Press to Set Guidelines for Using Its Articles in Blogs  —  The Associated Press, one of the nation's largest news organizations, said that it will, for the first time, attempt to define clear standards as to how much of its articles and broadcasts bloggers and Web sites …

A controversial suggestion for NBC's Meet the Press  —  The mourning over the untimely death of Tim Russert — host of Meet the Press and Washington bureau chief of NBC News — may continue, but the Politico, the L.A. Times and BloggingStocks are just a few of the media outlets covering …

U.S. abuse of detainees was routine at Afghanistan bases  —  KABUL, Afghanistan — American soldiers herded the detainees into holding pens of razor-sharp concertina wire, the kind that's used to corral livestock.  —  The guards kicked, kneed and punched many of the men until they collapsed in pain.

Investigation Advances For U.S. Attorneys Scandal  —  WASHINGTON — Justice Department lawyers have filed a grand-jury referral stemming from the 2006 U.S. attorneys scandal, according to people familiar with the probe, a move indicating that the yearlong investigation may be entering a new phase.

The Fall and Rise of Hillary Clinton  —  What she won by losing.  —  The victor and the vanquished are standing in a cluttered hallway backstage at the Washington Convention Center, conducting a conversation short and sweet—for one of them, at least.  It's just around noon on June 4 …

As Obama Aide, Reporter Dons Flack Jacket  —  ST. LOUIS — As Barack Obama started fielding questions at a hospital here last week, Linda Douglass stood off to the left, scribbling in a reporter's notebook, as she has in every presidential campaign since 1980.

A Delegator, Obama Picks When to Take Reins  —  WASHINGTON — In the months leading up to Senator Barack Obama's big loss in the Pennsylvania primary, he was a detached manager: around, but not meddling.  Rarely on early-morning conference calls with his senior advisers …

Fiscal Poison Pill  —  A poison pill, in corporate jargon, is a financial arrangement designed to protect current management by crippling the company if someone else takes over.  —  As I read the nonpartisan Tax Policy Center's analysis of the presidential candidates' tax proposals …

Bush backer pens pro-Obama book  —  The conservative Evangelical biographer of George W. Bush and Tom DeLay has moved on to a new subject: Barack Obama.  And his new book, due out this summer, may lend credibility to Senator Obama's bid to win Evangelical Christian voters away from the Republican Party.

Women voters lining up behind Obama  —  McCain hopes to lure Clinton loyalists.  But polls show they are staying Democratic.  —  Marilyn Authenreith, a mother of two in North Carolina, felt strongly about supporting Hillary Rodham Clinton in the Democratic presidential primary.

Bush never lied to us about Iraq  —  The administration simply got bad intelligence.  Critics are wrong to assert deception.  —  Touring Vietnam in 1965, Michigan Gov. George Romney proclaimed American involvement there “morally right and necessary.”  Two years later, however, Romney …

Gingrich: Jindal is best choice for vice president  —  Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich (R-Ga.) said Sunday that Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal “would be far and away the best candidate” to appear on the Republican presidential ticket with Sen. John McCain (Ariz.).

Beltwaywide Financial  —  The Countrywide Financial sweetheart loan scandal continues to grow, spreading to Senators and other Beltway potentates.  We are about to find out if Congress's passion for investigating business ethics extends to conflicts of interest and cash that involve fellow Members.

GOV BLASTS ‘NASTY’ MIKE  —  SHOCKING BROADSIDES BY MILD-MANNERED DAVE  —  Mayor Bloomberg is a nasty, untrustworthy, tan trum-prone liar who “has little use” for average New Yorkers - like the 1,500 workers who would have lost their jobs had OTB closed, a furious Gov. Paterson has said privately.