Barack Obama tells Glamour: “Debate me, not Michelle”  —  On Wednesday Senator Barack Obama talked to Glamour's editor-in-chief Cindi Leive and answered questions from our readers about his policies and about women's issues.  (Thanks to the many of you who submitted those queries!)

Obama Hits the Gym, With Multiple Repetitions  —  ABC News' Sunlen Miller Reports: While Obama spent 91 minutes at a campaign event yesterday, the Illinois Senator spent a total of 188 minutes in the gym yesterday - making three separate stops to Chicago gyms over the course of one day.

Hunter: This conservative activist is backing Obama  —  I'm a lifelong Republican - a supply-side conservative.  I worked in the Reagan White House.  I was the chief economist at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce for five years.  In 1994, I helped write the Republican Contract with America.

Are the media airbrushing Obama's speeches?  Update: Wouldn't ICE qualify?  —  World Net Daily does not have a great reputation for accuracy in its reporting, but Bob Unruh has pretty solid evidence for his report on a disappearing section of a speech given by Barack Obama.

US plans to station first diplomats in Iran since 1979  —  Washington move signals thaw in relations  —  The US plans to establish a diplomatic presence in Tehran for the first time in 30 years as part of a remarkable turnaround in policy by President George Bush.

Gore Wants U.S. to Abandon Fossil Fuels by 2018  —  WASHINGTON — Former Vice President Al Gore said on Thursday that Americans must abandon fossil fuels within a decade and rely on the sun, the winds and other environmentally friendly sources of power, or risk losing their national security as well as their creature comforts.

McCain's humor often backfires  —  Ever hear that joke about waterboarding?  How about the one about killing Iranians?  And why is Chelsea Clinton so ugly?  —  If you aren't familiar with those witty japes, then you've missed out on John McCain's lighter side.

Taxpayers and Private Groups Pay for Congress's Globe-trotting Over Memorial Day  —  One of the benefits of being a member of Congress is lavish trips, sometimes on the taxpayers' dime  —  While many Americans watched their wallets, several dozen members of Congress used the Memorial …

Administration Wanted Loyalist As Justice Dept. Legal Adviser  —  Top Officials Sought to Defend Interrogation Practices  —  Then-Attorney General John D. Ashcroft offered the White House a list of five candidates to lead the Justice Department Office of Legal Counsel in early 2003 …

Old Flame  —  Why I still kinda like John McCain.  —  The presidential election has an oddly placid feel to it.  Four years ago, the notion that George W. Bush would get another four years in office, actually ratified by a plurality of the voters, was more than any liberal could bear …

In Iraq, Mixed Feelings About Obama and His Troop Proposal  —  BAGHDAD — A tough Iraqi general, a former special operations officer with a baritone voice and a barrel chest, melted into smiles when asked about Senator Barack Obama.  —  “Everyone in Iraq likes him,” said the general, Nassir al-Hiti.

America fails on ‘human index’  —  Despite spending $230m (£115m) an hour on healthcare, Americans live shorter lives than citizens of almost every other developed country.  And while it has the second-highest income per head in the world, the United States ranks 42nd in terms of life expectancy.