Italian nun shot dead by Somali gunmen  —  MOGADISHU, Somalia - An Italian nun was shot dead at a hospital by Somali gunmen Sunday, hours after a leading Muslim cleric condemned Pope Benedict XVI for his remarks on Islam and violence.  —  The nun, who was not immediately identified …

Next Attack Imminent: Muslims ordered to leave the United States  —  Urgent news from Abu Dawood, the newly appointed commander of the al Qaeda forces in Afghanistan:  —  Final preparations have been made for the American Hiroshima, a major attack on the U. S.

Liveblogging Meet the Press  —  The Allen/Webb Meet the Press debate begins momentarily.  I'll be liveblogging it here, with time-stamped updates to include information and analysis.  More as it happens.  —  PREDICTION: Senator Allen will discuss his positions on issues like the economy …

The AP's Switcheroo  —  Here's an email we received yesterday morning at 10:26 am: … The emailer is right that if you look at the AP headline now, it reads "Poll Shows GOP Not Making Its Case:"  —  Since I was the one who published the AP story yesterday and was 100% sure that I copied …

How the Presidency Regained Its Balance  —  FIVE years after 9/11, President Bush has taken his counterterrorism case to the American people.  That's because he has had to.  This summer, a plurality of the Supreme Court found, in Hamdan v. Rumsfeld, that Congress must explicitly approve military commissions …

A liberal hawk strikes back  —  THE CIRCULAR firing squad is the signature practice of the Democratic Party.  Think of 1968, or 1972, or everything that happened during the Clinton presidency except impeachment, or the Howard Dean campaign.  Democrats are never truly happy unless they're at each others' throats.

U.S. holds AP photographer in Iraq 5 mos  —  The U.S. military in Iraq has imprisoned an Associated Press photographer for five months, accusing him of being a security threat but never filing charges or permitting a public hearing.  —  Military officials said Bilal Hussein, an Iraqi citizen …

Called From Diplomatic Reserve  —  Former Secretary of State Leads Attempt to Salvage Iraq Mission  —  Is Jim Baker bailing out the Bushes once again?  —  The former secretary of state, James A. Baker III, a confidant of President George H.W. Bush, visited Baghdad two weeks ago to take a look …

U.S. war prisons legal vacuum for 14,000  —  BAGHDAD, Iraq - In the few short years since the first shackled Afghan shuffled off to Guantanamo, the U.S. military has created a global network of overseas prisons, its islands of high security keeping 14,000 detainees beyond the reach of established law.

Bye-Bye Blogger  —  Q: As one of the country's most eloquent and acid-tongued cultural critics, what is it like to be so sharply criticized in public yourself?  Your blog for The New Republic was terminated this month after you deceived readers, using a pseudonym to post comments …

Goldwater Today  —  CC Goldwater on what her grandfather would make of today's GOP.  —  As the granddaughter of Barry Goldwater, I am often asked what I think my grandfather would have felt about the direction of today's Republican Party.  What I found in the past year I spent making …

How 3 G.O.P. Veterans Stalled Bush Detainee Bill  —  Senators John McCain and Lindsey Graham cornered their partner, Senator John W. Warner, on the Senate floor late Wednesday afternoon.  —  Mr. Warner, the courtly Virginian who is chairman of the Armed Services Committee …

Tribunal Dispute Could Ruin GOP Strategy  —  Bush-McCain Standoff Over Terrorism Trials Overshadows Electoral Battle  —  Congressional Republicans had carefully orchestrated the finale of the legislative year to be a showdown with Democrats over which party is best equipped to keep the country safe …